Great review as always, inspiring and fun to watch! I see you wrote "chopped Dart 140". Does this mean Armstrong will be launching a smaller stab anytime soon? I'm considering buying the Dart 140 to loosen up the HA1525, but maybe I'll wait if something new is coming off the line soon... How to best loosen up the HA1525? Thanks a lot..
From your homemade board to this. So sickkk! I’ve kinda always looked at the wing boards and wasn’t a fan. I’ve been itching for a downwind board. I’ve kinda wanted a bigger prone board. Maybe not a good board to learn wing or downwind, but probably a good board to do it all for an experienced rider.
That's it, it just covers more disiplines so you don't need so many boards. It becomes so expensive if you need a Prone board, wing board, tow board, DW board.... If you can cross off multiple disiplines with just one board I am all for it! There is always a negative compared to something specifically designed for one purpose, but it saves you so much!
Thanks Oskar. I got to demo wing a 55Lin very light winds and while it was a partial sinker knee starting for me at 70kgs I got it going very easy and it felt pretty light and responsive. Hopefully will try a prone tomorrow on it. But for you winging how sinky is it as in did you find it easy enough in light wind? As soon as the board got to the surface I found it was pretty easy to get flying
I found it really nice in light wind. I do find it a little less stable side to side when it is sunk, but as soon as I have some power in the wind wing it cuts through the water really easily and gets on to foil so quickly. Being narrow I found it wanted to sink back down in between gusts quicker than a similar wider board, but it felt like a good tradeoff for how lively it felt to turn when I was on foil.
thanks for the good vids oskar!! i got last year the MA1000 after watching one of your reviews...and now i am thinking about upgrading to the HA880 because i cant cope with the speed while on decent waves on the MA...i still cant connect 2 waves even though my pumping is getting better...my question is if the HA880 will be easier to handle...the speed...the pump while surfing good waves in the Pavones area...
Hi mate, stoked to hear! I actually prefer the MA foils in bigger waves, they can roll rail to rail much easier at high speeds. But for pumping and linking waves, especially for prone foiling, then I always ride the HA foils. When you say you are struggling to cope with the speeds in decent waves, are you getting too much lift, or are they just too fast that you don't feel comfortable to turn them?
gracias por la respuesta!! i can control the lift but i find the speed unbearable to cut back...so i can of freeze and ride all the way to the end of the wave and then cut back. i don't feel playfulness...so i wonder if the hA**0 being smaller will be easier to handle...or my be its just the indian and not the bow...
Great video Oskar. How much of a difference do you think there would be feel and pumping wise 55L vs 45L. Your vid has me thinkjng 45L as I’m a similar weight. Also it’s narrow but presume at paddle speed it’s not too wobbly on the pop up?
The 55L will definitly paddle easier and be more stable, but the 45L feels so nimble. I was also riding with the mast at 5 in the tracks so if you moved it all the way forward to 12 on the 55L it might even have less swing weight. If you're a compitent surfer or prone foiler I wouldn't be too detered by the width, but you are correct the 55L would feel more stable. I havent had an issues witht eh 17" width though.
No, I recorded it on a GoPro and then used a voice isolator plugin in Davinci Resolve to clean it up in post. Comes out really good! Such a nice looking board hey!
@@OskarJohansson1 Wow that is impressive. I spent most of the video trying to spot the mic! Whats the rest of your setup with mouth mount and selfy stick? Does it float? p.s. The board looks sick!
I haven't tried it on the foildrive Gen 2, but I heard Jeremy Wilmotte tried it on a prototype 55L and he was struggling with the connection. I know foildrive have some solutions to this, but I would confirm what they are with them first as I have heard of guys drilling holes in boards to get it work.
@@OskarJohansson1 thanks Oskar, just got the foil drive and have been using it on my 39l Armie board but connection issues. FD tell me they’ve got a solution coming. In the meantime I’m using one of Marcus Tardrew’s old prototypes. Keen to stay 100% pure Armstrong though. Want to use the FD to become a better pump master than Oskar:)) (dreaming)
You mentioned the thicker board makes it feel less responsive, but why not just drop down 5 cm in mast size to get Your feet back to equal distance from the foil as your thinner board? Even though there is less clearance between the bottom of the board and foil the board is so narrow, you would have equal or greater clearance on hard carves and the bottom shape is so crazy that the few additional touchdowns would likely not be much of a penalty?
Thats a really fair point and I have been keen to go down to the 795 mast to feel more connected. My prone board is similarly 17" wide, but it doesn't touch down on the rails as well as this board so I am having to ride a little higher anyway. Good point!
I don’t own a Foil Drive Gen 2, but I know Jeremy Wilmotte (@oceanpixels) has tried it on a prototype version of this and he struggled with the signal. Might be worth reaching out to him to confirm. I’ve heard of solutions to get around it but they have been solutions that involve drilling into the board which I am not keen on.
Thats a good question. It really depends on the DW conditions you have. The DW boards will always be easier to get up on foil, even with hand paddles or knees. You also need to go more volume than your weight to do knee paddling so you'll end up at a DW literage anyway. Would be interesting to see if you could get one of these boards up prone DW through!
How much pump do you lose? You were on foil about 3 min in this video. Let's suppose you swapped to your 28L prone board, how much longer would you have been on foil? 6 min instead of 3?
To be honest if I move the mast far enough foward to get the swing weight similar I don't really think I would loose any pump. The extra length out the back actually counter acts the swing weight of the nose too so it almost becomes a little easier and more balanced. The overall weight is a little higher than my prone though so that is a negative on that front. Overall its not massive if much of a loss.
