Whoa.
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Maybe its just me but I’m not sure removing screws from a foil is a problem worth solving. It’s really not bad if you get a 5 volt electric screwdriver to make it fast.
This seems like it could result in a shaky connection, isn’t the fuse going through a hole the reason Armstrong mast design is criticized?
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Yeah, I’d MAKE the foil out if screws if it would be even an iota stiffer. So far as I’ve felt every system with a compression fit allong that axis has been tricky. Armie is flexy and gofoil needs the mallet. The only way this works and is stiff is if slingshot has tightened up production tolerances by an order of magnitude.
Honestly I bet this is fine for small span front wings for blasting around on kite or wing in the gorge but I doubt it’s up to snuff for pumping on a larger span surf foil or DW
I would bet people stripping bolt holes drives a lot of warranty claims.
It’s an interesting method, I like that it has a screw to adjust the tension. Ideal for a screw-less system. I’m wondering how the mast end loop will hold up against the pressure.
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Yes! I agree the screw is really handy in making a screw less system
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I spent about a month using it exclusively for DW in the gorge with large span foils for small days and big 40+ mph days. Stiff connection, works great, amazingly easy to disassembly for shuttle. I’m not affiliated with Slingshot but was lucky to get proto to test.
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I’m just glad slingshot isn’t turning in Moses/sabfoils homework from 2018 anymore.
Honestly, as with all things stiffness critical I’ll only believe it when I put my hands on it. It seems like lots of brands still don’t know what it means to have a properly stiff and robust connection system.
I got to test a kitefoil setup for a couple of weeks. The connection is rock solid. And the brilliance of the design is if it ever gets loose from wear, you simply increase the tensioner and voila, completely rock solid again.
Now I hope they figure out something for the other end of the mast. An entirely screw-free rig would be…amazing.
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The action looks like a bicycle seat post quick release clamp, and like seat post clamps, you don’t see them on performance bikes
I may be wrong on the Armstrong style fuse through mast hole - I believe the issue was that over time the hole could widen and create more space. I don’t think tightening the tension on that would have any affect in that sense.
Anyways I agree with BWalnut, screws dont suck, and I would not switch for this convenience. Front Wings are mostly what determines what system people use.
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I checked if out yesterday and it looks well designed with wedges on each side creating tightness even with wear.
Not a problem worth solving if you rarely disassemble your foil, but screws and tools become a major headache when you are doing dw laps with groups of people on different brands, frequently switch wings, or instruct from a boat
If the hole were to open further due to wear I believe it actually would still work fine. The way the front and tail fuse halves come together is using a triangular wedge. If you increase the tension, the fuse effectively gets thicker. Fred explains it more fully here: Fred Hope on Instagram: "3 years of development to get here. Our new One-Lock foil system is the future of hydro foiling."
I’m actually pretty sold on the concept - both for the convenience and the lightness. And it feels REALLY smooth even considering the demo I had looked like previous users ran it into the shallows quite a bit. I will probably want a wing foil upgrade next summer, so the only remaining questions for me are how much it’s going to cost and how good the foils in this system (for winging) are going to be.
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I’m comparing it to their own previous Phantasm with both a bigger and heavier mast; and a heavier aluminum fuselage. The main advantage of the removal of all the bolts is the convenience - no worries about if you have the right bolt length, about losing a bolt, about forgetting your tools, about having to grease them, about getting sand trapped in the grease, etc. Swapping tails or front foil is a trivial matter now too.
I’m a big fan of minimalist design and for me, this is a step in the right direction. I just need to see some good foils and a reasonable price.
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I don’t find bolting the various parts together difficult in any way. I like being able to change out the front foil, rear foil, and fuse length independently. In 4 years of foiling I’ve forgotten my screw box all of one time, and that was very recently and I was easily able to borrow a screw set from someone.
I also wonder about both the short and long term stiffness of this system. It certainly won’t like getting sand or dirt inside that slip fitting.
The claim that it has less drag is also questionable as the contours from mast to fuse and the locking mechanism are just as pronounced as any screw heads. The mast to fuse joint in particular looks very clunky.
I’m more mechanically minded than most people, so I recognize there are folks out there who would be attracted to a screw-less system. For them I guess it makes sense. But overall to me it’s just a gimmick to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.
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Gotta say, I’m perplexed by all the negative here. Looks truly ingenious. I personally hate screws and have stayed on my GoFoils due to the ease of assembly and extreme durability. If this system proves durable and their foils are good, I’d jump ship to have two less screws and be on the water before you all! Reminds me of when Slinghot invented the one-pump bladder. Didn’t take long for everyone to stop inflating each strut one at a time even if it did make a slight performance difference…
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No comment on the connection system, but I don’t recall seeing any notable stoke about Slingshot foils on this forum, or seabreeze in the last couple years…isn’t that much more relevant, or am I missing something?
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IMHO this is a solution looking for a problem. You save a minute or so and introduce a risk of unreliability, stiffness, etc.
I am on Mikeslab. In that context, it is a “complicated” system since you need 4 screws to attach a plane to a mast. It takes about 40 seconds. The screws are widely available and inexpensive so you can throw away the old ones at the slightest sign of wear. The system is ultimately simple, rock solid and proven by racers who stress the equipment way more than an average rider. The variants of this system has been used by AFS, KT, F-one to name a few. So the question is why?
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I think the screw less solution is brilliant, it reminds me Japanese woodworking, where wood locking pins and tapers are used instead of nails.
The best part is no part and this system eliminates most of the tight tolerance processes for manufacturing.
For brands, from looking at forum posts, 50% of their warranty and help desk support calls will be for broken screws, stripped threads, masts not fitting in fuses ,corrosion and cracking of Aluminum fuses. This system looks to eliminate all of that.
The connection method is quite far down the list when people buy foils, so I can’t see a foilers switching brands to eliminate screws, but if there was going to be a universal cross brand mounting system it should be something like this.
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Funny enough, I was at the beach this summer and a friend (who is not a foiler), watched me assemble my foil. His comment was “this assembly looks like it’s ripe for some improvement”. Hadn’t really occurred to me but sometimes it just takes an outsiders point of view…
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