Anyone get early access ride on the new tails from unifoil? I was just about to buy the progression 13.5 tail (which felt way better than my shank tail). Curious how the new tail compares
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I got the 15.5 and I really liked it but it cracked near the bolts and I’m trying to get it warrantied. I hope mine was defective and it isn’t a design flaw.
Let us know what happens, pictures? Did it crack while riding or assembly?
While riding. I heard a loud pop on a pump and checked it afterwards. I actually thought I cracked the front wing since the noise was so loud.
Like the evos the afterburner tail lets you push harder through your turns. It’s def faster than the progression tails but not as surfy. its more of a carve turn with the afterburner then the pivot turn of the stock tail.
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Out of curiosity, how do you tighten your bolts when assembling your setup? Hand tool or power tool?
By hand. I’ve never understood the need for a drill
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How did this turn out? New one holding up?
I’m considering getting one but now worried about durability of thin UHM carbon build
It hasn’t been resolved yet🫤
I have tried the AB 14.5 paired with a P140 in the surf with a prone board. Same shim as I usually have -0.25 with the P13.5 tail and same mast position.
My first impression was it does not give that extra lift for take off. But once up on foil, the pumping feels different and feels fast. It does not fall as quickly as for the P13.5 and stays up longer, giving that extra glide and reducing fatigue (not dramatically but still) I found the combination globally faster than the previous tail. However, it does not turn like the P13.5, which for me is not what I was looking for.
I will use this tail in the surf every time.
What fuse are you running? I just ordered the 14.5 ab and a short fuse. Wondering if it’ll turn better with a shorter fuse.
I only have the medium fuse. The shorter ones should improve the turning radius.
@bdavis any resolution yet?
Not yet. I was told Uni is completely out of the tails in the warehouses and the factory. I have to wait for the next production run. No word on timeframe either.
I think the evos are similar: faster than progressions but not as good turning
I’ve had maybe 10 sessions using the 15.5 afterburner now, and I’m feeling more confident in describing the differences (for any that this info is useful for).
Context: I’m wingfoiling on a 60l board, mainly upwind-downwinding, downwinding on windswell, some of which can get pretty big. Haven’t tried prone foilsurf with it yet. Moving from a P125, short fuse and the 14.5 prog tail.
First up, no issues with quality or cracking for me yet, seems fine. It even took a bit of coral scrape the other day, but no issues there.
What you gain: Compared to the 14.5 prog tail, I can definitely confirm a significant amount more glide. When downwinding for several kilometers I can really feel difference in legburn where I am pumping much less, able to just stay high on the mast and glide across wave faces much more. I also feel that I can more aggressively push into turns and the foil feels more stable and predictable. It handles breaching WAY better than the prog tail, either whilst turning or going straight- I really noticed this straight away. With the prog tail once it even slightly came out the water it felt like the whole foil slide out like a skateboard on wet leaves or something and was hard to recover.
What you lose: can only talk on pairing it with the P125 for the moment, but I’m certain this setup is slower on the glide than with the prog tail. I can’t catch up with bumps as well, and I’m less able to grave-dig my way out of stalling or up the back of a wave to drop back in down the front. Perhaps a slight loss in low-end. It may be that I need to change my pumping technique with this tail to be more high-frequency smaller pumps and stay higher on the mast, but I’m still figuring this out. And as others have pointed out, I also think that you can’t turn quite turn/pivot in a surfy way like with the prog tail.
I’m interested to try pairing it with the P170 on a low wind day, I think the loss in speed will be less noticeably but perhaps the glide will be off the charts… Can report back if people are interested.
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Should i just get the kd maui race dw tail? Similar shape without the dihedral?
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I haven’t tried that tail so I don’t really know. I didn’t really get any time on the Unifoil tail either before it broke so…