@J-RAD @Chris D and anyone else thinking of foiling.
I'll do my best to put my thoughts in good wording but i'm a little tired lol
Here's my 2 cents (despite the crazy made up coin shortage lol) Now having a Full season of foiling under my belt.
Despite years of different watersports you have to accept that these foils do come with a bit of a learning curve... It took me 3 solid days before I could learn to get up and stay on it for more than a brief 25-50 yard ride... but stick with it and it gradually gets better and better! I highly recommend 2 things, one don't use foot loops and for goodness sake please use a helmet! I took the carbon fiber foil point to the head one day and the helmet saved us a trip to the emergency room... as an ER/Trauma nurse myself... I can tell you that if I hadn't had it on... I might not be writing this.
First the board, for several reasons i like the WF-2 better. It is seamlessly wrapped in the closed cell foam, and during the learning process it docent hurt if you take a hit from it on a fall. The grip top runs almost the entire length and width, that really gives you the ability to experiment with foot placement. The protection for the boat... being new to foil and even after one season, the foil still can be a bit cumbersome moving it in and out of the boat... the soft sides help in two ways... I don't feel too bad if I bump the boat because the board can take it without damage and also the boat can take it without damage. The number of times I hit different areas of the boat, I'm sure that a WF-1 would have looked a little beat up after this season.
I do have one reason why i don't like the WF-2 and that is that its subject to some permanent "damage" indention marks from being in the tower rack. I think it was the second trip out and I found that the bungee cords on my rack put two permanent dents on the side. However being crafty I found away to still use the rack... We just happened to have paper plates with us and I folded one into quarters and used it as a barrier and poof no new indentions.
I have the 76cm infinity on mine and (my opinion only)... I feel it is the best one to learn on. Yes it gives more lift at slower speeds and that I found helpful. Starting out slower really gives you the ability to find foot placement and begin learning muscle memory. Without learning your foot placement for best control... forget it. If I tried learning at faster speeds... the foil is not very forgiving. The slower speed required for the 76 and starting off with the fuselage and mast position all the way to the back of the board you can stay on the surface of the water easily with good foot placement and for me learning that was step one. I say slower with a bigger foil is better because the year before my first attempt at a foil my friend had was much smaller and needed more speed.. it didn't go so well! lol
Once you have the stability down and the basic flight controls of the foil, I love the 76 because NO BALLAST needed!!!! I have spent some time and money trying to get my AR190 (the 195 has more power to handle more ballast and still move lol) to produce a surf wave but to my disappointment I had to accept that she really isn't made for it, esp after getting to surf behind a Tigé! The 76 has truly allowed us to foil surf 1st, 2nd and even 3rd wake back ropeless!
One great thing about the slingshot I like is that it is basically modular... once you have mastered the 76 and the 2ft mast... in more advanced positions you can easily change it up and put smaller foils and longer masts on it to move to the next level of challenge.
Overall I love the foil more than any other watersport I've ever learned (aside from surfing the Tigé, that was awesome as well). You can use the foil behind anything that can pull you at low speeds, we've done it behind the AR and even jet ski's.
The thing feels like a magic carpet ride, there isn't anything like it!
Have patience and fun!
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