Currently using fone rocket wing 2 board 85l which I love. But want a board that I can pump better/easier when wave riding wind swells. Which Gong board for wind swell wave ridning? No jumping. Easy to take off and get on foil in messy conditions. 80kg.
For pretty much the same requirements I've purchased the Mint 85. The Lemon or Lethal would have been more dedicated to waveriding but I figured the Mint would get me on the foil quicker in marginal conditions. I even considered the Cruzader Point but didn't want to go too long. The choice was based solely on the Gong Website.
Unfortunately, I can't tell from experience yet as I haven't had the opportunity to try....
I dont foil, but you will get a lot of first hand experience on the Facebook "GONG Galaxy Group".
From what I gather, the narrower+longer boards (Cruzader, NOTW) will take off on anything, so even on weak wind swells, but the narrower you get the more the balance is challenging in chop. So you have to find your personal compromise.
Note that if by "wind swells" you mean swell in deep water, you need a long and narrow board, as the waves are then quite fast, and you need a fast board to catch them. A downwind board.
On the other hand, if you mean catching wind swells as they break in shallow water (depth equal to wave height), they are much slower and short square nosed board can work.
You aply surf/sup kinda shaping rules for foilboard Colas.You only need to get on the foil. a bit of length and less width helps with that, but once on the foil the shape is way less relevant.
You aply surf/sup kinda shaping rules for foilboard Colas.You only need to get on the foil.
But that's the point!
Getting on the foil is really hard when trying to catch fast swells.
And once in the air, the swing weight of these boards is quite reduced by their narrow (= light) tips and the fact that the foil is centered lengthwise.
Plus these are not surf shaping rules, more boat (displacement hulls) ones, plus specific design features to leverage the hull pumping movement.
Anyways, I am quite surprised by the number of people on the facebook group that end up using these "downwind-ish" boards (a bit shorter than "true" downwind boards) as their main board nowadays for their sup/surf/wing foiling sessions.
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You aply surf/sup kinda shaping rules for foilboard Colas.You only need to get on the foil.
But that's the point!
Getting on the foil is really hard when trying to catch fast swells.
No it is actually not when wingfoiling as you don,t need wavepower to get on the foil but use the wing/windpower. For sup DW foil its a different story.
And once in the air, the swing weight of these boards is quite reduced by their narrow (= light) tips and the fact that the foil is centered lengthwise.
Plus these are not surf shaping rules, more boat (displacement hulls) ones, plus specific design features to leverage the hull pumping movement. No they are not. I can understand why you see the similarties but unlike dispacement shapes these boards also create quite some lift. The more rounded noses aren,t shaped that way for displacemnt but to handle easier touchdowns. (I raced 14fts as well windsurf racing at a decent level).
Anyways, I am quite surprised by the number of people on the facebook group that end up using these "downwind-ish" boards (a bit shorter than "true" downwind boards) as their main board nowadays for their sup/surf/wing foiling sessions.That is because you don,t foil.
When you do that for a while the midlength boards make completely sense The thing I really like about foiling is that quite often we get suprissed by stuff/ideas working completely different as we asumed. quite exciting actually
Answers are fat.
just my 2cents: I really vallue your comments in the Sup sections, you are quite an autority in thst but if you have no clue about how a wingfoil set up work, just don,t give the potentially wrong advice about just because it is about your fav brand.
Mmm yes, by re-reading the posts I guess I was only speaking of what I see on the SUP foil scene, I guess not relevant for Wingfoiling....
For pretty much the same requirements I've purchased the Mint 85. The Lemon or Lethal would have been more dedicated to waveriding but I figured the Mint would get me on the foil quicker in marginal conditions. I even considered the Cruzader Point but didn't want to go too long. The choice was based solely on the Gong Website.
Unfortunately, I can't tell from experience yet as I haven't had the opportunity to try....
I have had a chance for a short test run on it now. The conditions were the most marginal I can imagine for this setup:
90 Kilos, 5mm wetsuit, freshwater, wind ranging from 10 to 15 knots with lulls in between, Fluid XXL 1850 and Ensis Score 4,5 (biggest foil and wing I have).
All I can say, the thing goes up on the foil very easily, apparently better than the 90 L AK Phazer I had before. Once up, it feels light on the straight line, in transitions and when pumping. As the wind died prematurely, I can't give more details, though.
By the way: Gong also list the Lethal and the Lemon as wave boards.
Mint: Allrounder, also suitable for waves
Lemon: Waveriding, but accessible
Lethal: Dedicated Waveboard
That's what they say, but I can't compare.