Hey Ikaika, I love this topic!
BTW, this is my first post, new to the forum, so sorry if I missed an introduction page…Stoked to have a foil brained group to chat with!
I live on Maui and DW with the 120 a few times a week. I have been on a bit of a tail blackhole for a while, so I will post about each. In my opinion the stock lift tails are either too squirrely or not fast enough, neither of which suit me. The 25 glide feels like it is going to slide out when the bumps get big, and the 32 is just not fast enough, so my first step is to get the adapter from foilparts.com (get the long one for DW). Kane lives down the street from me, so I have the benefit of either owning or borrowing most of his tails, plus I have been experimenting with the Axis Progressive tails on the 120 too. Here is my opinion of each:
KD Maui tail - I have the 14.5 and the 13.5 and both are a better option for DW than the stock tails. The 14.5 is a good stable tail that provides lost of lift and nice low end, but it is a bigger tail, so I don’t really get much above 22mph top speeds, and my averages are normally in the low 14’s with this set up on the 120. The 13.5 is a bit faster, for me about .3 mph faster on average, but if the bumps are small it is more work. The low end is a touch higher, but pretty negligible in my opinion. I like both of these tails with a 1 degree shim, to lower the lift. The speed increases and the glide is better. Good tails, but I wanted to go faster…
KD Maui Boomerang 12" - This tail pumps amazing, but it gets very twitchy at high speed. For a low wind day, it turns great and the low end is awesome, but when Maliko is head high, this wing scares me. Can’t comment about MPH averages, because I have not tried it enough to be confidant about averages, but it didn’t feel as fast (top end) as the smaller KD tail shimmed with less lift.
KD Ahi - I don’t think this tail is available for sale yet, but it is really good. Kane if you are reading this, I would love it, but it is a bit too big for me. It is so stable, that it does not feel fast, but it is. I was getting average miles at over 15mph for 5 out of 10 miles the first time I used it, and I thought it was slow. Its not slow, its just crazy stable. The low end is amazing too. The problem for me, is that the size kills my back leg. Kane said I need to shim my mast, but I have not done that yet. My gut says that if it was smaller, this would be a very good option.
KD Maui 13R - For me, this tail is magic. It is a bit twitchier than the original KD tails, but the average speed and the top speed are much better, and as long as you are paying attention, it turns really well… I am consistently getting 15+ MPH averages over a full Maliko, and I had my best ever Maliko on this tail. It was a very very big day, so some of that due to was conditions, (top speed was 28mph average speed was 16mph) but I have run it a bunch since, and my averages are .5 MPH better that the original KD tails. The low end is good, the top end much is better, pumps well, this tail is amazing.
Axis 400 Progressive - foil parts has an adapter for this too. I was so excited to run axis tails with the lift stuff. You have to turn the adapter upside-down because axis is a top mount. I have a Axis 999 and I love the 400P with the 999 on lighter days. I was excited to try these two together, but its too big for me on the 120. Same problem as the Ahi tail, it is hard on my back leg. Lift is good, turns ok but needs a lot of back leg, top end not better than the KD originals and harder on my leg.
Axis 375 Progressive - This would be my wing of choice, if I didn’t have the 13R to choose instead. For me, it is a better fit to the 120 than the 400P. Faster average and top speed. Lifts well, but it does not turn as well as the 13R.
I hope this helps you all in your journey to find the perfect tail! Its a arms race out there! Good luck.
-Shep
