2 Sessions in on my Flux 5’11", 84 L. Daily driver was a Fantastic SkyWing 85L but also use a 75L SkyWing.Front foot straps on both.
Session 1- flat water, 13-17 mph, Cloud IX 1350, 5M Ocean Rodeo A series, magical, super easy getting up on foil, comfortable, had a blast
Session 2- “The Humbler”, 25-35 MPH, 5’-8’ angry chaos rollers with lots of cross chop, Cloud IX 850, 4M OR. I haven’t been this uncomfortable since I was learning. I had a very difficult time finding where my feet needed to be. I did have some great flagging rides where the board felt nimble and comfortable, what I imagined the board would feel like. But, I spent a lot of time flopping. When i was on foil with wing in hands, I never got comfortable.
I know if I was on my 85L skywing, I would have had an all time session
The Flux has no reference markers on the deck pad. I would make adjustments to my foot position but never got to the “I got it” position.
I realize I went from one extreme to another, but I felt like if I had front straps my session would have been way better.
Take this feedback with a grain of salt as I’ve only had two sessions on my 48L Flux:
Session #1
Omen Flux 48L
Progression 140/Medium fuse/Marlin 14
Axis 90cm AL mast
Duotone Unit 4m
15kts (dropping to 12kts) & choppy
I am coming off an Axis Froth 75L with the Y strap (which I really like) and I wasn’t able to get a similar stance on the Flux given the insert arrangement. I tried three methods to start (stinkbug, kneel on board and grab wing and sink board before grabbing wing) which all had their pros and cons. I quickly realized that I needed my knees on either side of the straps and that waiting for a gust was critical to get going. Once up towards the surface, the longer board length helped the board start moving and gaining speed. I really like the narrowness and overall shape once up and riding. I did struggle on a few starts which led to some frustration but the breeze had dropped and I should’ve known to size up when dialing in a new board. Overall a short but fruitful session but the footstrap alignment needed attention.
Omen Flux 48L
Progression 140/Medium fuse/Marlin 14 (-1.0 shim)
Katana 75cm mast
Duotone Unit 5.5m
12-13kts & smooth
Headed to the flatwater spot to work on starts, strap placement and overall boardhandling. Figured out the stinkbug but again, it’s important to watch for puffs before trying to grab power to go from knees to standing to foiling. With my 75L, I can muscle up almost all my foils (999,799,P140) with an aggressive board/wing pump. With this 48L, I found that I need to be patient or I’ll just burn energy plowing water. Footstrap placement was slightly better but still too “toed in” as my Y strap on the Froth allows me to point my front foot towards the nose more which I really like when trying to crank upwind. Board felt great once up on foil and I proceeded to put it through it’s paces starting with lots of jibes and then toeside and heelside tacks. The Progression 140 is amazing for winging as I can confidently push through carving jibes and the glide makes tacks easy as well. The smaller, lighter board also helps with tacks as there’s less swing weight and if I get sloppy, I can throw in a few board pumps to power out. I tried a few jumps and the Flux is night and day better than my Froth. If I landed to vertically, I could pump the wing a few times to get back up on foil quickly and if I had good forward momentum on the landing, the nose just seemed to skip off the surface and I was right back up on foil. I also tried a few straight line runs and managed almost 25mph (21.5kts). Footswaps were trick as expected given the footstrap orientation and the general narrow nature of the shape. I pulled off a bunch of swaps but will need more practice out in the bumps.
Overall, I’m happy with the board as it has ticked all the boxes I was looking for in a board (narrow, light, durable). Hoping to get some footage during my next session.
I’m used to riding with straps on a smaller board and I had a similar struggle in terms of foot placement on my Apple Skipper DW. There was so much blank deck space compared to what I was used to, I was having a hard time dialing my foot placement. The solution for me was gluing down some textured “reference pads” on top of the deck pad. I stuck a tail pad down to guide my back foot, and I put two parallel traction strips down where I want my front foot to be placed (depending on whether Im riding goofy or regular). This was a huge help in finding my footing sweet spot.
I just used a wide surfboard tail pad, and got some 3m backed textured sheets that I cut to size (NSI has them). I’m loving the setup ever since I made this tweak.
