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Axis Foil Stoke!!

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Created by eppo > 9 months ago, 8 Nov 2018
eppo
WA, 9372 posts
11 Nov 2018 8:47AM
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You
boosting on the foil ? What's that like?

hard to do ?

Plummet
4862 posts
11 Nov 2018 9:09AM
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eppo said..
You
boosting on the foil ? What's that like?

hard to do ?


The Rebel was good for boosting!

It's a ****ty photo and a ****ty boost. But I'm taking it. That was a few months into foiling.

Boosting is easy. Load up and ramp it out of the water upwind similar to a normal boost.
Landing, on the other hand, is just plain weird. I still don't have a worthy slice back into the water sorted.




snalberski
WA, 857 posts
11 Nov 2018 9:36AM
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eppo said..
You
boosting on the foil ? What's that like?

hard to do ?



No harder than tt boosting... just make sure you have very little if any forward speed when spudding down (redirect kite very shallowly if at all).
Backrolls are also the same deal although I tend to prefer a rotating boost to a true tt style backroll. As with any kiting trick the hardest bit is having the knads to give it a crack.

eppo
WA, 9372 posts
11 Nov 2018 10:30AM
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You lads using both front a back straps here ? The two at the front?

snalberski
WA, 857 posts
11 Nov 2018 10:54AM
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eppo said..
You lads using both front a back straps here ? The two at the front?


For learning I used just the front 2 straps. Mostly my rear foot was over the mast. When I put the rear strap on to try boosting it was weird positioning the rear foot in the rear strap that was further back and took a few sessions to get comfy

Kamikuza
QLD, 6493 posts
11 Nov 2018 2:13PM
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You thought your Nobile was heavy...?

eddiemorgs
QLD, 390 posts
11 Nov 2018 2:42PM
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bigtone667 said..

eppo said..


Dave Whettingsteel said..



eppo said..
.....sorry dave, I'm afraid you will have to try it. That Sup break out right at horrocks into the channel is almost a perfect wave for this caper.

and yep get the red one, because it sparkles in the sun.





Stop it!!!! I think I have to get one now....






Infact that whole downwind stretch in that bay around the corner would be awesome. Those spilling swell waves would be perfect ??????

yeh not sure I'm ready Adrian for the whole hyperlink, alpha thingy just yet.

Foils sweet mate, although I've only ridden two before lol. Would t really know if it's good really. All I know is I went from crash city to no crash foiling in a bloody short time.

But like the my sexuality I'm a bit confused about the whole kite choice thingy right now.



You just what something that drifts well if you are going to be catching waves and carving about.


I use my Neos 12, 9 and 7. I don't feel a need to use any other options, quite happy with the jshapes and neo combo and change between the cruzer foil and the freestyle foil depending on conditions.
Could do with a 5 for over around 18 kts though.
Neos have good bottom end , drift well and relaunch pretty well , and I can cross over to surfboards when there are some waves. I love em. .
And they are very forgiving when you stuff up a transition and get slack in the lines.
Understand they also also jump pretty well although I don't jump much.
Also finding the click bar a big advantage. Lots of throw to depower and great for fine tuning when going from upwind to downwind and vice Versa which becomes an issue as you improve.

I can use the 12 down to about 10kts I guess, which is light enough for me. Anything less raises the bar on my skill level in light winds and feels a bit try hard when keeping the kite in the air becomes the main problem.
The zephyr goes ok sub 10 but again weight of kite becomes an issue over wind strength.

I can now see this is when the foils or single and strutless lei kites come into their own, although not really keen on a foil kite due to its lack of buoyancy and structure as Kami says. If I have an issue away from the shore , then I would far rather have a lei kite for relaunch or self rescue.
Hydrofoiling does tend to lead to kiting in ultra light conditions and it can go the sh** pretty quickly if you drop your in the water and it's sub 10.

But again , I am super happy with my current combo of kites and foils, although , down the track , might consider the new jshapes wave foil to fill in that bottom end a little better.

Kamikuza
QLD, 6493 posts
11 Nov 2018 5:06PM
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Foil kites float on the water fine, even completely empty of air. A few times I had to roll the 21 up and then just put it on the board and pushed that in. Same for the tubes; couldn't imagine trying to use the kite to rescue and having to cope with a foil board too.

