Slingshot H4 Wing

gl · Postby gl » Mon Jul 02, 2018 4:48 pm

I normally kite on a Shinn Jackson 145 and the P foil which I really like. The last few days the wind has been really light and so I thought I would try my SUP foil the Slingshot H4 wing on my Jackson board. I noticed it was quite a bit heavier in feel carrying it into the water. Once in the water I never noticed the weight. I am not a great hydrofoil kiter although I can go in relatively light wind and have no trouble with level flight and going up and downwind. Where I kite the water is quite shallow out a long way and when the wind is 11 knots or less it tends to come and go so I use the 60 cm. mast that way I do not have to head far out into deep water and if the wind dies completely like today it is a short swim and then long walk back to shore. I was using a Conceptair Pulsion 12 meter in standard cloth. If I can drift launch it (we have no beach) then I can usually kite on the P foil. I was just barley able to drift launch it and had to wave the kite back and forth to keep the strapless board on my feet. Once I dove the kite I was amazed how easily I came up on the foil and how stable it was. I was able do all kinds direction changes effortlessly that I would normally have trouble doing in such light wind. At one point I was riding along and noticed the kite was no longer keeping up as the wind had dropped and I had to start fly the kite up and down and heading upwind to tension the lines again. Once I had found the balance point for my feet it was effortless to keep level flight and a really great sensation. I have no idea whether the foil is slow or not as I rarely go very fast anyway. I have no tried it in stronger wind but I will use it all the time for the lightest of wind now. I will have to try it in stronger wind next time.

BWD · Postby **BWD** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 5:28 pm

Glad you liked. Used one once, nice and stable while going slow, and it is kinda slow in general. It didn’t completely click for me as it was on a short mast and I’m not used to that. My friend who owns it digs it though, I would like to try with the 30” mast myself.

gl · Postby gl » Mon Jul 02, 2018 5:32 pm

Thanks. I have a 30 inch last that I will try next time in stronger wind. Yes it was really stable going slow.

grigorib · Postby **grigorib** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 5:37 pm

That's the beauty of large wings - lowend. While you can't ride it really fast, it is an awesome freeride/slowride/wave option.

Depending yon your weight you might be sufficient with H2 wing too as a golden middle ground between standard H5 and stingray-sized H4

VB705 · Postby **VB705** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:14 pm

I use the H2 wing now. It comes up on foil at around
6 mph. I’ve had it up to 17 mph on my gps. Not sure how much more I could push it either.

Jonpnw · Postby **Jonpnw** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 11:23 pm

H4 is a fantastic wing for those who are looking to "cruise" and "surf" small swell. Highly recommended !

Eltreato · Postby **Eltreato** » Tue Jul 03, 2018 6:49 pm

VB705 wrote: ↑
Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:14 pm
I use the H2 wing now. It comes up on foil at around
6 mph. I’ve had it up to 17 mph on my gps. Not sure how much more I could push it either.

This is great to know, thanks for mentioning it. On Slingshot's website there it is conspicuous in it's absence for kitefoiling. I have one for windfoiling that I'm planning to have serve double duty for kitefoiling, but haven't had the chance to try it yet. It's replacing a more nimble kite foil of mine but I'm okay with any performance tradeoff if it gets me going in both sports. I also like the early 6mph takeoff you speak of. Cheers!