I have all of the Naish foils and ride the 1040HA (sometimes the 1240) on S27 Carbon 75cm mast. I'm around 90Kg. I wing everyday and surf foil as much as I can, but not as often as I wish due poor spot conditions. I ride a spot where I can get into some pretty large surf and the 1040HA can take it. I don't need to go to the 914 very often. Also, getting up in light wind can over ride the foil choice over smaller foils when the waves do get big so being able to have a larger foil that rides large swell well is a really big deal.

There are no limitations on the Naish gear with a wing. I average around 17.5 - 20.5 MPH when i juice it up. Pumping around through light spots is a breeze with the wing in the luff position on both the 1040HA and 1240HA. I sometimes just pump as long as my lungs will allow to improve my skills luffing the wing, and I can go until my cardio wears out. BUT!!! I do have a question for other Naish users...I find that the wings will pump forever if you have a lot of speed at the start when you leave a wave, but they have the same drop off even above the stall speed if you exit the wave too slow when surf foiling. They move off fine but lose mast height and then have trouble recovering if you come off of the wave too slow. I am an advanced foiler and get more foil time than the average user, but I am starting to feel like a kook when it comes to multiples surf foiling. 1) do any other naish users have this experience? 2) for the naish guy that chimed in above, is there a better pump/glide foil on the horizon for me to stay on the brand and overcome the limited multiples that I feel I am facing?. I am a seppo that is reaching out to the AUS crew since there is less adoption here in the states. Thanks for any feedback!!!

Thanks. That's good input. I've been addicted to my chopped 220 stab, but since I've migrated it from mostly winging I'll go back to the larger stab when surf foiling and see if I can find that extra gear when the foil starts out slower.

SoloPelican said..
Follow up. I've adopted the 1240 and stayed on the chopped 220 stab. I think I am just too heavy to make the 1040 a daily driver in smaller/slower surf. I have to work a little harder to fight the drag, but I am getting consistent multiples and covering really large distances on flat water pumping from peak to peak It just takes a little more effort, but I can fight through the slower moments and speed back up. I think the key was to just stay on that 1240 for a few days in a row and challenge myself to dig deep in the cardio and push on to reach that next swell. Its not as rippable as the 1040, kinda like riding a 6'3" surf board when you wan to be on your 5'11".

For any potential Naish riders I can say that the full carbon S27 mast is about as good as they come and stiff as hell. I can't wait to see what Naish comes up with in the fall to pair with it. AWSI is next month so hopefully we will all know soon.

As a matter of interest, where are you positioning your mast in the surf when using the 1040HA? I'm riding an 85L Hover and have mine around half way.

SoloPelican said..
I ride mine about an inch back from the front of the tracks on both my KT 42 and 62 liter boards with the 1240, 1040, or 914. I find it keeps the swing weight really consistent. I do not adjust for different conditions, I let my body adjustments deal with more and less power in the wind or waves. When I rode Naish boards (50L and 75L) I rode them in the same forward in the box location.

Thanks for the feedback Solo.
In flat water, that's where I normally ride mine. But with swells, I find that I have to keep too much pressure on my front foot when I gybe onto the swell. Moving the mast back makes it easier with weight transfer.

How much are you chopping the 220 stab using the 1040? I've only tried the 280 and would be interested to know if there is a lot of difference with glide and stability with the 220.

I have primarily used the 1800HA with the 320 stab. Yesterday I used the 280 from (my 1400 HA set) and I noticed a good improvement. A little bit of extra speed helped me pump and glide. Getting up and pitch control was either the same or improved. I weigh 100kg for reference. Now that I'm good enough to notice and enjoy such a difference and the lake winds are picking up this fall, I might make the 1400 my permanent foil in anything above 15 knots.