Wingman Foil Club

Hi Rob,
After windfoiling, I decided to start wingfoil and selected Phantasm PFI928/710 fuse 92 mast with Hover Naish 140 lt board, I am 204 lbs. I heard that you started on i99 that should be similar to my set up for foil. I started tofoil up consistently and considering to switching 730 front wing (similar to i76), bought separately. Windfoilers were doing pretty good with i76. Slingshot recommended E1090 front wing for transition. Could you comment if 928 is good for learning jibes? Also your view on Phantasm series. It seems not many people are using this brand even though Slingshot was pioneered foiling in earlier times.

Hey Salkan,

Great to hear you’re foiling consistently. I actually think the i99 is a pretty decent foil considering how old it is. What I like about it is that it has a very low stall speed. I don’t like the i76 for wingfoiling. With those low aspect foils, the i76 just doesn’t have any glide. There isn’t enough wing span. And for a foil that is roughly 1500 cm2, it takes quite a lot of wind to get on foil. My 1350cm2 foil is WAY more efficient and glides way better because it is as wide as the i99.

I haven’t ridden anything like the E1090, but it’s an interesting foil. It has quite a wide wing span, but it is also still quite a massive foil, so I wonder how efficient it is. I imagine the low end is excellent and the glide pretty good though.

A lot of people find that gliding is the most importantly aspect of learning to jibe. You have to switch from the windsurfing mentality of carving through a jibe and focus more on riding the foil through the turn without the wind helping much. So a lot of people think they need a super high aspect foil, but I think it’s more important to have a foil with a low stall speed that also glides well. A high aspect foil may be efficient, but if the stall speed is too high you’ll have to execute the jibe faster and if not you’ll fall off foil.

That being said, I think you should be able to learn jibes on the 928 because it has a lot stall speed and is wide enough wing span to glide. I would skip the 730 completely and start looking to a more modern foil design for your high wind next foil.

My suggestion would probably be the 899. Yes, the surface area is only 925cm2 which seems like a huge jump from what you’re riding now, but it’s a much better foil than the i76. The wing span is much wider, and the aspect ratio is much higher, but because the foil has a lot of camber in the foil section it will ride bigger than the size and be very user friendly. The stall speed will be quite low for the small size, and it should still glide you in the medium size swell. For small swell and light wind you might need a bigger foil. The 899 will also require a smaller more efficient tail.

Slingshot has some decent foils now, but their designs lagged behind some of the new start up brands the last couple of years. And now they have fully invested in their new one lock system so their old foils are not compatible with the new system.

Thanks Robert for quick response and long explanation. I will likely see you at Cabrillo in few months and pick up more wisdom for improvement for my wingfoil journey.