The 9’6 is the highest AR board I’ve seen at 6.6
Pretty spicy dims!
2 Likes
Its very light that’s for sure. No serious damage though, just plenty of scratches from going through the learning process, I have not had to do any serious repair on it. I have rail tape on the side i paddle on.
1 Like
I love how these manufacturers talk about light weight but then don’t include any numbers.
I have learned building boards that weight is very predictable. If they can’t predict the weight then there is a quality control problem at the factory. Note* KT does share it’s weight estimates.
Another observation is that everyone is going longer. 7’ and 7’6" is very last year. A neighbor from California just did the Kaiko’s run and saw the majority of downwind guys on Oahu were all using 8’ - 9’ boards.
3 Likes
I think I heard the 8’2 98L is sub 13 lbs. A slightly lighter layup than the standard DW board.
Good clip from Oskar explaining the design considerations of the new crop of boards.
1 Like
The 105L is hard to stand on at first but feels so good when flying. Looks like you got to test it! The more I DW, the more I feel like a slightly longer board would be good for easier pop-ups on smaller foils, but for me at my level it’s been great.
Track position I think has a big role to play. the V1 Kalamas have the tracks significantly back for the Lift setup I’m riding. Perhaps Dave made some modifications in the newer version. I’m excited to give it a go! It might also be the cutaway at the back. There’s a nice, direct feel with the foil. It might also have something to do with the weight / shape, but hard for me to pinpoint exactly. The KT V1 is rounder and shorter vs. the longer, flatter shape of the Kalama V1.
the new kalama definitely has longer tracks than the first gen
1 Like
Hey guys. Maybe this vid may help shed some light about the new Barracuda boards
V2 Kalama Barracuda
1 Like
I heard these were coming.
New Jimmy Lewis Twisted V
From the website:
DOWNWIND MASTERY
To be able to catch a glide while doing a downwind run, the board needs to be quick. With the low drag, speed shape of this board you get moving effortlessly into glides. The unique Twisted V tail shape allows the tail to knife effortlessly into the water when the board is pumped as well as squirts it forward with its shape. Often overlooked and not taken into consideration are the occasional touch downs that happen. The “seaplane” bottom shape that contributes to the acceleration of the board for catching the glide also has zero resistance on touch downs and re-directs the board off of the water and back up onto the foil.
TWISTED V DIMENSIONS
- 7’10” x 20.0” x 6.0” 113.6 L
- 7’10” x 22.0” x 6.0” x 125 L
- 8’2” x 21.0” x 6.0” x 124.3 L
- 8’2” x 23.0” x 6.0” x 136.1 L
- 8’6” x 22” x 6.0” x 135.5 L
- 8’6” x 24” x 6.0” x 147.8 L
My .000002 cents. A lot of these companies are going right towards what the advanced guys are going out on. You have a lot more people who are beginners/weekend warriors/not living in Hawaii getting in the DW game. They don’t care about the how small a board or fast they can go, they just want to go DW on the foil. And them jumping right on to a board that is 20"-21" wide and spending weeks or months struggling to get it after spending lots of money doesn’t do a lot for their foiling happiness. These boards being more to the slightly longer and wider side giving a little bit more stability will increase the fun for a lot of these people. Myself included. We have all seen videos of people getting up on smaller and narrower boards. We don’t see or hear about how long it took them to get to those points. We know it takes a while. Some of people cant dedicate that amount of time for a super narrow board. A lot of people are going to the narrower racy mini DW boards for winging. Myself included, Loving them. But we all did not start on them. Most of us started on larger more stable boards. Look at the videos of the naish 7’4 DW board. 25" wide and people are flat water starting them and DWing with them with no problem.
I am definitely interested in one of these.
3 Likes
My personal experience paddling back to back between a 7’ x 19" and a 6’7 x 23", the 19" board feels more stable. Width being only one factor, length makes up for a lot of width. Mast length and foil span are also significant factors. That said, I’m sure a 25" wide board would be more stable than my 23", all other parameters being the same.
1 Like
This is currently I think a fact of downwind it is bloody difficult and a weekend warrior is going to be
very disappointed if they expect it to be easy regardless of what they buy (other than a motor 
)
I have the same general impression, and I’m not even sure that the 25" would be more stable in the conditions that ultimately are all that matter - bumpy offshore. I don’t quite see how length comes into the stability but I definitely felt the 23" board harder work to balance than the 20" of roughly equal volume. All of this uncertainty explains why the weekend warrior is going to be disappointed - No easy answers…
Interesting. Definitely catering to a broader audience
1 Like
I think people really like to brag about how many times they’ve cried in the middle of the ocean.
17 Likes
Some other new players.
Lift foil has one
And Kings paddle board has ton of different sizes available
1 Like
Can someone explain why those, lighter boards (build with less material) are almost double a normal board?
The hype is over, manufactures must be realistic with downwind boards.
I do not think it is justified to put a higher price that a windsurf board.
2 Likes
This defies explanation unless the manufacturer proves they’re truly using exotic materials to achieve both strength and light weight.
As to price, this will come down as well just as there are now ‘pricepoint’ wingfoil brands compared to 3-5 years ago. Hasn’t it been interesting to watch the free market and human nature in general over the very short history of foil sports? Completely predictable.
Ooooo, something new. Let’s make it super expensive while we can 
3 Likes
When a foil brand’s board alone costs more than a focused shaper like Amos + shipping from Australia you know the price is wrong. Never buy boards from wing kite or foil companies, they are worse in every way including price. Look at F One’s board prices if you want to be amazed.
3 Likes