FEEDBACK: FLUID XXL-T

News
Wing

22 august 2022 0

Transition from a Curve Foil set-up to a setup with the Fluid XXL-T Front Wing and Veloce L Stab combo for Pascal who shares his impressions on our Facebook group.

Wing foiler: Patrice, Boss & Shaper GONG, on the Fluid Foil with Fast Stab.

“Progression: Foil Curve XL-T to Fluid XXL-T + Veloce L Stab (combo on the advice of GONG staff) Profile: 83kg, 54 years old, strapless, level jibe and switch of feet with some touchdowns, lake navigation and light wind.

I reckon I’m on a standard learning curve so I want hassle-free equipment rather than something too technical to use. 1st session, lake, wind 6-13kts, Flint FSP Pro 5’8, SuperPower 7.5 v2

In preflight: I feel that it glides better which will help me make good use of the 13kts “gusts”, lol.

Take-off: I take off on the 2nd try (phew!) and I feel that the Fluid/Veloce is more on/off, i.e. it requires much finer control at take-off because otherwise it wants to pitch up or dive. That being said I think that with more wind it will be less sensitive because we would be over the critical stall speed more quickly. I have the impression of taking off with the same minimum wind as with the Curve, but hard to say…

“Going through the wind holes is… fluid”

Stabilized flight: I find the flight more stable, I fly less in ups and downs. The speed increases quickly and I am clearly going faster than with the Curve, I can feel that it pushes 1lt less water (2.8lt / 1.79lt).

Going through the wind holes is… fluid, especially with the SuperPower 7.5 ? and I even have the impression that I could hold the flight only by pumping the foil, to try another time… (a young lad with energy should manage it without problem).

Turning: surprisingly, I turn and jibe more easily with the Fluid than the Curve.

This is very good news because I had a little trouble on this point. The switch of feet is also easier, amazing. I also feel that it is less permissive than the Curve which tolerates little stance errors. With the Fluid, if I press, it turns. I learned jibes with the Curve and I think that with the Fluid I would have had more difficulty because it is more…. fluid and when you start the jibes a certain “hold” is reassuring and gives time to correct positioning and avoid a fall (but perhaps the young lad mentioned above could do without the Curve stage).

End of flight: as for taking off, it’s more on/off than the Curve and I have to manage the descent, just to arrive on the beach with some style, lol. At low speed, the stall is more massive than with the Curve.

To sum up, I’m very happy with this first session on this new foil and stab.

I clearly feel that it was what I needed to continue my hasslefree progression, thank you GONG.

I think that if I had taken it directly after my beginner’s foil without going through the Curve, I would have struggled a bit because the reactivity and fluidity (sic) of the Fluid is now an advantage for me but I think that it would have been a handicap to start the jibes. Well, I hope this average user feedback will allow some to make a choice.”