Has anyone tried it? Similar design to f-one CWC. A comparison test would be interesting.

Hi, I was about to open a topic on this, since I had the chance to try the new Duotone Ventis last week, here it goes the experience.

Intro:
Duotone Ventis is going to be available in 7m and 8m, in standard and Dlab versions, not sure if both measure. I did try the 8m DLab and the 7m standard construction, so those 2 will be available.

The tester (aka myself): 1.81m, 72kg, intermediate to advanced rider (tacks, jibes, free-fly, 360s, jumps, raley, flakas, not to brag, just to assess the level, definitely I am not a pro :) ). I am not sponsored but I am a local rider for a shop here in Spain and we ride Duotone, just as a disclaimer. Anyways, I think I am an objective guy :)

Test 1: 12-15kn, 55L Sky Style Fanatic Board, w799 Sabfoil front wing (1100cm2) 8m dLab
Ok, those conditions make no sense with such quiver, I was obviously overpowered. I would have been fine on 4m to 4.5m but I was too curious to wait. First thing I noticed, besides the power, is that the front handle is almost twice the size of the back handle. This allows you to to move the front hand further back and ride with only one hand, like with a boom. First though I had was that I wanted those handles on my Units, and I have been told that most likely the new Units will adopt this setup. There is not a lot of space between the 2 handles.
It flies quite above your head, which is nice because it doesn't touch the water with the tips, and even tacking in such overpowered conditions was super easy as it just goes flat above your head allowing you to turn easily.
With a nice kicker this thing will get you flying if you are into jumping :)
I had to get out because I was going to injure myself being so overpowered and there were more people in the line to test it.

Test 2: 12-15kn, 55L Sky Style Fanatic Board, w799 Sabfoil front wing (1100cm2) 7m standard construction
This was way more enjoyable, even though still unnecessary in that wind range. Very easy to maneuver despite the size, again it's because it flies easily in a higher position rather than completely in front of you. I tried a few jumps and it really wants to pull you up. I even started a frontside 360 (didn't really mean to, but I jumped off balance and started the rotation) and I was surprised to be able to turn it decently above my head, even though I crashed :)
After 30 mins the wind started to drop to 10kn and I was still powered (I can ride a 5.5m Unit with the same setup and 10kn), I had to get out to have somebody else test the wing. For a heavier rider/ beginner this is going to open a whole new wind range, especially if paired with a non-sinker board.

Test 3 9-11kn 55L Sky Style Fanatic Board, changed foil to fanatic glide 725cm2 8m dLab
This is more interesting as a test. I had never used such a small front wing before, getting it going requires different technique compared to what I am used to. Basically I had to almost go fully downwind to get speed, which in turn takes out some of the wing power as you don't create apparent wind. After getting the hands on how to start, I still had plenty of power to get going. Once on the foil, the speed was really great. I am not into racing, and I can't compare speed since my GPS died a long time ago, but I can definitely say it was the fastest speed I ever reached on a wingfoil.
This to me is the point of those wings, they are made for racing where you want a lot of power to ride the smallest and fastest foil possible, possibly with a harness.

Test 4 8kn and dying, 55L Sky Style Fanatic Board, w799 Sabfoil front wing (1100cm2) 7m standard construction
Another interesting use, low winds. With around 8kn and the 7m I had to pump a bit (obviously) but it was quite easy to get going, once up the ride was very nice. When pumping it I didn't feel like I was touching the water, obviously it's a big wing, so for shorter people that might be more of an issue, but I am not a giant either and I was very comfortable. I tried a few 360s, going backwind, jibing tacking etc and it was very easy to move around despite the size. After 15 minutes the wind completely died and I had to end the test.

Ok, long post, but I hope it's useful. In summary, I would say that it's a wing that will find it's use for racing with small foils, and to explore the lowest limits of wind range.
The local shop will lend me a 7m and an 8m in the following weeks so that I can do more tests, I will let you know. I wanted to get the bare minimum wind I need to get going with the 7m/8m, even though I might be more limited by my board size than wing size. I will see if I can also try them with a non sinker board, like an 85L.
I will let you know.

Bennis123 said..
Great review! The new handles are interesting. Are there any advantages to have a boom anymore?

I really don't know, maybe for some tricks it's easier if you have no gap at all, but I haven't tried any wing with boom.
Handles are way more practical in terms of packing the gear I believe.

Thanks for the review Mitxval.

