Anyond tried it? Any good? There is videos on YT but I don't trust seller or sponsored people. Need an honest review about light wind capabilities. Peace and love.
I have it and ridden it once wingfoiling in light wind. I like it. I've ridden an 7' & 8' Dragonfly and the 6'0 Stab Torpedo and own a Cabrinha Swift prototype. I'm going to sell it because I got it for my wife for lightwind and it's too narrow for her to get up on (artificial knee can't bend past 90). I don't need it but feel the quality is great and it's fast up on foil. Like all these boards it feels smaller underfoot than expected.
I have the 8ft version bc I'm over 90kg's and only an intermediate wingfoiler. Takeoff in light conditions is quite good. A huge difference with my 110l. Takoon Comet SW hardboard. I cannot make a comparison wilth other DW boards. I found it easier to maneuver and control in the chop than I expected. When on the foil the board feels much smaller than you'd expect from a 155 l inflatable.
Select to expand quoteMarkUbbo said..
I have the 8ft version bc I'm over 90kg's and only an intermediate wingfoiler. Takeoff in light conditions is quite good. A huge difference with my 110l. Takoon Comet SW hardboard. I cannot make a comparison wilth other DW boards. I found it easier to maneuver and control in the chop than I expected. When on the foil the board feels much smaller than you'd expect from a 155 l inflatable.
What do you feel about the size for winging? I was thinking about the 6'6" for winging I'm 6'4"and the same weight .
Hey all, I got the Escape Air (7'2" 125L) a couple months ago for upcoming travels this year. I finally got out on it a couple times and started to dial it in a bit so here's my review.
SUMMARY: overall I'm happy- does the job, definite benefits of DW shape and inflatable, works with Armstrong HM/HAv2, does have normal downsides of inflatables. Nice price and construction seems solid.
Mast setup. I was worried I made a mistake because I ride Armstrong HM mast (865) / HAv2 foils and they like to sit farther forward than many foil sets, and Armstrong board mast tracks tend to be further forward as a result. One of the reasons I went with Escape Air for my travel board is it's offered in 7'2", exact same as my Armie DW board which I love, and I figured it would be great to have same length for travel. But, the track is further aft on the Escape Air (fwd extent maybe 4-5" further aft). I found that with my 780/180/no tail shim it was okay with mast all the way forward, even a little too much front foot pressure at speed so probably needs to come back slightly. Although I suspect my bigger foils might want it further forward again.
Mast shim. One thing I did eventually is insert a 1 deg mast shim to raise the nose a bit. This is because it felt nose down and, one definite downside of inflatables including this one, is that the moment it touches the water, it wants to stop because the material is so much stickier than FRP. This is especially true when going fast, as I was on my 780 HA (10-20 knots speed over water typically). Nose up a bit helps avoid touchdowns. Even with the shim which shifts the center of lift back a couple centimeters,
Mast bolts. Comes with M6 and M8. Armie is M7. M6 will work in a pinch but I think the smaller diam and head are a very bad idea for health of Armie HM mast; I don't recommend. Also, the mast track is super shallow. To resolve both these issues: I ended up buying a new set of M7 25mm Armie bolts ($65USD) and cutting down my old ones to 20mm specifically for this board. Took 30 min with a hacksaw and power drill. Annoying to have to do and cost should be considered if using Armie foil set but works perfectly well.
Footstraps. I'm intermediate / finally jibing with ease, and hadn't tried straps yet. This board has inserts and I decided to try with and without. I've decided to stick with front straps. The board is super narrow, not just because the DW shape but also because it's inflatable, it feels even narrower because of the rounded edges. My Armie DW carbon board is similar width but feels wider because the breadth goes all the way out to a hard deck edge. The straps give me the additional control and help compensate for the very narrow feeling. I've been riding with the straps loose, just enough to exert some toe pressure to the straps when extra roll authority needed. Definitely helps and a nice intro to strapped riding.
Riding. Once dialed, it felt great flying. It's very light so turns felt good. As noted above, as typical for inflatables, need to try to avoid touchdowns. Feels very narrow so took some adjustments and footstraps help.
Bag. Construction seems solid. I think it's a little smaller than the old inflatable bag I had, not good for trying to carry 865 mast and HA foils. Good news is its so narrow it'll fit in my old kiteboarding golf bag, which is long enough for all my gear and built better than any of the three inflatable board bags I've gone through to date.
Overall, it took some custom setup and dialing in, but I'm happy and ready to travel. Curious what others have experienced / comparisons with other DW and ML inflatable shapes.__PRESENT
