Totally understand that it can come off that way because they haven’t done a decent job explaining the line and being a manufacturer there can be weird continuity that can be confusing. So I’ll do my best to explain some things here.
being a manufacturer a foil is technically never dead, I have ordered quite a few foils for customers that were launched 7 plus years ago. The factory just takes the mold off the shelf and builds one when ordered. So afs never officially kills a foil
Afs is a mass market boutique brand they have a solution for virtually every foil sport/condition
The pure 600, 700 and 900 range from 8.4 ar to 9.6 the 700 and 900 are about little over two years old. A highly regarded freestyle and speed wing foil foil. Just won Red Bull event in chile
The pure ha (the one I assume you are referring to) came out in 2021 BUT on the prior fuselage connection. When the current connection was released 2-3 years ago it kept the foil profile just smaller fuselage. We still sell these, they were never popular but the 800 is particularly loved by quite a few
Silk v1 is almost 3 years old and just being “replaced” but as discussed by others some will prefer v1 to v2 and we are happy to keep making them
Enduro is almost 2 years old and still a massively popular foil
Ultra monobloc was a victim of development it only came in 750 was supposed to come in 3 sizes but the tips were fragile, the monobloc clunky due to span and new fuselage material developments were being tested so this one your critique is very valid
Flyer is an excellent entry level foil, a little over 2 years old. I’d wager more people learn to foil on this model annually than any other single foil as it’s used at a lot of schools and resorts throughout the world
Evo is the next step in progression also a little over 2 years old. Highly popular mid level wing foil foil.
Evo ha is for the lovers of pure ha who want non monobloc, people who want an enduro with better low end, people who want an ha foil without tubercules
Ultra 600, 750, and 900 as well as silk v2 just launched but very much have a place: ultra for high performance glide and some carve (for 14+ ar), silk v2 a faster better pump surf foil than v1
There will maybe be more foils that aren’t widely popular because if enough people at afs or dealers want something they just make it. Commercial success be damned. But what is super cool is all of the fuses work with all the foils and masts so someone can buy an affordable flyer foil set and upgrade as they desire or not at all
Thanks for the breakdown. One complaint about AFS is the marketing is mostly catered to European crowds. Hardly see yoi guys recognize the USA, Australia or Hawaii foilers that use your gear!
So after a couple of days riding small wave at the Texas coast, here is my take.
The 750 size is impressive. I was getting mostly waist high, sometimes chest high 6 sec period waves.
The 750 carved, rolled edge to edge, pumped and built speed with these gutless little waves. To be honest, the surf was small and I almost didn’t try it, but so happy I did.
I’d honestly say that it covers anything an 850 Silk V1 or 900 Enduro covers as far as low end, but more pumpable than the 850 and slightly less than the 900.
@TheFoilKook found what sounds like the top end on some head to just overhead with longer period.
That said my current opinion is that a quiver of 550/750/950 is going to give me a complete range for wave riding.
I want to give a 950 a go on some small down wind bumps also to see how that does.
I was on AFS for almost 3 years. Rode the 1050 religiously on prone, sup foil, Parawing…DW it lacks the speed. Have the Ultra 750 but its not a speed machine. Had the 850 Silk and sold it because i used it mostly for winging but I hardly wing now as PW took over and the E900 or Silk 1050 gets on foil faster, on Oahu we dont get Maui winds so 850 on PW was quite hard. Had the Evo HA 1000 and i could pump around all day on the foil in the surf…DW though it was quite difficult to manage and control.
Then i got the F4 Orca 800…and this 1 foil does it all. WING, PW, Sup surf, Prone…and DW it goes. So, i’m no longer riding my AFS. Still have them for the low tide days to play on.
They were compared as being relatively similar among an already relatively similar group of foils in the surf foil review from Dylan in the X foils podcast
I can’t comment on DW speed but for prone/surf/sup the V2’s paired with Ucarve have all the glide and speed I could ever ask for. Makes my V1 feel so slow when switching back.
Also just started winging and loving the 950 V2 paired with the UG41. insane glide compared to the V1, great speed, turns beautifully. Makes jibes stupid easy and I’ve winged maybe 10 times in my life.
Waiting on some seaweed to clear out to do a full review of the V2 Silks but loving them for all disciplines so far! I see myself pretty much only on the 750/950 the rest of the year for everything.
Thank you for the helpful feedback. I am going to try to demo both the F4 offerings and the AFS Silk V2s. Its interesting that you are not even on the surf specific (F4 Manta wing) and have found 1 unicorn foil that does it all for you.
I appreciate that Dylan took the time to talk about the foils on the Xfoils podcast…but I wanted it to be more opinionated and decisive. I feel that they took to generous of an approach and didnt provide enough critical feedback…
I feel like it’s hard to be super opinionated these days because there’s so much good gear out there. I honestly think the most important thing is just time on a specific foil dialing in the muscle memory and trying not to change things constantly. That’s been my biggest issue with AFS the past couple years - bouncing between 3 different silk sizes + 4 enduro sizes depending on the conditions (and way too many tails). I end up wasting the beginning of every session just recalibrating vs. pushing my progression.
This year I’m dedicating myself to 2 silk v2 foil sizes (for now) and the Ucarve/Usurf for prone/sup + Uglide for wing.
The Orca for all the Hawaii guys does seem to be the unicorn. Does it surf like the silk…no, but ive told with the surf specific tail it becomes a great surf foil also. Where it really excels especially for the 685 and 600 Orca is the DW realm. When i demo it, i didnt want to believe the hype…but damn it was good, so good that i bought a full set up instantly. I was on AFS for 3 years and i was going to stay…but once they ditch monobloc design things started to feel like they were following the Axis, Unifoil route. I love the stiffness of the OG V1 Silks but i foil alot and i could never pump my silk 1050 across this channel which is about 150 yards wide to link waves on the other side and then pump back across to the other side to catch waves over there. With the Orca i did it on my first attempt. I didn’t have my Garmin on during that run…but man the pump and glide in a 800cm size wing is crazy! I’m not sponsored or affiliated with AFS or F4, just my review on the F4 and AFS. AFS didn’t give much love to Hawaii guys and impossible to get our hand on any demo gear out here, we have a dealer but AFS is not his highest seller so he doesn’t carry much of their gear. I think they’re probably 5 AFS riders on Oahu.
Thanks Salty. Great feedback. Remind me of the tail and fuse length that you are on with F4? Also what app is that tracking your foil rides? Is it waterspeed?
No, i use my Garmix Fenix 8. Tracks everything you can think of. Sleep, Breathing, heart rate, speed, windsurf, sup, surf, dive modes.
I ride the Oraca 800 with 135S tail and 12mm 80CM mast. The 135XS tail is very short, so it can be a handful to try to control and very loose. I want more stability and predictability so i go with the 135S, they say if i put a 137S surf tail on there it will surf much better
It’s nice to have titanium there, but having seen it in real life, I still think it’s a shame that we don’t get a proper stab cradle like Code Foils / KT, or a one-piece stab setup for a more streamlined profile.
Same comment for the new Advanced carbon version.
There is probably some stiffness gain, but I’m not sure it would really be noticeable with smaller wings, and you also lose some weight advantage. With an Ultra 750 / 900, maybe it could make more sense.