NSI makes those stick on inserts but I’m trying to avoid that if at all possible. I guess my biggest issue is that my toes touch the other footstrap. Not a big deal. I’ll get used to it I’m sure.
Sorry, I was replying to BillyHarroow. Not sure why the system shows me replying to you. I meant the stick on NSI traction (not the strap inserts - those don’t work very well).
Finally got a session on this board today, works really well so far. Compared to my other 5’0"x22" wing board that’s about the same volume, it’s more stable due to the length and it gets up quite a bit easier. In particular I noticed that I can pump the board a lot more aggressively to get on foil when underpowered. Where the shorter boards would often dig the nose in a chop or just sort of bog down, this one doesn’t. Some of this is the rocker and hard rails forward and I think there’s also something going on with the narrower tail with rocker and panel vee off the back that helps with balance when bouncing the board hard. I did a bunch small of strapless jumps and breaches and it skips off the water nicely, I did not feel like I had to lean way back to keep the nose up. Today was a mellow 15 to 20 with 2’ wind chop, so a perfect day to feel the new board out… Tomorrow is going to be 10’ 13 second swell and gusting into the 30’s, so should be a good test in some more radical conditions
@Velocicraptor@Gneve thanks for your responses. Although I wanted to go strapless, I ended up putting on front straps. From years of winging and Windsurfing with straps, I think my muscle memory required straps.
Session 3 update-15-25 mph, 4 meter, waist to chest rollers,
Total Redemption Session- straps made all the difference, had an absolute blast, board is so nimble, paired with Cloud IX FS850 it made a magic session
With my limited experience on the 48L, the tail didn’t affect jumping in any way that I could tell. I’m still working on dialing in my strap/stance but I don’t mind the offset rear strap.
I’m 80kg, on an Appleslice v2 60L as my everyday board. The Omen team said they thought I could replace it with the 48L but I’m wary of taking away that much volume (even with the significantly different shape).
Had a fun session on the new 5’10" a couple days ago, 25-30 knots with double overhead surf. Not much to add really, no bad habits and getting up (stinkbug) in super choppy conditions is easier than the shorter boards I’ve had.
So far so good, curious to try the wide point back style like the Omen board vs wide point forward like mine
I’ve been pretty happy with this one I built recently.
It came out at 12.5lbs for 6’7" x 23" 130L (I’m huge, at 130KG and 6’6" so this is just barely a floater).
I think the weight is important with these boards.
Though it took me only one session to realize that I could have gone narrower. but it still worked pretty amazing. I had it out a couple days ago in good sized swell, first in 15knots then building to about 25+. I was super happy on it!
Eventhough everyone says it feels light, I do find the swing weight noticeable (but not problematic) compared to my other go to board (5’6" and 10lbs). I wouldn’t want it any heavier.
optical illusion in the photos… the nose looks longer than it is, and the mast rear is 16.5" from the tail, so it’s actually further up than it looks, and is pretty perfectly balanced. Despite maybe helping with the swing weight, I wouldn’t want mast any further forwards.
This board is a keeper for oddball conditions. and learning from it my next “daily” (smaller) board will go 4" longer and 3.5" narrower than my current daily.
I’m definitely sold on the longer/narrower concept for winging. But I’d be weary of the weight of some of the production boards.
Hello everyone!
Here’s the one I draw in Shape3d and it’s currently being build by my local shaper
Got the Konrad Stryker as a reference, adjusted volume to my needs, and was a bit hesitant on going down to 17" wide, stayed a bit more conservative at 18" since also I reduced volume (I’m only 68kg).
5’0" x 18" x 47lts
Prone mid-lebght
All-round sinker wing
Stoke foil assisted DW board
Not sure yet if going with straps, not such a friend for them, but as my all-round wing board, I’d rather do it for casual jumping and when friendly racing.
Looks great! I bet you’ll love it. I’ve proned my 5’10" a couple of times and it’s actually a really fun prone board despite being 80l (I’m 94kg). I’m on a family trip to Hawaii right now and just brought that one since I didn’t want to drag multiple boards for winging and prone.
