Had my new Evo 115 for about two weeks now and managed 6 prone and 2 kite foil sessions.
Executive summary: It’s f@#$n SICK!
Long story:
Middle aged frother. 95kg kook. Been prone foiling for a few years now and on Unifoil since the beginning. Seems every man and his dog is a (Foil Drive assisted) brand ambassador these days. I’m not. Paid retail for all my gear, except for a few Hyper 1’s that I bought second hand.
Some first impressions of the Evo 115:
Definitely more front foot pressure than the Progression and Vyper. Had to move feet about 1 inch forward. Tuned it back now with a negative 0.5 shim and it feels like I could go to negative 1deg even. Advantage is less drag with the same stab. I like that. Also feel I can lean into the toe-side turns more.
Pitch stability is very good. Once it’s up, it just wants to stay up. Feels like I could probably go to the short fuse, but don’t want to loose pumping.
It pumps amazing! Feels like the pitch stability helps smooth out my pump mistakes. If you keep it high on the mast, it just goes. The Progression 140 sometimes feels like it’s got a motor on it. This thing has a jet engine. So fast in pump, I was catching up to my friend motoring out with his Manta Flow 3-blade at full throttle. So fun.
It carves really well. I’ve mostly been doing drawn out high speed carves while proning, but also tested lower speed zig-zag yaw turns on the kite. Very close to my Vyper 130 and almost feels easier to keep high.
In 2 ft beach break I struggled a bit with the higher stall speed and to pump through white water. It’s not a groveler for me - I have the 170 and 140 for that. But for a 740cm2 wing to even lift my weight in those conditions is crazy.
It’s obviously fast. I have not found it’s top speed with the kite yet. Prone carves at speed is very addictive as you know.
I can imagine the DW guys will enjoy this wing. With the extra efficiency, i’ve managed to get my first no-pump 600m run back to the beach, just gliding on a 2ft bump.
It’s interesting how foil sizes have been dropping. I mostly used a 230 Hyper and 175 Vortex in the early days. Then 170 Vyper and 190 Hyper. When i got the Progressions i loved the 170 but really didn’t get along with hhe 140. Now hhe 140 is my daily driver.
Only shimming tails. Have a chopped up collection of DIY tails and the 14’ G10s. Using the stock Shunt 14 with negative 0.5 on the 115. Odd combo that seems to work very well. Sure the p13.5 and 14.5 will be great too.
Thanks for the review. Your mention of using the Evo for kiting caught my eye. I’ve been riding different foils for kiting and the Evo for foil drive, winging, parawinging, and DW. I’d love to have just one “kit”. How was it for kiting? Thanks for any thoughts. Greg
Hi Greg. It probably depends how you kite foil if the Evo will work for you.
For me, i’ve always just used the same strapless prone board and 83cm mast. I go in sub 15knots with 8m and just cruise and carve around with the occasional speed run for fun.
Up till now, ive used my Vyper 130 for kite foil. It rolls and carves very well and has crazy low stall for transitions.
Ive had 4 kite sessions now with the 115 and really enjoy it. It’s obviously got a little higher stall speed compared to the 130, but that just required a little adjustment on takeoff. In transitions it keeps enough speed and just glides through.
Speed runs have been very exhilarating…
I believe it’s a big win for my prone foil game if i can use the same foil for kiting. Gives me hours on-foil to practice carving, pitch control and to tune stab/shim setups.
Hope that helps.
