If I wasn’t on Unifoil, I probably would have switched to F One. Also idk if F One’s mast is stiffer or not, every company says their mast is the stiffest in the market.
Aspect ratio alone is not the only measurement that says whether a wing “pumps” better. You probably need to keep the eagle very powered/fast to pump compared to the Progression from a high stall speed. And yeah you might have super powered swell in Fiji and F One’s wings in that case definitely might be preferable.
Also, should know that this forum has a good amount of Unifoil riders, so thats probably why you’re getting a lot of suggestions. I still think this forum is the most neutral and best place to get unbiased honest reviews though.
Foils are like fashion and the flavour of the month comes and goes. The advice here sometimes lacks consideration for the expense of the equipment.
Those waves that Erik and company ride are like no waves I encounter on the east coast of Australia. They are literally knee to thigh high and weak for their size. They are definitely not like waves encountered in surf zones around the world which is where most surf foilers live. So yes the pp wing excel there but the look slow to me even in waist high faces from the footage I see.
The art wings were once the flavour for advice on forums but they were very ordinary for their time and the advice didn’t reflect the challenges of those foils. Flexible wings with bad breach on flexible masts and didn’t turn well. Only use of the larger sizes was for dw.
You still never said your weight yet received lots of advice.
Despite the current uni fan club advice I see 80kg guys riding what I call relatively tiny ha’s like the eagle and lift 90 and 120 in waist high fat waves with amazing results. The speed and distances covered are beyond impressive.
Under waist high is another ball game. You have access to foil waves better than 90% of surfers on here so try before you buy if possible.
I would like to add that if surfers wish to pump around and link 3 or for waves and their experience and skill is low then contending with an overpowered foil when riding the wave is necessary. The lower the skill then the more overpowered on the wave you will need to be to pump well enough and in these circumstances the uni pp foil will be a great solution. Plenty of people excited by the pp foil seem to be riding them quite large for their weight so I suspect the above to be the case.
You will have days or seasons of crap conditions and the wrong foil can make that pretty miserable. Like struggling to generate speed on a performance shortboard in shitty surf, the wrong equipment can waste your time. Even Fiji has an off season.
Foils like surfboards and opinions are a pretty personal affair but I don’t think it can be denied that Unifoil+Erik resulted in a refined, fun and accessible foil. No doubt improvements and directional refinements from them and other brands to follow, along with salty comments on forums.
(I paid retail, I also had access to Axis at a steep discount, I also will switch to F-one should it prove better and I can afford it - I’m not precious about this type of shit and deliberately avoid brand affiliations as far as possible)
what waves were you surfing, im 85-90kg, and with the 1099 all the way back on my 41L board, I was easily catching 2ft waves at pools, inside restaurants, tav rights. But 3ft was too big, I would just get launched. On the other hand 1ft was basically too small, It feels like I would need to do a ton of pumping real quickly to be able to pump out of it. Waiting for my 999/899 so I can start taking off on 3ft waves.
Good point, im 85-90kg. The surprising thing is the 1099 feels perfect, and super easy to take off on waves here around 2ft. 3ft is too much, and 1ft is too little. Im loving how much my surfing ability and familiarity of the breaks in Fiji makes me instantly able to prone foil (after year of foil driving and some boat towing). The small waves here are still great for shortboarding, but after surfing every swell here for 3-4 years, the prone foil instead of the surfboard makes surfing feel brand new again. I’ll keep on the 1099 and i’ll soon have my 999/899 so I’ll experiment more. I like the pump of the 1099, but I wish I was on the 1201 so I could double my foil time on the wave, unfortunately waves are too big for the 1201. I dont really want to go down smaller, but I have no choice at this point, especially because I think learning how to ride smaller foils means youre forced to be in the power spot of a wave. Whereas on a 1099, you will have glide for days on most sections of the wave, which is not correct technique. Another “hack” i’ve realised is, I think I will prone as much as possible, which is probably 4 days in a row, 6 hours of paddling per day. Then on day 5 when my arms need rest, I’ll take out the foil drive and start riding 30 waves an hour, and start to experiment more with drawing lines as falling is less of an issue.
Here is a video of me proning on a 1-2ft day at pools. Sorry, my boat captain didnt get better videos of me. One video I just rode off my wave and connecting a wave, and the other video I am taking off and riding one wave but didnt manage to complete the wave and ride off. Riding the 1099 here. 4th day proning, but a year of experience in foiling, and 10 years of surfing experience.
I am borrowing a 1099 right now (usually ride a 980) and wow that wing really pumps well.
But I don’t know if it’s easier to connect waves on it. It’s hard to turn so kicking out with speed is more challenging and you really need to line yourself up early before reaching the 2nd wave.
Given that you have perfect waves I wonder if you’d do better with a smaller wing that lets you bottom turn hard and fly off the back setting yourself up for a quick connection
I was at Wilkes and Namotu left, probably not the best waves for foiling at low/mid tide. None of the crew I was with foiled and the swell jumped up to 6ft the rest of my trip.
I love that you said that… literally what I was hoping to design. As a lifelong surfer I’ve always chased the most high performance boards but I’ve bought 3 or 4 Lost Rockets. Just dont every have bad sessions on them. Maybe they lack somewhere for a day, but on most days in most waves I’m having way more fun. That was the goal. The 140 and 170 will cover most conditions for east coast US foilers and small conditions in Aus and Hawaii, but stay tuned…. There may be something else coming
Nice one, yeah my surfing enjoyment was much better when I got a Pyzel phantom, then a mid-length… then started foiling. At the expense of absolute top end I think picking equipment for the median conditions of the day/week is pretty useful way to get the most out of it.
Stoked to hear something in the pipe! Hopefully in time for winter
Finally got a better video of me. This is yesterday at pools around low tide. I’m on the 1201/350p/75hm. The 1201 pumps insane, I can lose all speed but still pump myself out of a hole. It has half the stall speed of the 1099. But also way slower. It feels like it can generate a more lift off the sections of the wave.
I am on the 1099 mostly, this was just one sess on the 1201. I would love to get the uni but there is no foil adapter for an axis hm mast. I will be starting to use the 899/999 soon.
I agree the 1201 is slow after two prone sessions and a DW run it’s definitely a small wave foil or tiny DW bumps amazing glide and very easy to pump I’m running it with the skinny 362 tail and short fuse on HM 75 mast what I was surprised with is how well it breaches at times I had a good 1/4 of the wing out and it just slides back in and keeps on going I’m really looking forward to the smaller sizes I think they’ll be super fun.
