I rarely have any information about equipment that I have not read about before I used it. I recently traded in my 6 foot 120 litre Ride Engine Moon Buddy for the 6 foot Wing Drifter. At the same time I picked up a Slingshot Quantum 100 which they call the pump wing. I weigh about 80 kg. and am just an average winger. I know most people seem to want much smaller boards at my weight but I have no desire to go lower. It is very gusty where I am. Today is good example. I was on a 4 metre Mantis and the wind was going from 8 to 10 knots in the lulls to above 25 in some of the gusts. So there are always times where I am riding off of the foil at my skill level. In steady wind I can jibe on foil and switch feet while flying but that is about it for now. The Wing Drifter is more stable side to side than the Moon Buddy was for me and seems to start just as easily. It feels much smaller and more maneuverable while up even though it is 1 inch wider but is 3 inches shorter. It is only 5' 9" long. It seems very durable and weighs about 17 pounds without straps. I screwed a piece of webbing between the 2 furthest back foot strap holes to allow carrying from the top. There is a handle on the bottom.
I have used the quantum foil wing with the Mantis 6.2, 5 and 4. It worked great with all of them. With the 6.2 in light wind and small chop I could not get the wing to fly. It would pop up the then drop quickly as I could not generate enough forward speed. I switched to the Infinity 99 and was up and foiling with 2 pumps. So at least at my skill level the 99 starts earlier. I am not sure how much but in the lightest winds it is much easier. Once up on the Quantum wing I find it is faster and has less drag. It really does pump better for me. In a large lull on my 4 metre wing I was able to pump the board for 30 to 40 metres while there was not enough wind to hold the tail of the wing up. I was never able to do that with the 99 or 84. Of course I would be better with a smaller foil in winds over 20 knots but it was new and wanted to try it in lots of conditions and there was no problem keeping it in the water. I went out with 76 after and that was much easier in the winds gusting to 28 knots. It the lulls I always dropped off the foil whereas with the Quantum I could easily continue flying. I would say that the 84 and 99 are easier to use if you cannot pump the board up onto the wing and they are more stable while up. Although I did not find it unstable. I really like the new board and the Quantum wing. I will definitely get the 85 wing when it is available.
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