wake foil.... WHAT?

[Vettesetter]

"Foil"....."check" 

"Board"....."check" 

"Impact vest"....."check"

"Helmet"....."check" 

"Insurance"....."check" 

"Waiver forms"....."check"

"First-Aid kit"....."check" 

"Defibrillator....."check" 

 

 

[formulaben]

4 hours ago, Vettesetter said:

Of course, I'm sure the concern of decapitation far out weighs the foil fall off, but at these lower surf speeds ,(as opposed to air chair speed) the chances of survival would have to be better. 

[Trek]

The Slingshot masts are extruded aluminum, fuselage is also aluminum. Both wings are Carbon. The kit minus the board weighs in at about 14 lbs. You can get the Slingy masts anywhere from 15 to 36 inches. I think the masts they're selling with the "wake specific" foils are 25 inch.

I wouldn't mess around with trying attach a mast to another board unless you have some experience. Especially a full size mast attached to a wake board. The balance point is pretty critical and a full sized (36 to 40 inch) is brutally difficult to try and ride the wake with. The wing needs to be near the surface of the water to tap the energy of a wake and being right behind the boat on top of a 40 inch mast is a little disconcerting! Also, when you're trying to learn to fly the wing, the speeds are pretty slow and you're trying to ride with the board in the water a lot, getting comfortable like that, and then slowly transferring some weight to your back foot to get on foil. This would be super challenging without a floaty surfboard. Once you get good you can ride a foil bolted to a dinner tray if you want...you just need a place to put your feet.

It's WAY easier to learn to foil with a short mast. They can be had for about $50 each I think or a set of three for $150ish? Several of us struggled a bit trying to learn on Liquid Force's "Foil Fish" a couple years ago and after a buddy got the first Slingshot Hoverglide with the short masts, everybody, including young kids were foiling away almost immediately. Not riding the wake....Just foiling with the rope. Which is crazy fun by itself...Really is like flying. By the way, we have a complete LF foil fish for sale if anybody wants one.

Here's a short vid that was shot last summer about 60 second after I dropped the rope for the first time. Granted it might look a little boring to some but lets see some footage of your first time on a surfboard! Can't describe how fun and challenging this is. I didn't touch any of our surfboards after getting this dialed last summer. Well, not "dialed" but kinda, sorta starting to figure it out.

 

 

Edited February 4, 2017 by Trek
typos

[isellacuras]

@jalama

[WakesurfOhio]

My wife just bought me a slingshot wakefoil for my birthday.. got up right away and the feeling is amazing.. Best yet.  The foil does not look to be as sharp as the air chair, but I would find it hard to fall on it.

 

 

Edited April 17, 2017 by WakesurfOhio

[Bill_AirJunky]

After seeing the pictures of the injuries online, I don't think how sharp they are is an issue. But getting splintered CF under the skin is toxic.

[skylerchamblee]

I was on one last weekend with a pro wakeboarder and a rep from ss. The ss rep was very helpful. Got up 2nd pull with the 15" mast. It's a feeling that's hard to describe. It's sidento side direction is crisp. My problem was when you are starting to get the board out of the water I looked down and was like yep. Im off the water surface. Super cool. Id say after a little seat time it wouldn be second nature. Worth the $$$?????? Absolutely!!!!! Now I did get tossed off it like I was on a trampoline also.

[mxfever090]

I bought one at the boat show and had my first go on it yesterday.  Like skyler said its absolutely amazing!!!!  I found it very tricky but after a dozen spills or so started to get the hang of it.