I would appreciate some input from people that have more gear experience than me. I live in the Archipelago of Stockholm where I foil mostly behind my tow boogie in flat water. Right now I use a older Axis SP860 which carves well while being towed. Im looking to upgrade to newer gear but get some analysis paralysis on everything available.
Im about 68-71kg depending on season
Looking for a foil that is great at carving
Riding Axis now but willing to swap brands
Most sessions will be towed behind a tow boogie in flat water
Occasional trips where I can prone, probably never above overhead, barely chest/head as max.
Ive been looking at F-One Sk8 or the Armstrong MA MKII, both these brands also have slightly higher representation in the second hand market here.
Anyone can give me some insight what I should be looking for, Design-wise, aspect-wise and size-wise?
I’d say that you can’t go wrong with any modern foil.
My 2 cents :
When you want to carve, you now have 2 choices :
Surf oriented foils that can glide
Glide oriented foils that can surf
The thing is that you can size down the “glide oriented foils that can surf” compared to the “surf oriented foils that can glide”. For instance, as you mention Armstrong, the HA MKII 880 should be more or less equivalent to the MA MKII 990.
Once you understood that, the choice between these two is guided by your local conditions, and your personal preferences / riding style. And about this I guess you can only ask to peoples riding the same spot and extrapolate it to your personal preference.
Good news is that both Armstrong and FOne have good foils in both 8AR and 10AR.
I’d personally go for Armstrong because they are more user friendly and stiffer.
But hey, I’m 25kg heavier and you have a boogie, so maybe you don’t care that much about user friendliness (aka low end, pumpability…).
Just remember that you should not throw away Armstrong HA MKII or FOne Eagle from your wishlist as you just can go one or two size down and so get back some carving ability.
This is really good advice I didn’t consider I think Ive had a bit of tunnelvision on some foils that “sounds” good and people rave about on YT/forums. I do care about low-end and pumpability for the times I do trips to places where theres waves/bumps. I also see winging in my future since I cant travel with a boogie. I might even stay on Axis system, just the sheer amount of stuff they offer makes it overwhelming.
The foil community here where I live is very small and 99% focused on winging so not much gear around and slightly different needs, hence why I ask in this fourm.
Anyway thanks, I got more to think about now
I think Ive had a bit of tunnelvision on some foils that “sounds” good and people rave about on YT/forums. I do care about low-end and pumpability for the times I do trips to places where theres waves/bumps. I also see winging in my future since I cant travel with a boogie. I might even stay on Axis system, just the sheer amount of stuff they offer makes it overwhelming.
