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Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil
Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 12:52 am
by Bletti
How thick are the xlw wings compared with the standard spitfire wings?
Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 5:02 pm
by Rolavi2
Where do all of you put your straps on your Air race and spit fire set up. I saw a diagram where it was recommended to put the front straps all the way forward. I am wondering about back strap. Any advise?
I have mini pocket and carbon/carver set up for strapless and want spitfire air race for strapped.
Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil
Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 6:57 am
by bragnouff
First session at home on the Spitfire XLW, and overall it doesn't take too long to get used to it. Still need to clock quite a few hours on it to build confidence for a bit more aggressive riding, but it's promising. Up till now, with the Zeeko Carver in the mellow balmy waters of southern France, I didn't really feel that the springiness of the D.A. board was much of a problem, but today with quite a bit of South Pacific short mushy swell and well juiced up with about 18-20kts, I wished I had something stiffer to have a more direct control, I will try with the Zeeko 5'4 next time.
A long bodydrag slowly punching through the swell in 10C waters didn't exactly help for being all relaxed and smooth on the first tacks, but I got to love the fact that the edges of the wings are pretty blunt. Eventually I got a bit more relaxed and more confident in those S-turns.
Had a few crashes, and the board didn't really seem to tomahawk as much, that too is promising.
Looking forward to more (and warmer) sessions!
Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil
Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 3:57 pm
by Kamikuza
bragnouff wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2017 6:57 am
First session at home on the Spitfire XLW, and overall it doesn't take too long to get used to it. Still need to clock quite a few hours on it to build confidence for a bit more aggressive riding, but it's promising. Up till now, with the Zeeko Carver in the mellow balmy waters of southern France, I didn't really feel that the springiness of the D.A. board was much of a problem, but today with quite a bit of South Pacific short mushy swell and well juiced up with about 18-20kts, I wished I had something stiffer to have a more direct control, I will try with the Zeeko 5'4 next time.
A long bodydrag slowly punching through the swell in 10C waters didn't exactly help for being all relaxed and smooth on the first tacks, but I got to love the fact that the edges of the wings are pretty blunt. Eventually I got a bit more relaxed and more confident in those S-turns.
Had a few crashes, and the board didn't really seem to tomahawk as much, that too is promising.
Looking forward to more (and warmer) sessions!
P_20170805_165116 (Large).jpg
Nice!
That park looks familiar!
Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil
Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 3:30 am
by Rolavi2
Bletti wrote: ↑Wed Jul 19, 2017 12:52 am
How thick are the xlw wings compared with the standard spitfire wings?
Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil
Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 3:50 pm
by ptraykovski
Rode the xlw wings yesterday in about 10 to 12 knots increasing to 12 to 14 with a 10 m wave kite. Had so much fun..turns short period wind swell into a hydrofoil skatepark ready to be sliced and diced...
With the regular wings at 220 lbs (100kg) I needed to go pretty fast to stay flying so needed so longer waves to fit my turns in. I liked the regular wings with 9 m or smaller kites and 14 knots +.
With the XLW I can go a bit slower so can make tight turns on any bit of short wave / chop and can stall a bit while staying flying to pivot as the kite comes around..great fun!
Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil
Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 6:15 pm
by borist
do WLX wings feel noticeably draggier? The other day I tried a big wing foil just to see if it would improve my low end as the wind was not enough for me to get required speed for take off on my Spitfire. The foil did foil up at lower speed but was creating so much drag I could not ride anyway. That made me wonder about XLW wings and whether I'll benefit from them enough to buy them.
Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil
Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 7:26 pm
by Peter_Frank
borist wrote: ↑Tue Aug 08, 2017 6:15 pm
do WLX wings feel noticeably draggier? The other day I tried a big wing foil just to see if it would improve my low end as the wind was not enough for me to get required speed for take off on my Spitfire. The foil did foil up at lower speed but was creating so much drag I could not ride anyway. That made me wonder about XLW wings and whether I'll benefit from them enough to buy them.
Yes, you WILL be able to ride in less wind with a bigger wing, and most importantly, ride waves without the same need for speed nor power.
Of course the apparent wind when at full pace is lower as the speed is lower, but you can still jibe and carve and turn easier with the bigger wing, and you can start and ride with a smaller kite and in less wind.
So IMO and experience they work awesome and helps hugely.
On the other hand, I agree and you are perfectly right, that when sufficient wind for a faster (smaller usually) wing, it is more fun particularly because you dont have this draggy feel
This is highly individual what one prefers though.
PF
Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil
Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 1:41 am
by borist
do you ride Spitfire Peter? I'm specifically interested how those wings feel. I have alpine with XLP wing so i do have a general idea how large wings feel. however what I'd like to know is have draggy Spitfire XLW wing set feels compared to standard. The foil I tried was Nobile and even compared to Alpine XLP it felt bit like dragging plastic bag on the mast. I could not punch thru that drag to get a lift off. This made me pause a little in my decision to buy XLW wings. ptraykovski uses both wing sets so I'm curious about his experience.
Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil
Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 1:59 am
by bragnouff
I haven't used the standard wing set, and only used the SpitFire for one hour, so I'm not the most qualified to answer, but it never felt draggy at all, pretty similar on that regard to the Zeeko /Carver I was well used to. I believe they're in the same ballpark. It could even have less drag, but only the next few sessions will tell.