Contemplating putting a reel leash on my harness for the very rare occasions I need to mess about with the kite and don't want the board sailing off downwind into the lines...

Fly on da wall
SA, 725 posts
11 Nov 2018 7:21PM
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Talk about momentum... This thread's absolutely cranking!
Just wondering how many wing options are available for the axis and what's they're history..
Have they gone alone or paired up with another foiling company that has some r n d behind them?
Thanks

eppo
WA, 9372 posts
11 Nov 2018 8:11PM
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Fly on da wall said..
Talk about momentum... This thread's absolutely cranking!
Just wondering how many wing options are available for the axis and what's they're history..
Have they gone alone or paired up with another foiling company that has some r n d behind them?
Thanks




Adrian Ropers on this thread somewhere, maybe flick him an email as well.

airsail
QLD, 1241 posts
11 Nov 2018 10:34PM
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Kamikuza said..
Foil kites float on the water fine, even completely empty of air. A few times I had to roll the 21 up and then just put it on the board and pushed that in. Same for the tubes; couldn't imagine trying to use the kite to rescue and having to cope with a foil board too.

Contemplating putting a reel leash on my harness for the very rare occasions I need to mess about with the kite and don't want the board sailing off downwind into the lines...


I have put a reel leash on my harness for exactly that reason, after the foil ended up on the rocks. I'm currently undecided if it is good or not. I find the spring a bit strong and the board ends up bumping you and your kicking the foil while relaunching. I have resorted to a length of webbing added to the end of the reel leash strap to give a bit of space between the board and myself, kind of defeats the purpose of the reel leash.
Will try taking some webbing wraps off the drum, might relax the spring a bit.

Kamikuza
QLD, 6493 posts
12 Nov 2018 10:22AM
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Fly on da wall said..
Talk about momentum... This thread's absolutely cranking!
Just wondering how many wing options are available for the axis and what's they're history..
Have they gone alone or paired up with another foiling company that has some r n d behind them?
Thanks


1020, 920, 820, 750, 680mm wide for the S-series wings IIRC. 820 is just under 1500cm2, for reference.

Adrian was Underground boards, I think he's been shaping surf and windsurf boards since before kiting was a thing.

I don't know the details of R&D but I'm pretty sure it's in-house, and Adrian and whoever is at hand does the test riding -- lots of testing! Several sets of wings arrived while I was in NZ this summer, and he was always out with three or four different boards and set ups, passing them around like candy. Same same all around the world, for the surfers and SUPers too.

I rode a production kite foil in Feb 2017, sold the HoverGlide and ordered a set up immediately. Rode that through to Feb this year, during which time the surf wings and the required new fuselage etc arrived on the scene, and Feb this year I rode the pre-production prototypes ... and then sold my kite foil and ordered the surf setup :D

Kamikuza
QLD, 6493 posts
12 Nov 2018 10:32AM
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airsail said..

Kamikuza said..
Foil kites float on the water fine, even completely empty of air. A few times I had to roll the 21 up and then just put it on the board and pushed that in. Same for the tubes; couldn't imagine trying to use the kite to rescue and having to cope with a foil board too.

Contemplating putting a reel leash on my harness for the very rare occasions I need to mess about with the kite and don't want the board sailing off downwind into the lines...



I have put a reel leash on my harness for exactly that reason, after the foil ended up on the rocks. I'm currently undecided if it is good or not. I find the spring a bit strong and the board ends up bumping you and your kicking the foil while relaunching. I have resorted to a length of webbing added to the end of the reel leash strap to give a bit of space between the board and myself, kind of defeats the purpose of the reel leash.
Will try taking some webbing wraps off the drum, might relax the spring a bit.


Mmm thought that might happen -- thanks for being the guinea pig I think my version has a meter of rope after the bit that recoils...

Don't really need it that often, and all the extra crap on the harness would bug me. But...

eppo
WA, 9372 posts
12 Nov 2018 8:34AM
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America's cup is in NZ, and they are using those massive mono hulls with these massive foils. Must be something in the water Over there and their superior foil knowledge lol.

Plummet
4862 posts
12 Nov 2018 12:56PM
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eppo said..
America's cup is in NZ, and they are using those massive mono hulls with these massive foils. Must be something in the water Over there and their superior foil knowledge lol.



