Currently on a BSC 890 and happy with how it surfs and am ok with pumping it (though it could be easier).
How do the spitfires compare? Similar turning in the surf but maybe more efficient pumping is kind of what I’m reading.
Spitty has more of a gradual takeoff and requires more board speed (my 900). The 890 is a fun surfy, turny wing but is slow and draggy compared to the thinner, sexier Spitty. They do share similar turning qualities but the Spitfire can be railed much harder with much more confidence. My 900 pumps better and glides better than my 890 although nowhere near the ART’s. Its basically a super upgrade to the 890. I kept my 890 for my kids and beginners as it is a really easy wing to learn and go slow on.
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This weekend I got to demo the 900 during a good swell here in California. As advertised, it turns great. Some of the best carves I’ve ever done on foil. The gradual predictable lift made take offs easy.
I couldn’t figure out how to pump it. Maybe it was the conditions but I was stalling everywhere. The wind was onshore (typical for here) and as soon as I pointed into the wind it was game over. I guess you need to keep your speed much higher on this wing.
Yeah the spittys are hard to pump during proning. You need alot of speed and high on the mast. From letting go of the tow rope the spitty pumps great and I’m on the 780 almost always at 85+kg.
What I’ve found helps the pump is a longer fuse, going to the short adv plus fuse, the pump is way better as well as the glide and speed when I let go of the rope.
Yes I feel that pumping the BSC 890 is much harder on cardio but more forgiving of mistakes. There were situations when I stalled the spitfire that I know I could have saved on my other wing.
I rode the 810 BSC once or twice so possibly not that useful but really weird pump that seemed impossibly lifty, though I quite liked how slow it was, could stay in the pocket of the wave almost like surfboard speed. The spitfire is much more “normal” in a relative sense that you can just pump, but it is definitely way different to BSC or PNG which both have that rock hard lift at pretty much any speed
You can say this of pretty much any older wings vs their newer counterparts
I have been proning sf 900 for a month now, and i can tell you it pumps great. You need few sessions to get the proper technique. It doesn’t pump like art, but it’s not that far,. You can recover from low speed, and after passing white water you can continue, wich is quite hard on the art. I manage to ride it at very low speed. If you felt that spitfire has not a low stall speed, it’s because you haven’t rode this wing enough.