GEAR: HOW DOES THE STIFFNESS OF A HOLLOW BOARD AFFECT YOUR PERFORMANCE?

News
Lowkite
Wing

16 october 2026 0

More direct response underfoot, from takeoff to your first carve.

In wing foiling as in lowkite, everything starts under your feet. You push through the board to take off, accelerate or change direction. With a Hollow Carbon, the response is immediate: the board transfers your input to the foil with a particularly direct feeling of connection.

This stiffness comes from its innovative construction. Instead of an EPS foam core, a perfectly rigid internal sandwich skeleton connects the stance areas to the foil box. Under your feet, the board and foil therefore form a perfectly unified and coherent system.

Here’s how it affects your sessions 👇

Valuable stiffness right from takeoff

At takeoff, you feel the difference as soon as you pump the board. Every push gets an immediate response: it becomes easier to find the rhythm that accelerates the board and generates lift from the foil. In light wind, whether wing foiling or lowkiting, this precision helps you make the most of every impulse without having to exaggerate your movements.

Instead, your movements naturally become more precise. And that makes all the difference when the board starts showing signs that it wants to release from the water. Stiffness means that every small impulse is fully converted during takeoff.

In our environment, with constantly changing conditions where we often have to play with the limits, this gain in stiffness is far from insignificant. It considerably improves the efficiency on the water.

Wing foiler: Malo, GONG team rider, on the Cruzader Diamond Hollow Carbon with a Neutra Aramid Light wing.

The foil, right under your feet

Once in flight, stiffness mainly changes how clearly you feel your inputs. Whether initiating a turn, correcting your pitch or accelerating out of a carve, the board follows your intention without any feeling of delay. You can better feel what the foil is doing and fine-tune your movements more precisely.

Combined with the light weight of a Hollow Carbon board, this responsiveness can be surprising. Everything happens very quickly. It feels like riding a much smaller board, without the technical difficulty at takeoff. You quickly get used to it, and going back becomes very difficult! ;)

This is particularly noticeable when pumping, where everything becomes easier. For example, when lowkiting and packing for a downwinder: without any pull in your hands, your feet become your main point of communication with the foil. In wing foiling, when you let the wing flag out to surf a wave or link carves, this connection makes the handling more instinctive.

Foiler: Bastien, GONG team rider, on the Cruzader Diamond Hollow Carbon with the Neutra Light V3 lowkite.