That's easy.

Its all down to coastline per person per country.

NZ coastline = 15000km
population = 4.5m
=3.3m/pp

Aus coastline = 60000km
population = 25m
= 2.5m/pp

NZ has a crazy 0.8m more coastline per person to blaze on hydrofoils than Aus.

usa coastline = 20000km
population = 325m
=0.6m ..... pathetic!

PrfctChaos
WA, 82 posts
12 Nov 2018 3:11PM
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Plummet said..

eppo said..
America's cup is in NZ, and they are using those massive mono hulls with these massive foils. Must be something in the water Over there and their superior foil knowledge lol.




That's easy.

Its all down to coastline per person per country.

NZ coastline = 15000km
population = 4.5m
=3.3m/pp

Aus coastline = 60000km
population = 25m
= 2.5m/pp

NZ has a crazy 0.8m more coastline per person to blaze on hydrofoils than Aus.

usa coastline = 20000km
population = 325m
=0.6m ..... pathetic!


Yea people in Aus get to the coast and go, oh no the ocean is way too full to go foiling today , just too little coastline per person. No space in the ocean, damn will try again tomorrow.

Fly on da wall
SA, 725 posts
12 Nov 2018 5:47PM
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Kamikuza said..

Fly on da wall said..
Talk about momentum... This thread's absolutely cranking!
Just wondering how many wing options are available for the axis and what's they're history..
Have they gone alone or paired up with another foiling company that has some r n d behind them?
Thanks



1020, 920, 820, 750, 680mm wide for the S-series wings IIRC. 820 is just under 1500cm2, for reference.

Adrian was Underground boards, I think he's been shaping surf and windsurf boards since before kiting was a thing.

I don't know the details of R&D but I'm pretty sure it's in-house, and Adrian and whoever is at hand does the test riding -- lots of testing! Several sets of wings arrived while I was in NZ this summer, and he was always out with three or four different boards and set ups, passing them around like candy. Same same all around the world, for the surfers and SUPers too.

I rode a production kite foil in Feb 2017, sold the HoverGlide and ordered a set up immediately. Rode that through to Feb this year, during which time the surf wings and the required new fuselage etc arrived on the scene, and Feb this year I rode the pre-production prototypes ... and then sold my kite foil and ordered the surf setup :D


How much are the front wing's?

Plummet
4862 posts
12 Nov 2018 3:34PM
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PrfctChaos said..


Plummet said..



eppo said..
America's cup is in NZ, and they are using those massive mono hulls with these massive foils. Must be something in the water Over there and their superior foil knowledge lol.






That's easy.

Its all down to coastline per person per country.

NZ coastline = 15000km
population = 4.5m
=3.3m/pp

Aus coastline = 60000km
population = 25m
= 2.5m/pp

NZ has a crazy 0.8m more coastline per person to blaze on hydrofoils than Aus.

usa coastline = 20000km
population = 325m
=0.6m ..... pathetic!




Yea people in Aus get to the coast and go, oh no the ocean is way too full to go foiling today , just too little coastline per person. No space in the ocean, damn will try again tomorrow.



Think about that poor foil designer that lives in Alice Springs. He thinks "i'll just go test my foil that i just made... Damiit the ocean is 300 hours drive away. **** it, ill go murder some tourists".

Plummet
4862 posts
12 Nov 2018 3:54PM
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Then finally a foil designer wades through the marauding masses to a point where he can take some video footage of the foil hydrodynamics and BAM! Taken out by a stingray barb to the heart.


Another foil designer is killed by a stupidly small jellyfish and due to the overfishing of the fisheries the great white is hungry and needs a feast. He takes out a few more foil designers.

Finally, you are left with one guy who has managed to find a piece of the ocean not populated by people, sharks, jellyfish or rays, He manages to make a good foil.

But alas the prime minister has changed 13 times since all of this has happened and its now illegal to design foils in Australia because they might hurt the turtles!


All these facts have been verified by flat earth scientist and are also in the bible. So they are obviously so true that you don't even need to research their validity!

Kamikuza
QLD, 6493 posts
12 Nov 2018 8:17PM
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Fly on da wall said..

