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I received my much frothed over Gong Inflatable HIPE 5'3" 110L. It was delivered to my door 6 days after Gong received shipment to France. $833US delivered. I have had 2 sessions on it thus far. I have my Slingshot I84 with 48" stab and 29" mast in "b"position. Both sessions were on the lighter side. Bottom line- STOKED!!!! It is only 10 L less than my previous main ride the Outwit 6'6" but it is 16" shorter. The weight is roughly the same around 16lbs. Here is the big difference- swing weight. The HIPE carries her main weight in the carbon foil mount area. The rest of the board feels really light. The swing weight is considerably lower. It is really easy to initiate the yah on turns. The touchdowns don't seem to be a problem which is interesting because this board doesn't have any of the fancy shapes of other wing boards; chines, double concave, weird tail chit. It is basically just a short, fat SUP with a touch of rocker. It is easier to get up to foil in light wind than my Outwit. I am still strapless on it but am keen to put on the front strap.
One gripe is that the deck pad seems slippery to bare feet. I wander if they designed it for booty riding.
I left it inflated to the recommended 15-20 psi in the truck in hottish weather for a couple of days and no problem. I was worried about this being the buzzkill of dealing with inflatables.
Oh, and it has crashed into me a couple of times and it just bounced off and I chuckled. I am really stoked to be done with ding repair.
I highly recommend this board to anyone for winging. Haven't had it for a sup foil yet but bet it will crush it.
I am stoked on Gong and their customer service and their products. I know there is a lot of chit talk on the Zone but I have only had good interactions.
Send It!!!!!!
Board looks good!! Definitely the best looking blow up board available right now.
Interesting about the pad. I'd try giving it a scrub with soapy water to wash of any manufacturing residue and then wash thoroughly. When you get a new wing the handles are very slippery but this goes away after a few salt water washes.
Nice review. I have a question about the foil. I've been learning to wing on an i84 with a longer fuse and smaller stab (wind foiling set up). I can see you have the shorter fuse and larger stab, have you ever tried the longer fuse? Do you know if it brings the shorter fuse brings the centre of lift further back?
Thanks for posting this. Great to see a review about the Hipe. I am a newbie and considering this board. Like the idea of it being not only less painful to fall on when learning but also that it packs a way smaller (have limited storage and need to travel to access the sea or lakes). I am a 70kg and trying to decide between the 5.5 or the 5.3 (110l). Any thoughts from anyone? Want a board I can learn on but will let me a decent time once I am up and riding!
Unboxing review
This looks great. One question though. How are people going to carry this around with the wind wing without a top or bottom handle? Thoughts please?
Great unboxing. Can you show "how much more stuff" fits in the case? You mentioned possible wings? what about the pump?
I did a good bit of the shoulder carry today on my beginner walk of shame back upwind. Probably did a mile all in. Easy to do, especially with such a short board. I was carrying a 6'4" and I'm 5'8" but foil was way forward.
But for a short carry into the water you could just grab the foil in upwind hand and put your hand where the handle would be and carry it fine I'll bet. And if you drop it, who cares?!
I've they put a mast track on these I'd buy one in an instant! Tempted to just glue something on.
How much does the bag hold? Heaps! I got the 5'3", and it came with the larger of the two bags.
Easily holds board, pump, all included accessories, Pulse 7m wing, drysuit with layers, booties, helmet, and a few leashes!
I weighed it with all that gear just for fun - 22.5kg, whoa! Given the dimensions of the bag, I doubt one could travel by air and not incur oversize luggage charges, the general standard is 62" L+W+H, and this behemoth far exceeds that.
I think the board could be folded more narrowly, and fit into a standard large suitcase, along with the pump and probably the wing.
Between that kit and my foils that fit in a hard shell golf bag (16kg,) I'm loaded down with almost 39kg of gear - whoa!
see photos below
Thx Foil Co. It's wild that the size of gear wouldn't be the limiting factor for travel, but the weight. But this is still really cool as extra baggage fees are far less than board fees.
i like the idea of foils and board in a suitcase. My wife will totally understand fitting her clothes around my gear. ;)
Any updates on quality? Be careful with folding that you don't damage the box (glued areas). I know a few of inflatable SUP's that were not folded correctly and to much stress is put on the glued areas and damaged the box. Anyway to glue a rear strap? Since these are coming from China, I would be interested in the long term reliability. Keep us updated.
Patrice answered yesterday on the lack of a rear footstrap:
You have to contact them by email. International delivery options changes daily, as shipping companies are still a bit in disarray, and small companies (compared to Amazon, that is) are not their priority.
