Agree…the DW tails are really only useful for DW and generally miserable on turns. So much so that I prefer the monobloc carve tails for DW if conditions are good and I don’t need ultimate efficiency.
See if you can grab a 160 or 180 and get a rematch.
I use the 1050 sk8 as my light wind foil and absolutely love it. Low end is great, plenty fast and generally just very easy to ride. I use the C200 tail and more recently the 161-W.
75kg and Sunova Carver 85l. Also got at Omen 60l. I guess all things are relative and I’ve never tried the silks but I’m very happy with my sk8s, I also think the stall speed of the 1050 is very good, sometimes when I fluff a tack I’m surprised how I’m able to stay on foil
Interested to hear how you have gone. For the Sk8 - I have found that longer fuse and smaller tail are great for the SK8’s - better in larger waves and smoothes out the experience at speed for me. Carbon short fuselage and the C200, chopped down to about 150 or smaller. This is how Adam Bennetts had his Sk8’s set up I think. I have only used sk8 950 - 750 like this. One concern I have for the silk is that the fuse might be a bit short and get twitchy in bigger waves? Not sure how big the swell in the Gorge is?
Did you try with any other tails apart from the DW?
SK8 650 or 750 and xxxs carving 160 is pretty much the jam. Longer fuse (xs) 160C and 140C are waiting for me at home. Will report back how those gel with SK8.
I’m surprised to hear you say you didn’t like how they turned…I feel like you can push these about as hard as you want and pick as tight of a line as you can dream up. Roll is instant and rewarding.
Only time I’ve felt things get at all stiff is if they’re overpowered. I also did find that a bit further back in the box worked better.
I’ve never tried any of the bigger sizes of the SK8, not sure how they perform.
That’s good to hear - for a long time I preferred the 690 Eagle to the 750 SK8, and it’s still kind of a toss up. Speed on the 690 is just such a joy, but the 750 is maybe a bit more full-on surf feels. Very close though, and pretty similar in pump.
You cannot compare the sk8 and the silk on the same board, silk is made for no foil box rocker and sk8 for around 1degree rocker depending what foil sport you do it’s can greatly change the feeling of the foil .
Never tried the silks, might buy the kit at some point because the feedback is overwhelmingly positive, but I have used the eagles and sk8 for the last year and a half.
I’m close to 80kg, proning usually high period waves and winging those in 10-20kts winds.
In the eagles the 790 feels magic to me for its glide and turning. It starts getting a bit locked in the turns when overpowered which happens around chest high. The eagle 890 felt quite slow to roll. Have not owned the 690. Eagles suffer in choppy conditions.
In the sk8s the 650 and 750 feel great, although the 650 is a bit too hard work for me. They track and tend to lock in when overpowered but it doesn’t really happen in most conditions for me, unless you tow I think you are sweet. The 850 and 950 feel harder to roll, and with time spent on those I now feel that this is the main thing missing. Unless you have them a bit underpowered they lock quite a bit at speed, they track like the smaller sizes but that feature becomes a problem.
All of that is tested with XS and S fuse, kd13r no shim. Also a chopped C200 but more drag.
I suspect the small eagles where great surf wings by accident. I heard the fone team then developped first the sk8 750 by chopping the eagle 790, which is the best sk8 of the range in my opinion. They then did the same for the other sizes but that is where they could have done a better job with making them looser on the roll axis. It might have been because they tuned them with shorter fuses and bigger tails, not sure.
Overall still great wings, and amazing to see that yet again, new foils are outperforming 2 yrs old foils, exciting times! Will report back if I try afs.