How much are the front wing's?


www.wasurf.com.au/collections/foiling/products/2019axissseriesfrontwing?variant=12406291234860

First place I found online. Is that where you got yours, Eppo...?

eppo
WA, 9372 posts
12 Nov 2018 9:36PM
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Yeh man WA surf / westoz kiteboarding in safety bay.


Plummet, you are a dead set tripper lol.

Adrian Roper
93 posts
14 Nov 2018 5:26AM
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Fly on da wall said..
Talk about momentum... This thread's absolutely cranking!
Just wondering how many wing options are available for the axis and what's they're history..
Have they gone alone or paired up with another foiling company that has some r n d behind them?
Thanks


classic comment 'foiling company that has some r n d behind them'. We at AXIS have designed our foil entirely by ourselves, I think it stands out from other foils due to this. I often wonder on the logic behind the engineering on most other foil companies...... Our mast is 19mm thick or 224% stiffer than all the std 15mm masts on the market and even stiffer than the thinner aluminium masts. Also quite a bit stiffer than all of the carbon masts that I have tested. Our wing to fuselage join is solid with a 62mm wide plate held with 4 x M8 bolts. The fuselage to mast join has a 60mm spigot that goes up into the mast to provide a super solid join. When foiling you are riding the front wing and using the rear to stabilise the ride. Any wobble or play in the mast or joins means that you are not attached to the front wing. I believe that this is one of the major reasons that people are loving our foil so much as it is way more solid than anything else.
We have two fuselage that fit the 19mm mast, one suited for bigger wings one more suited to kite smaller wing (I actually prefer kiting on the smaller 680mm wide surf wing)
The S Fuselage fits front wings 1020 x 250mm, 920 x 250mm, 820 x 225mm, 750mm x 220, 680 x 200mm span/chord wings, and has choice of 500 x 90mm rear or 440 x 90mm rear wing.
The K Fuselage fits front wings 530 x 145mm and 545 x 145mm front with a new 600 x 170mm coming
Mast lengths are 450mm 600mm 680mm 750mm 900mm and 1050mm, this is measured from the board surface to the bottom of the fuselage. (so mast actually a little shorter)

Falco
102 posts
14 Nov 2018 8:05PM
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Hi Adrian one question I've been wondering about the axis setup, I'm sure there's a reason just wondering why one fuselage couldn't accomadate all size wings, like the s fuselage and the K fuselage, is there a difference between the 2 ?

Kamikuza
QLD, 6493 posts
15 Nov 2018 11:37AM
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Falco said..
Hi Adrian one question I've been wondering about the axis setup, I'm sure there's a reason just wondering why one fuselage couldn't accomadate all size wings, like the s fuselage and the K fuselage, is there a difference between the 2 ?


The needs are different -- the "head" on the S-series needs to provide a stiff and stable mount for the big wings. It's longer and uses a different rear wing. The K-series doesn't need to be so beefy, and has a different stabilizer. I think that's reflected in the difference in prices, too.

I'm guessing that the cut-out in the S-series wing necessary to fit the beefy head flush would weaken the smaller wings, and maybe they're not thick (chord) enough to be able to use it at all -- I've had the K-series foil (and have the S-series 820) so IIRC ...

So, design decisions is my best guess. I *think* the fuselages are interchangeable with the mast and plate though.

Adrian Roper
93 posts
16 Nov 2018 6:32AM
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Falco said..
Hi Adrian one question I've been wondering about the axis setup, I'm sure there's a reason just wondering why one fuselage couldn't accommodate all size wings, like the s fuselage and the K fuselage, is there a difference between the 2 ?


Hi Falco, there is a MASSIVE difference between the 1020 x 250 x 37mm large wing and the 530 x 145 x 21mm kite wing. There is no way that something could be strong enough to support the large wing and still be able to be bolted onto the small wing.
Most companies seem happy to bolt a large wing onto the same fuselage as they use for kite but really IMHO this is not suitable at all and will cause lack of connection with the front wing.
Our S Fuselage is 62mm wide at the front where it fits the wing with 4 x M8 bolts , the K fuselage is only 27mm wide with 3 x M6 bolts

Falco
102 posts
16 Nov 2018 11:01AM
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Ah cool I thought there would be a reason behind it just wasn't sure, seems to be allot of new things to learn with foiling. One more for us, why call surfing with foil, prone surfing lol ?