The Specs show the same numbers for both Dlab and the regular. I guess this slipped past them because the weight shows the same for both right now.

Looking forward to trying the 8m I preordered when I got a heads up they were on the way. Returned an unused 7m SLS which was too close in light wind performance to the 6.5m Slick v3 I have. Made sense that the Ventis is why the Slick V3 only goes up to 6.5m.

Bennis123 said..
Great review! The new handles are interesting. Are there any advantages to have a boom anymore?

Greater rigidity, plus it makes absolutely everything in the water easier. I have the Gong Superpower with the boom option and now want all my wings to have it. The only drawback is that the wing packs down like a windsurf sail in a long skinny bag.

Fishdude said..

I'm kind of surprised the Ventis does not come in a 6m especially now with the incorporation of downwind boards for light wind winging.

The struts design with more camber has got to have pros and cons it would be nice to understand that better. I assume it could give more forward pull along with grunt, but what does that cost in return?

The wing tips don't hit on the new 6.5m Slick, so no need for a 3 strut Ventis.

Adding two extra struts adds a lot of weight.

Did you notice no Mod3 canopy on the Ventis. Yeah, it would weight a ton, with 3 struts AND a Mod3 canopy.

When single strut kites became all the rage for kite foiling, it was the massive weight savings of deleting the two wing tip struts that caused the whole industry to jump on that bandwagon. It was a wow moment for me. I sold all my kites and went zero struts, then came back to one strut, but never went back to 3 struts.

3 struts are a necessary evil, not a feature you want, unless you have to. So 7m and 8m make sense. The 6m CWC makes no sense.

Hi,

Just adding a few pictures of the 7M Ventis DLAB.
Wind it's been horrible lately and I have tried it in impossible conditions.
The first day I could just take the pictures as it was <6kn.

Yesterday it was 6-7kn, maybe some very short 8kn gusts, and with a weight -15L board I could get on my feet and almost start.
The limiting factor was definitely the sinker board.
If the 8kn gusts were constant or at least they lasted a little bit longer I think I could have started.
I think that with a board around weight +10L with good low wind profile (ie, no weird cutoff or channels) and a decent foil it should be doable to ride in those wind conditions. I weight 72kg.

I think that for my weight the 8m would be an overkill, I am not sure if the extra area would compensate for the sinker board, I would need to try it.

I did try the 8m DLAB (overpowered in 13-15kn) and I could do 360s with it, not sure about wingpass as I have learned the trick after the test.
I feel like you might touch the water with such a big wing in the middle of the pass, I will try it as soon as the wind allows it :)
I love the extra long front handle, the new Units will have it as well.

I will post more feedback when I can test it better.

I recently did a back to back test of the DuoTone Ventis 8m with a F-One CWC 8m V2 (V3 I hope to do when we next get a light wind day).The F-One CWC 8m V2 (which is lighter than this years V3 CWC) did feel lighter in the hands on foil and floated a bit better in ordinary gybes. But this was the only thing it had over the Ventis.

I'm 81kg, 80L Board, Axis HPS 1050 foil and conditions were 8-9 knots which built slowly to 12-15kts over the session. I had no issues getting onto foil in 8-9 knots 3-4 pumps and we were up on foil.

The Ventis pulls more strongly than the CWC on foil, it also has a different pump technique to get onto foil, The 8m CWC is a wing you do big scoops with, the Ventis is more of the fast mini pumps and build speed type of wing (very much like a DuoTone Unit).

I tried tacks, heineken gybes, duck gybes, lay down gybes and 360s - this wing is very very accomplished at all these more complex gybes, it cuts through the wind really well and is a joy to tack. It's also faster than the CWC 8m and also can point upwind a lot better. I suspect the CWC V3 probably has a better upwind ability than the V2 as it is a flatter tighter canopy than the V2. The 360 it did was beautiful and going into it I was expecting issues with it being such a big wing but it just sailed through it and exited on foil like a champion.

It does drop the tail of the wing a little more in normal gybes than the CWC V2 due to the extra bit of weight in the handles.

I found it easier to stay on foil with the Ventis and was less stressed in gybes as the Ventis is just cleaner through the wind than the CWC V2 so you generally lost a lot less speed when tacking / gybing.

I would probably use the Ventis with a harness as it has a strong consistent pull that would probably over time cause some grip fatigue. I did a couple of hours without the harness as I never run a harness when assessing a wings performance but I couldn't help but feel the session would have been easier with the harness. Pull from the handles is nicely balanced between the two hands and you can fly it one handed off the front long handle.

