Omen announced their new foil - Agent. Greg posted the initial tech talk about the foil on YouTube with more info on the way.
Looks like a really nice med-high AR wing (about 10) and maybe more importantly, a well balanced setup that requires minimal decision making by the customer. I’m looking forward to hearing more about the lift profile he said they will discuss in upcoming videos.
Also there are options for an aluminum or titanium fuse. My hunch is that there won’t be as much interest in aluminum esp since there’s only a $300 price difference. That’s not nothing but if you’re already spending this much on a foil setup, $300 to not have to worry about corrosion and lighten the weight is pretty much a no brainer, at least for this forum’s members I would imagine. Plus, it’s titanium!
There hasn’t been much info released on the mast fuse joint connection yet but that’s something I’ll be looking for more details on. The mast is HM carbon and made by NoLimitz. Looks like it will be 14.9x117mm. So not bleeding edge dimensions for this forum’s members but given some people’s weights, probably better suited for a wider range of customers.
Overall IMHO, I think it’s a pretty fair price point for a complete foil package (under $3k) that’s well balanced. I don’t know that I can justify displacing my current setups but I’ll be interested in demoing it when I can this summer. Exciting to see so much new stuff coming out this year!
Here’s the YouTube announcement. Some heavy hitters in the comments like HydroGav. I’m on a WhatApp thread with Omen riders and all the initial reviews from the last few months have been good. I haven’t personally seen an Agent in the flesh yet. Maybe this summer.
NoLimitz is no longer around. So I don’t think that’s the mast manufacturer anymore. It was always a specific mast for Omen though. I’ve had no issues with my masts in 2 years. The foot is built for Omen, not an adapter
Omen had arguably one of the most ahead of it’s time construction systems but so few foil selections. It was always a one foil quiver concept. But in reality there’s absolutely a place for an ar 13 foil, an ar 9.5, and an lower AR one. It’s like code coming out with their 850s on day one and never making any other models, yeah it’s a one foil quiver, but I like all the other models. Thats why it’s been hard to get into the omen ecosystem. I wish they had fully expanded their foil range years ago like the other companies have because usually you’d want to have all the foil disciplines you need in one brand.
I’m not arguing your point. However, the simplicity is so nice. I have 2 foils in my car. (850 and 1050 operator) I am covered for every discipline at all times. I demoed a full KT setup. 2 masts, 4 front wings, 3 tail wings, 2 full packs of shims. While I enjoyed having the demo kit. When I gave it back I was very happy. 90% of my sessions I put the 1050 on and know I will have a good time. (primarily wing these days) It’s so simple. No decision paralysis. (no changing shims)
Interesting that (A) looks like their marketing still references the partnership with NoLimitz on the mast, and (B) even the tail sizes seem pretty big.
Agree that narrower more focused ranges appeal to me too. When I can use two foils to get 85% performance in all conditions, vs having 5 foils for an incremental 5-10% increase in specific conditions, I’d take the two foils all day. With a few stabilizers that 5-10% increase might even be narrower.
That speech about perfectly matching the tail to the front wing, taking all the guesswork out of the system, that’s a nice goal, but isn’t that kind of valid only for a range of rider weights?
I don’t pretend to know enough about the physics and I don’t have “the data”, but I imagine there are massive loading differences between a petite 55kg rider and a chunky 110kg dude. In practice, both can ride that same 900 size foil, but the former will use it at lower speed, in low energy conditions, while the later will have to use it at higher speed in steeper conditions, and each will typically compensate one way or the other with different sized tail, different shimming, whether the aim is to improve the low end or the top end.
Am I missing something here?
I’ve been riding the agent for a few weeks and like it a lot so far. I’ve had the operators since they came out and the agent builds on what I liked about those. I have limited time to go foiling, so the perfectly matched setup appeals to me a lot. I don’t want to blow a session because I picked the wrong tail or the wrong shim. Only thing I’m waiting for now is a new mast, which is in the works.I’m also considering buying a kparts mast. Greg sent him a cad file for the adapter so omen is supported
The matched tail is weight dependent and omen provides guidance on that. There’s a mini shim set that comes with the setup that you have to apply if you’re very light (or very heavy)
I believe this is more about how the lift changes through the speed range of the tail in proportion to the drag on the front wing. Drag on a foil creates a nose down pitching moment, and the tails job is to counteract this and keep the system stable. My understanding is: shimming a tail can adjust for this force but may not optimize it over a all operating conditions. The foil section on the tail dictates how this balance changes through the speed range.
A tail that builds lift too quickly with relation to the drag will cause a foil to feel more front footed as speed increases. A byproduct of this is that the system becomes more stable as speed increases because the rider has to shift their center of mass farther in front of the center of lift (look up weathervein stability) - but this also increases the drag on the system.
Conversely, if a tail does not build enough lift going faster, will require a rider to counteract the drag force by shifting their weight backwards, this decreases the inherent stability of the system, but also creates less drag.
OK, makes sense, my concerns were legit, but my mistake for not reading the web page, and just going with the youtube speech, I actually found this bit on their page: Provided you are 150 to 190 lbs, no shim is needed, just bolt on your tail and go. Lighter riders should use the included -0.33° shim and heavier riders the +0.33° shim.
Looks like that tiny shim caters for the whole spectrum of riders without needing a different tail size. That’s pretty good.
There would also be a shim adjustment for different mast lengths. The old operators also had that.
The wide speed range of the foils has been a huge benefit to me in miami where there’s often very little wind. (Way too many sessions in the 12 ish knot of wind range). I suspect many other brands do most testing in great conditions and then the foil suffers when used in less optimal conditions
The short answer is that I haven’t seen a need to go back to the operator after getting the agent. (Which is the opposite of what i did after getting both afs enduro and kt atlas setups, where i ended up back on the operators) The agent 900 has a bit higher stall speed than the 1050 operator and it doesn’t have the same kind of shovel style low end where you can almost dig the foil out of the water, but it has less drag so builds speed easily so in practice I think I can get going in more or less the same conditions as the 1050. I think the 900 can replace both the 1050 and 850.
Long time Omen rider on the Operator series…these foils were truly ahead of the curve at the time of release and are still more versatile and dynamic than most offerings out there. I think that Greg’s design philosophy of “less is more” is spot on for the majority of riders out there. I want performance and versatility in my 2 wings, not a million different wings for every discipline with monthly releases for the same…talk about consumer burnout. I think the Agents have been crafted with this ongoing theme in mind and will sort most riders out for 99% of foiling regardless of power source ie. wing, tow, pw, or FD. I recently picked up both the 900 and 700 Agents and their Fix tail wings, and I’m stoked to see where this pushes my progression. I’ve only had the chance to whip in on flat water off of a ski, but I was immediately impressed with the enhanced pumping of both of these. I am 175 lbs and was able to flat water pump the 700 on glass until my fitness became the limiting factor…didn’t think that would be possible on a wing that size. I can’t wait to push these in different disciplines. Heading to Portugal this weekend and will hopefully have some tow beta to share on the 700…