Fly on da wall
SA, 725 posts
16 Nov 2018 3:10PM
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My slingshot only uses the 1 fuz for all wings.. And there's a lot to choose from. Just saying so please don't go on the defensive attack.
P.s. Love it's durability and performance but I'm a slingy / bang for buck guy

eppo
WA, 9372 posts
16 Nov 2018 1:56PM
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Yeh the slingshot system looks great to actually. I looked into that setup before going with the axis one. Looks like a great product.

Kamikuza
QLD, 6493 posts
16 Nov 2018 4:58PM
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Fly on da wall said..
My slingshot only uses the 1 fuz for all wings.. And there's a lot to choose from. Just saying so please don't go on the defensive attack.
P.s. Love it's durability and performance but I'm a slingy / bang for buck guy


That's a totally different design concept isn't it. The fuselage is a hexagonal aluminum rod and the wings slide onto it, the stab mount bolts onto the back. Real basic and simple, but heavy. Good bang for buck, but you get what you pay for.

I owned a HoverGlide that I decided to sell about 2 seconds after picking up and carrying an Axis foil Even my surf setup now is almost a kilo lighter than the HG was. On the water, the Axis is easily the better foil. And it's a work of art!

I do like the DwarfCraft boards, I think the 4'6" is a great size for free ride. Lot of guys here have them on other brand foils.

AquaPlow
QLD, 1051 posts
1 Dec 2018 9:46PM
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airsail said..




Kamikuza said..
Foil kites float on the water fine, even completely empty of air. A few times I had to roll the 21 up and then just put it on the board and pushed that in. Same for the tubes; couldn't imagine trying to use the kite to rescue and having to cope with a foil board too.

Contemplating putting a reel leash on my harness for the very rare occasions I need to mess about with the kite and don't want the board sailing off downwind into the lines...






I have put a reel leash on my harness for exactly that reason, after the foil ended up on the rocks. I'm currently undecided if it is good or not. I find the spring a bit strong and the board ends up bumping you and your kicking the foil while relaunching. I have resorted to a length of webbing added to the end of the reel leash strap to give a bit of space between the board and myself, kind of defeats the purpose of the reel leash.
Will try taking some webbing wraps off the drum, might relax the spring a bit.





That statement brings back memories - the Underground (pre-axis) 157 (fibreglass!!) TT I learnt on (phew) with a reel leash attached to a fin screw used to pull n the board when going in that direction - really distracting in lighter winds - I ended up reeling out about 3/4 of the relaxed length I needed - and tied a SS ring in to the cord (a tad wider than the hole in the housing of the leash) so it stopped pulling on the boardonce they get a bit older the spring relaxes a bit too so less of a problem..

Like gambling I will take Eppo's statement and double it.. I am a kook at foiling...No shiny Red or any colour on my foiling experience yet.. but v.early days re actual water time.. basically only 1 good session with the kite not being the focus - and then I bust off a bit of the trailing edge..WIP DIY repair- the lake I used has gone shallow - so I was clean bowled by this - I didn't notice damage until I was packing up..the lake bed is soft clay after waist depth and a bugger for traction when wading..

My take home at present - do not under estimate the influence of the board on the set-up when learning...
Take advice and test - I gleefully re-purposed (cheap skate mentality - dooooh) a wide bouyant G8 4 Skipping stone crash downs board and it has the table manners of a _____(the decking just does not cut it for foiling - anywhere your feet end up must grip - fixed last night. after scrambling over the bloody roof putting up xmas lights yawn.)

Possibly happens on all foil boards - I don't know... My super bouyant setup means any time the foil is un-attached and not held it zips (I mean really zips) off, the wave rock just surges the wing. So I have made sure my reel leash still works (they rust out) and I am heading out to sea and deep water for my next workoutover- not sure of best practice on how to get thru the surf but hopefully that will be sub-5% of the experience or less.. I am just hanging for foil board time....

I am thinking I might have to spring another $1k now on something like a Slingshot Dwarf Craft - but bugger it I am really enjoying the challenge to get this board set-up to work.. I was worried about loosing the whole box and dice at Sea -- but it gets deep which is a total focus so nothing else gets in the way - I just want board time..(and a orange and black glimmery sparkle moment or six and nothing washing the contact lenses out of my eyes!!).

Cheers
AP



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"Axis Foil Stoke!!" started by eppo