I started with gong few years ago. It’s ok for winging. But don’t think you will save money…at the end, you buy many wings because you’re not satisfied with the one you have. And it cost you quite a lot. Don’t believe you get more than you pay
Really really impressive, both design and construction are top notch. The formula 1 of foiling for waves!
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On pricing, AFS “complete foil, full carbon, made in France, the price starts from 2,479 euros.” Estimate +€100 for the 1050, so to compare to equivalents from list prices (shipping?):
Estimate for AFS ~€2579 ~ $2843
Axis 899 $2659
Armstrong MA1000 $2549
Unifoil Progression170 $2325
This stuff is expensive but to consider $200 between an axis alu fuse setup and a monobloc carbon AFS that has the pedigree of “Gen2” of the best surf foil from Takuma and the engineering of 3 decades of windsurfing… Axis IMO has the lower value proposition here.
Addition: Gong plane+mast €1,536.00 = $1,694.65
Having experienced a gong board I agree with @ericsfbay and @Sofoil, you get what you pay for - I think the performance may be fine for certain progression levels but durability is varied. I also think they have too many products to think they can possibly take the care that goes into a clearly carefully thought out product in the AFS or the Progression? My opinion.
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Hi @Matt !
Pricing in EUR and USD it’s the same.
2479 - 650
2499 - 850
2519 - 1050
Shipping inside Florida will be free, and for the rest of the US, I think it’ll be not so expensive. Are you in Europe or the US? In the end, it’ll be way closer to the Axis offering including shippings perhaps, not that $200 difference. And as you mention, build and quality it’s top notch, I own the PURE 900 with Ultra High Modulus new mast, this thing is SO THIN in profile and the stiffness it’s there, you can feel it without compromising any performance, nor thickness. I love it!
Unfortunately the PURE platform will not be compatible with the SILK. So I guess I’ll have to get both 
PURE 800 and 1100 for Wing and downwinding SUP.
SILK 650 and 850 for Prone Surf / Tow / and WingFoiling in waves.
The dream quiver 
kevlar reinforced mast connection.
Well there we go, I’d say that seems “reasonable”? (I’ve made peace with the fact that this stuff is more expensive than surfing… but if I get 250 sessions a year, amortised over 5 years it’s $2 a session…
@OmarFoilCol are you involved with AFS? Thanks for the details. Pity about the compatibility!
…more than a pity… think that is a big mistake…
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Hi @matt.
I’m in Colombia and I run a side hustle called Mareta Surf which distributes equipment for our small market, so I’m a distributor here…
I deal also with NSP - PPC - Cloud IX among others and I pay for my own equipments.
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Yeah it is.
I can only imagine the one justification is they are willing to pay that price to keep (well, I’ll be paying it too) on evolving and building a thougher connection. The PURE line is compatible with their whole past models (Flyer and Performer), but I’m not such a good friend of the 3 - M6 scews connection it brings, that’s the only con I found in the built (not a big issue thou).
The SILK now comes with M8 screws and a different shape connection, I can only imagine it’s an improvement.
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… makes sense… hopefully they use the improved connection on the next release of the Pure line…
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Have recently switched to F-One and have been riding the Eagle 890 prone surf foiling and downwinding. With the Seven Seas 1400 as my “session saver” for minuscule waves and dock starts.
Eagle 890:
- impressive speed range
- turns well (for a 92cm wing span)
Seven Seas 1400:
- one foil quiver; prone, SUP, dock starts
- buttery roll and pitch control
- gliiide
- ease of use
Waiting to demo a SK8 950 and the 14mm HM 80cm mast, when they arrive in Aus.
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F One Eagles look fast and fun for winging especially in the smaller sizes, 790 and 890. I’ve seen some folks at crissy field in SF who chopped the winglets off and say minimal there’s minimal performance. What do you think about the winglets? They look like skin scoopers to me. I have Kujira’s with winglets and rounded them off but didn’t go full chop.
And which tails and fuse lengths are you liking?
The designer specifically talks about winglets in here somewhere. He says it’s better with the winglets.
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Yesterday, there was an afs conference. They explained that the new connection with 2 M8 is stronger and better than the old one. Plus the profil of the new mast has been particularly developed for the silk. Apparently they say, it behave a bit differently from the performer mast. So, it’s logical to buy the full set up to maximise performance.
But i agree, that old customers will be really disappointed. They also said, it looks close to kujira but behave very differently mostly due to construction characteristics, plus few little differences on the profil. The add of the bubbles is sensible at low speed, they low the stall speed. Concerning the winglets, Laurent borgnat says , there is a vortex at the extremity of each wing. This induce a lack or portence of the tips. The winglets avoid that.
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Using:
C195 tail for surf and downwind with 890 + 1400 front wings - good speed range and likes to turn
C250 for dock starts with 1400 front wing - provides more low speed “firmness under foot”
Others:
DW210 - tested this one - doesn’t behave well at low speed, specifically laterally - possibly a fast tail
C200 - waiting for a demo to arrive in Perth to try this
Only using the “short” fuse - personal preference is longer fuses, for better control at speed and pumping.
That 790 is really manoeuvrable. The waves in West Aus have enough juice for it, but at 85kg body weight jumping up to the 890 means connecting 3 or 4 waves rather than 2.
Have thought about rounding off the winglets, but in summer all we do is downwind and I don’t want to compromise any efficiency.
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Cool episode, pity they didn’t ask about the tail fences as that is unique to f-one. I like their ethos of not releasing half baked products.
Also a big lol at the axis chats at the end
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I pinged him on this very topic, his comment he uses SK8 650 when towing, eagle 690 for everything else, apparently eagle is more well rounded. Anything he rides he just makes it look effortless and flowery.
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From the internet, The Operator – Omen Foils
I wonder if we will see more stainless steel fuse sections like some of the race foils have.
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you mean the winglets on the wingtips are dangerous? The F-one eagle has also dangerous winglets while the sk8 does not?
I’ve been on the 890 prone in the surf with the xs160 monobloc. Realizing it’s very pitchy at my current skill level. I have an xxs fuse and looking to add a c195 or c200 to see if that helps me. Which did you end up liking more?