The Ventis is around 200g heavier than the CWC V2 but I can't say I felt that weight as it has a really nice characteristic of always trying to lift / fly upwards even when taxiing off foil, so you never really feel like you are carrying the whole wing weight.

Comparing handles I'll take the Ventis handles over the floppy CWC V2 handles all day long - so much more precision and control with the hard handles. Plus back winding you don't have to hold the strut / leading edge directly and can just hold the handles on the Ventis when back wind riding.

Given a choice between Ventis and CWC V2 I would take the Ventis - now I need to see if that would also be true of the V3 CWC.
All testing done with the dacron version of the 8m Ventis.

I'm not a sponsored rider - so these views are my own. Last year I ran a quiver of F-One Strike V2 with an 8m CWC as my low wind wing. This year I'm running 2023 DuoTone Units with the 6.5m Unit as my light wind wing.

Rolavi said..
Really like tbe Ventis 7m..,

And your weight @rolavi pls.
because my weight is 70 kg and I am tempted to by 7.0 Ventis next to complement my quiver of slicks. From 3.5 to 5.5. and maybe just maybe ?? I can save some money and stay with 5.5 as my biggest wing. ??

Ciki62 said..

Rolavi said..
Really like tbe Ventis 7m..,

And your weight @rolavi pls.
because my weight is 70 kg and I am tempted to by 7.0 Ventis next to complement my quiver of slicks. From 3.5 to 5.5. and maybe just maybe ?? I can save some money and stay with 5.5 as my biggest wing. ??

Hi, I weight 72kg and with the same 60L board and 1300cm2 foil, the Ventis 7m gives me 2-3 knots in the low end compared to a Unit 5.5m
With the Unit I need 8 constant kn plus some 10kn gusts to get going, while with the 7M Ventis with 7-8kn I can start.
Also, the 7m will keep you going even if the wind drops below 7kn, I doubt that the 5.5m would be enough to survive in those conditions.
With a non-sinker board I would say 6kn it's doable with the 7m at our weight. It also depends on water conditions, if it's flat or some small waves that you can use to start it's far easier than choppy conditions.

Ciki62 said..

Rolavi said..
Really like tbe Ventis 7m..,

And your weight @rolavi pls.
because my weight is 70 kg and I am tempted to by 7.0 Ventis next to complement my quiver of slicks. From 3.5 to 5.5. and maybe just maybe ?? I can save some money and stay with 5.5 as my biggest wing. ??

I do own your quiver plus the 6.5 and that's already another world compared to 5.5. I'm 80kg and don't use any bigger foil than my 1250 Free as once up on foil it's opening your wing speed potential massively. 6.5 still is boom in addition .. if possible compare both as with 70kg you're already on the lighter side of the game !

Ciki62 said..

Rolavi said..
Really like tbe Ventis 7m..,

And your weight @rolavi pls.
because my weight is 70 kg and I am tempted to by 7.0 Ventis next to complement my quiver of slicks. From 3.5 to 5.5. and maybe just maybe ?? I can save some money and stay with 5.5 as my biggest wing. ??

84 kg and my big board is a 4'8" 85 ltr flat bottom board. First year 5m was my biggest, last year 6m sls biggest now this year Ventis 7m. I can get going pretty early on 6m. However the 7m Ventis is a hand truck and lets me power through messy boat chop, small fish and sea nettle foil hangs. It gives me some extra throttle and can handle some decent wind as well. It doesn't give me a ton of extra low end but give me a little more fun in ****ty wind and sloppy sea state. I am old and the goofy color scheme reminds me of old windsurfer sails when I was a teenager in the late 1970s early 80s. Never would have picked the colors but they have grown on me.

Hi folks,just thought I would share my first outing on my 8m Ventis not Dlab.Well it's big but surprisingly light with only 5-6kts of wind under it,just floats nicely.I qualify for the big dawgs category 110kgs 6'3",riding Kalama E3 6'0 x30"-130Ltrs ,
Gofoil 2200,FTL 20",V2 90cm.Well wind 7-12kts gusty
On our estuary.One small gust one or two small pumps up on foil.Ventis felt stable with power.
Hooked in once I settled down to a very clean 2klm run across the estuary.Gusts in open water 10-15kts now but the Ventis just handled the gusts better than my Fone cwc7-8mtr wings.
Pointed way higher with a more useable powered feeling.Very happy so far.
Will have to get used to the extra size in transitions.