Light wind: 2019 Starboard Freeride Al 1100 cm wing vs Slingshot HG Custom Infinity 84

Any comments on Starboard Super Cruiser 1700cm2?

I own a SG 1100 front with and have foiled on the higher-lift slingshot wings.

Both are great systems! Both companies make interchangeable parts, and that's important as you progress.

1. Price: The SB is a bit more expensive. Some deals can be had towards the end of the year. The slingshot system seems to be a bit cheaper, and toward the end of the season, seem to be even cheaper as shops are trying to clear this year's inventory.

2. Quality: From my observations, SB wins this category. With lots of carbon fibre, the layup is well done. I've run my system into underwater obstacles so many times I can't count. But only scratches exist, and I buff them out over the winter. Slingshot needs to do better in this area. I witnessed 2 Slingshot front wing snap at the bolt holes splitting parts of it in half. Last weekend, I saw two infinity wing delaminate at the leading edge! These were brand new and were not abused by any means.

3. Lift: The bigger wings will give you lots of lift. period. The slingshot infinities (76 and 84) will get you up earlier and with less sail power. But you'll be compromising speed. The SB 1100 wing setup in the 'free-ride' scenario requires a bit more speed or more sail to get into a flight. mostly due to the front wing size. To compare to the infinity's, you'd need to look at the SB super cruiser. During a session with another foiler that had the i76, I flew about the same time he did in the same wind using a bigger sail. we are about the same weight.

4. Speed: The 1100 will win this category hands down. These are high aspect foil wings and topping out at 20+kn has been a lot more fun than going slower with the larger infinitys

5. Maneuverability & gybing: The larger wings win this one. Gybing the 1100 takes a lot more speed and control. Because these are much faster, gybing becomes a little harder due to the fact you can be going faster than the wind is blowing on the downwind part. You sometimes have to push the sail around. The slower and higher lift foils allow for faster sail flips, and since you don't have as much sail to work with, less mass to flip it around.

6. Importance of options: Both companies offer interchangeable parts. In my opinion, this will start to eliminate the smaller, one-off foil sets you see for sale. I started with the GT foil set from SB. I quickly realized what affected what during a flight. I ended up adding the 115 fuse, 1100 front wing, 255 rear stab and the 110cm mast. I now have two complete foil sets. But the one I use 99% of the time now is my hybrid setup: 110cm mast, 115 fuse, 1100 front wing and the 255 stab. This, in my opinion, is the lightest wind setup you can create with SB set and still get fast with long reaches going. If the wind changes, I put on the 800 front wing for faster speeds. If I want more maneuverability, I switch to the GT setup. I AM planning on getting the super cruiser setup for goofing around with lower speeds and less sail. Slingshot (this year) finally figured out that the taller masts and longer fuses seemed to be what people were moving towards. Their systems seems a bit more stable this year, although the quality is still lacking.

7. Availability: Both systems seem to be what most shops have. however, the Slingshot system is producing more and are readily available. The SB system takes a long time to get an order fulfilled. I may have been on the forefront of getting the latest stuff, but it took 5 months to get the 1100 wing... but I think it was brand new at the time.

Summary: Stick with SB or Slingshot. don't go with 'other' many of my foiling friends are frustrated at their foil sets as they couldn't or can't buy optional parts. I love my SB system, and plan to get more parts (Supercruiser) so I can use the same masts I already own. The quality is awesome. However with the slingshot system, you can probably find a great deal out there. Too bad their quality is suffering, but this should be corrected now as they deal with warranties and R&D gets better.

So, if you want cheaper slow and stable foiling, stick with the Slingshot system. If you want most of the speed, modularity and higher quality, go with SB. But that said, I'd look at pairing the 1100 with the setup I have (pick your mast height) (essentially the Race Pro w/ the 1100 front wing).

good luck!

Thanks IWB and indecent,

I went with the slingshot, got a package of Slingshot Hover Glide Fwind1 Foil set and Infinity 84cm wing. Look forward to trying them out.

These SS wings seem interchangeable whereas the SB Supercruiser is not interchangeable with the other Starboard wings, looks like it is designed as for SUP.

Appreciate all the feedback

I've had a good experience on the Exocet RF91 with Naish WS1 foil. That board is quite happy with the more freeride-oriented foils as there are lots of different footstrap positions, compared to other 91cm race boards with straps right on the rails. Enjoy your new foils!

As a foiler who started with ss and after two years jumped to sb gt then race... I feel like I have lost 2 years foiling time because I had to buy high aspect foil at very beginning...
That is not because ss is bad but it doesn't suit to my riding expectations.. I use big slalom(big) sails, relatively flat water (lake) conditions and the main goal was going with really light winds.. Now maybe even racing.. So if you have 8.6 sail or bigger and trying to foil on i76 or any other ss wing It won't simply work.. But try high aspect foils like starboard gt or race.. Omg what a difference! So as it is stated above by many others.. Important to ask.. what are your expectations, what is your gear and where are you be sailing...

I think for stable long light wind sessions sb is much better than ss if you are not gonna be foiling in waves and you wanna use small sails like <6m..

AFS 85 cm foil with F1080 wing, I have the older Wind95 with that wing, gets me up in 8-10 knots, even 8-9 knots, I weigh 90 kg/190 lb, now that is on a Goya Bolt 135 which is good because you can get a glide going through the chop ( little or no pumping of sail, 8.0 Aerotech Freespeed). But on the Bolt I do step forward of the front foot strap to keep the board level until I can take off, then step back into foot strap as I just start to lift off.

As a recreational foiler, I would like to say, SS infinity was excellent for learning, particularly i84 and i99, helped me tremendously getting my balance on those foils. I am still not convinced going for a race foil set up since I would prefer to use as small sail possible in lighter wind (12 mph; at 220 lbs pound) despite I know that I will go slower and race foilers will wave at me. Most of the regular WSs are going faster than me anyway but I I like the feeling of levitation and enjoying less physical challenge at my age of over 60. I now sold all of my big sails (>8.2) and I am usually using 7.0 Flyer or 6.3 Goya Fringe. After getting fairly comfortable with foiling with SS foils, I decided to move to Armstrong foils (HS1850, CF2400). These foils perform similar to SS but set-up is easier, carbon foil is 50% lighter and there is no screw corrosion problems. However, I did not feel any significant improvements in performance compared to SS foils. I would still recommend SS (or Ride Engine) anyone beginning to foiling due to cheaper price or Armstrong if cost is not an issue. I love to ride faster but I do not like to use large sails as I see that is required for my body on light wind conditions for race foils from Starboard that are also significantly heavier than Armstrong foil.
I am curious if anyone could share their experience or provide data for comparison of medium to low aspect foils for speed performance among some of the commonly used brands.

I didnt like the first series SS, they were bad. However, the i76 really changed a lot for slingshot in my opinion! Its a great allround wing, usable by most foilers out there. The only people I would recommend something different are the heavier weights needing to ride bigger sails, or everyone who does lake cruising with sails primarily over 6m (so as a light wind option).

I think the main tradeoff for those 4.5-7m sail users is in what you enjoy most, in my experience a well designed high aspect foil is actually more stable than something like a i76, and easier to jibe, but the tradeoff is that its way less playful on swells or windchops, that its harder to do 360's and the like with, and that they are a lot faster! (For a beginner thats most often a negative, faster is scary for most starting out foiling!)

In my opinion a high aspect foil in the 1200-1400cm2 range (like the lokefoil freeride 1300) does the best job for a beginner. Its slower than most HA foils, but still handles big sails well and is more stable and easier to jibe than most LA foils.