I recently had the opportunity to take the Enduro 700 for a downwind run in the bay. The setup included an 80 cm AFS UHM mast and a Silk HA 38 tail with the long fuselage, all mounted on a 75L mid-length board. I’m a 195 lbs rider.
This is NOT a review - Just some first impressions and observations. I feel there’s much more to explore with this setup.
My reference point is the Lift Florence X 110 with the 21" Flow tail. There are many similarities between these two setups. The most significant difference is the aspect ratio (AR): 13.1 for the Florence X 110 compared to 11 for the Enduro 700.
Pros:
- Great surfy feeling; it carves and turns really well, even on this downwind/glide setup.
- Super stable at speed, chop and during tight turns—nothing seems to throw it off.
- Excellent pitch stability.
- Performs well in mediocre, messy, short-period wind chop of medium fetch.
- Efficient pumping; it generates good speed going up and over steep bumps while chasing good lines.
Cons:
- Higher take-off speed compared to similar-sized foils.
- Higher stall speed compared to similar-sized foils.
- Sensitive to changes in angle of attack (AOA), leading to abrupt stalls.
Another characteristic of this foil is that it doesn’t “load-up,” which could be either a pro or a con, depending on your preference.
Coming from setups that do load up, I found this required some adjustments. While riding upwind against steep bumps, the foil maintained altitude and wasn’t affected by the energy at the bump apex. For my riding style and setup (shorter masts), this was a shortcoming, as I wasn’t able to harness the energy of the bump to achieve a better upwind angle. I also needed to constantly adjust altitude to avoid hitting the apex of the bump when coming up the trough, especially since I was using an 80 cm mast. With my usual foil, I could slow down considerably to mitigate steep faces and still maintain a good upwind angle without stalling.
I also had to adjust my tack technique due to this behavior. I rely on my foil to load up and carry me through the turn and over the bump when going upwind. With this foil, even if I had enough speed to carry me through the wind, I also needed to adjust altitude to avoid hitting the bump coming upwind.
Another adjustment was needed on tighter turns. If I overshot the pocket, I wouldn’t have enough lift to complete the turn and would stall right away. With my current setup, I can rely on the foil loading up during the turn to compensate for my lack of skill.
With the Enduro 700 setup, it feels like one has to rely more on speed to perform well.
Once I worked through these challenges, though, it turned out to be the most fun I’ve had in recent memory on this mediocre run.
I’m planning to pair it next with my KD Marlin 15" tail, set at about 2.5 degrees Angle Of Incidence. I measured the AOI of the HA38 tail and found it to be 0.5 degrees, which is very low compared to every foil I’ve ridden.
With the extra surface area and increased AOI of the Marlin tail, I’m eager to see how the behavior changes.
Please share any advice on how to maximize this setup.
