Logged a few hundred miles on the 130 X this summer. Here’s my thoughts! Any questions welcome.
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Appreciate the writeup, I’ve been wondering if the 130x could be a 120ha killer. I loved the 150x at first but now I find myself riding 120ha as soon as there’s a little bit more wind.
You will, however, loose some maneuverability at high speeds.
Try a surfier tail if you can. For me, once the swell gets cranking a bit, 120ha + flow21: I get a locked in and “holding on for my life” feeling, whereas 120ha + carve20 feels smooth and effortless.
I’ve been working on keeping my wing flagged out behind me so I can’t see it while riding and this foil did well with this technique.
I’m also trying to unlock this now and would love some tips and pointers. I fell on my wing just yesterday trying to make this work!
Set it up in a turn, get it behind you, keep it low and drag the strut in the water.
It’s a funny move for sure but a few things help:
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Speed! This just doesn’t work well on slow foils. Give yourself a sling to get into position.
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Easiest to maintain if you are doing DW style riding. I’m a lot more of a down the line and across wind style rider so I almost always forget about the wing when I’m in my preferred conditions.
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I sometimes try to twist the wing into a vertical position and catch the wingtip in the water. At that same moment you should be initiating a top turn to accelerate past the wing leaving it in position. The wing will want to return to flat when the tip touches. If it does, don’t allow the other tip to hit the water. When that happens it typically twists out of your hand.
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To re-engage the wing a drawn out heelside bottom turn is the easiest I’ve found. The wing is then cross wind to me and the next top turn without touching the wing tip returns the wing to your hand.
[https://youtu.be/fjbW6RjnQ-8?feature=shared]
Keahi does it exceptionally well in this vid. Light winds, cross-shore. He makes everything look easy though……
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yes, just like that!