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"Thruster" (Liquid Force) wing for beginners

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gigibianchi
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"Thruster" (Liquid Force) wing for beginners

Postby gigibianchi » Sat Oct 20, 2018 10:03 am

I'm an absolute beginner but do not want to spend money on a beginner wing and then change it after a 1-2 months -->
I would like to hear some opinions regarding the Thruster (by Liquid force) as a beginner wing:

1. Did anyone use it as a *first foil*, how was your progression with it?
2- Among those who used\ owned it as an *intermediate\ advanced foilers*: would you say it is ok for a beginner?

hoping to read your answers :thumb: :bye:

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Re: "Thruster" (Liquid Force) wing for beginners

Postby tmcfarla » Sat Oct 20, 2018 4:05 pm

I had it for a while. I think it would be ok for beginners. It doesn’t have great roll stability, but aside from that, overall pretty stable. I found the thruster to feel draggy, but I was using it with an older, thicker mast. It is a pretty nice foil if you are getting a deal, but I think the Lift 110 is a considerably nicer foil for a couple hundred $ more. Zeeko foils are also worth looking at for the price of thruster, maybe slightly less stable, but faster and smoother.

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Re: "Thruster" (Liquid Force) wing for beginners

Postby tegirinenashi » Sat Oct 20, 2018 4:59 pm

The concept of "beginner wing" as something inferior has been proven wrong. There is entire new movement of people enjoying super slow ultra stable wings. (Well, maybe, not that new anymore.) From that perspective, LF rocket wing is the best for learning, and it has been unchanged for 3 generations of LF foils.

LF declared speed range for Thruster:
Confort zone speed 14-22miles/h
Low end lift speed 7 miles/h
Top end speed 32 miles/h

For Rocket:
Confort zone speed 12-21 miles/h
Low end lift speed 8 miles/h
Top end speed 26 miles/h

I'd call this 7 miles/h Thruster speed a BS. There is no way for 600 cm^2 wing to have lower low end than 800 cm^2 wing. Either Rocket low end speed is too high, or thruster too low.

Anyway, these two extra miles on the lower end of comfort zone are much more appreciated at the beginner stage, when you are just afraid to take the rig to the full speed.

At the end of that day, it is about your abilities. If you are young, learn fast, and want to become a racer, then you might outgrow rocket wing in 2 months. But then, you won't likely to be satisfied with Thruster either.

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Re: "Thruster" (Liquid Force) wing for beginners

Postby tmcfarla » Sat Oct 20, 2018 6:07 pm

I only used the rocket wings once. They suck. Thruster wings are much better, except for maybe your very first day on a foil. Thruster has comparable low end, i think. As I said before, thruster wouldn’t be my first pick, but it is fine and much better than rocket.

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Re: "Thruster" (Liquid Force) wing for beginners

Postby TomW » Sat Oct 20, 2018 6:15 pm

Get the Impulse.

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Re: "Thruster" (Liquid Force) wing for beginners

Postby Kitehume » Sat Oct 20, 2018 9:29 pm

I went from learning on the rocket and now using the thruster. The thruster is better than the rocket. More stable, has faster top speed, low end slightly less. Maybe 1 knot. Gets up on the foil pretty quickly. And then just stays there with very little pitch control needed. Very strong wings. I have run aground numerous times with only a few starches to show for it. And also have hit submerged dead trees at full speed with no damage to the foil.
Only negative is it’s heavy to carry around. But you don’t feel it when riding it.
Sure carbon construction would be nice, but I don’t think it would take the punishment I would put it through.

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Re: "Thruster" (Liquid Force) wing for beginners

Postby Dwight » Sun Oct 21, 2018 12:10 am

The thruster low speed claim is not BS. It’s what makes the thruster so easy for beginners. You can jibe the thruster as easily as a huge SURF wing. It’s crazy, I know. Try one.

I ride surf wings a lot, and I also ride the thruster a lot. I choose my thruster when I want to rip long distances on a tall mast and be able to handle a wider wind range.

Another point, the thruster likes a mast back board, so it’s plug and play for boards designed for surf foils. I love that because all my boards are designed for surf wings.

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Re: "Thruster" (Liquid Force) wing for beginners

Postby Dwight » Sun Oct 21, 2018 12:12 am

Dwight wrote:
Sun Oct 21, 2018 12:10 am
The thruster low speed claim is not BS. It’s what makes the thruster so easy for beginners. You can jibe the thruster as easily as a huge SURF wing. It’s crazy, I know. Try one.

I ride surf wings a lot, and I also ride the thruster a lot. I choose my thruster when I want to rip long distances on a tall mast and be able to handle a wider wind range.

Another point, the thruster likes a mast back board, so it’s plug and play for boards designed for surf foils. I love that because all my boards are designed for surf wings.

For sure it’s beginner friendly.

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Re: "Thruster" (Liquid Force) wing for beginners

Postby macgruber » Sun Oct 21, 2018 4:48 am

Impulse is slow, beginner friendly and blunt.

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Re: "Thruster" (Liquid Force) wing for beginners

Postby RagingGrandpa » Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:38 pm

I ride both, and like both.

Thruster: (w/ "HD" fuselage, aluminum masts 60cm and 94cm)
- stalls at low boardspeeds like all 'kite' foils
- more sensitive to pitch (leads to breach/nosedive), upset more by water turbulence
+ less roll stability means faster / easier to carve around at speed
+ durable (hit logs, rocks, sandy bottoms a million times, etc)
+ sheds bubbles quickly, surface piercing is tolerable

Impulse (Cloud IX S24): (w/ carbon fuselage, aluminum masts 60cm and 94cm)
- more expensive
- more fragile
- takes a while to shed bubbles after piercing the surface
+ large enough that the stall speed of the foil is basically the planing speed of the board- almost impossible to stall the foil, makes underpowered lightwind riding seem easy
+ streamlined well enough that it doesn't feel slow
+ very stable in pitch and roll, not sensitive to under-surface turbulence

Other wings I've ridden, for comparison: LF Rocket (easy but feels more draggy than Impulse); LF Happy medium-aspect (unstable in just about every way); Airush Core 550cm2 (fun, more stable than LF Happy); Clearwater wooden foil (omg awful, drag, vibration, ugh)

The Impulse is disgustingly easy to ride, and still very fun. Highly recommended for beginners in areas without obstacles.

If durability is a concern, I think the Thruster with a 60cm mast is also great for beginners. I've had new-foiler kiters use mine and make successful progress.

I also found this table helpful when shopping for wings:
hth


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