I use the 75L for DW SUP but I also weight 71kg. It works fine for DW SUP if you’re a strong paddler but it definitely doesn’t paddle up as easy as the dedicated DW boards. There’s always a con I suppose, but it definitely works as a 1 board to cover both!
sick. Can you get some footy of you proning with it filmed from the beach. showing your paddle in's and pop ups. Its hard to see on the gopro the waves your on. Thanks
Army...Noooooooooooooooooo! another one?? Better and better!! I just purchased 2 in the last 6 months!! Needless to say this one looks more appealing..again....
These on-foil videos are insane. Please keep doing them. :)
Thanks mate, apprecite it! Will do :)
I've never owned an Armstrong board. But they are looking more appealing these days. Great job on the live review. 😎🤙
I've had 3 or 4 Armstrong boards and they tick every box for the application intended for .... in my opinion ...
Great review as always, inspiring and fun to watch! I see you wrote "chopped Dart 140". Does this mean Armstrong will be launching a smaller stab anytime soon? I'm considering buying the Dart 140 to loosen up the HA1525, but maybe I'll wait if something new is coming off the line soon... How to best loosen up the HA1525? Thanks a lot..
Nice one Oskar! Really rated this review. Looks great and apprecited the honest feedback
Gotta keep it real! This foiling sport is a game of pros and cons... there is always a con!
you are so skilled. thank you for the review
Haha thanks mate! Maybe it is all in the board ;) haha
great info and video as usual mate! audio is crisp and clear! can't wait to get on a 45l cheeehuuuu
Yewwww! Let us know how you find it! Keen for your thoughts
I preordered the same board. So stoked!
Yeww! I bloody love this board. Love to know your thoughts once you’ve ridden it 🙏
As a "prone only guy" I appreciate the honest review thanks. Does look sexy though :)
100% there is always a con hey. If its cooking conditions for Prone, I will always ride my prone specific board!
Nice one Oskar, the winging on 45l in lite wind has proven to be a weapon and so easy to get on a plane.
From your homemade board to this. So sickkk! I’ve kinda always looked at the wing boards and wasn’t a fan. I’ve been itching for a downwind board. I’ve kinda wanted a bigger prone board.
Maybe not a good board to learn wing or downwind, but probably a good board to do it all for an experienced rider.
That's it, it just covers more disiplines so you don't need so many boards. It becomes so expensive if you need a Prone board, wing board, tow board, DW board.... If you can cross off multiple disiplines with just one board I am all for it! There is always a negative compared to something specifically designed for one purpose, but it saves you so much!
Thanks Oskar. I got to demo wing a 55Lin very light winds and while it was a partial sinker knee starting for me at 70kgs I got it going very easy and it felt pretty light and responsive. Hopefully will try a prone tomorrow on it. But for you winging how sinky is it as in did you find it easy enough in light wind? As soon as the board got to the surface I found it was pretty easy to get flying
I found it really nice in light wind. I do find it a little less stable side to side when it is sunk, but as soon as I have some power in the wind wing it cuts through the water really easily and gets on to foil so quickly. Being narrow I found it wanted to sink back down in between gusts quicker than a similar wider board, but it felt like a good tradeoff for how lively it felt to turn when I was on foil.
thanks for the good vids oskar!!
i got last year the MA1000 after watching one of your reviews...and now i am thinking about upgrading to the HA880 because i cant cope with the speed while on decent waves on the MA...i still cant connect 2 waves even though my pumping is getting better...my question is if the HA880 will be easier to handle...the speed...the pump while surfing good waves in the Pavones area...
Hi mate, stoked to hear! I actually prefer the MA foils in bigger waves, they can roll rail to rail much easier at high speeds. But for pumping and linking waves, especially for prone foiling, then I always ride the HA foils. When you say you are struggling to cope with the speeds in decent waves, are you getting too much lift, or are they just too fast that you don't feel comfortable to turn them?
gracias por la respuesta!! i can control the lift but i find the speed unbearable to cut back...so i can of freeze and ride all the way to the end of the wave and then cut back. i don't feel playfulness...so i wonder if the hA**0 being smaller will be easier to handle...or my be its just the indian and not the bow...
Great video Oskar. How much of a difference do you think there would be feel and pumping wise 55L vs 45L. Your vid has me thinkjng 45L as I’m a similar weight. Also it’s narrow but presume at paddle speed it’s not too wobbly on the pop up?
The 55L will definitly paddle easier and be more stable, but the 45L feels so nimble. I was also riding with the mast at 5 in the tracks so if you moved it all the way forward to 12 on the 55L it might even have less swing weight. If you're a compitent surfer or prone foiler I wouldn't be too detered by the width, but you are correct the 55L would feel more stable. I havent had an issues witht eh 17" width though.
@@OskarJohansson1awesome thanks. Very much appreciated.
The audio quality is great! Did you re-dub this? Or an external mic or something? Agreed, the board looks great!
No, I recorded it on a GoPro and then used a voice isolator plugin in Davinci Resolve to clean it up in post. Comes out really good!
Such a nice looking board hey!
@@OskarJohansson1 Wow that is impressive. I spent most of the video trying to spot the mic! Whats the rest of your setup with mouth mount and selfy stick? Does it float? p.s. The board looks sick!
@@OskarJohansson1 Remember to convert the track to mono next time. The right audio track is silent. (First 3 minutes)
@@jmunkki I noticed that as well... thanks! Didn't think about going mono but great idea.
This is the 3PV Aqua pole. It floats and is telescopic but also light weight.@@brendan-shanahan
Oskar, as per usual making it look so easy. Thinking of the 55l. Would it go ok for foil drive??
I haven't tried it on the foildrive Gen 2, but I heard Jeremy Wilmotte tried it on a prototype 55L and he was struggling with the connection. I know foildrive have some solutions to this, but I would confirm what they are with them first as I have heard of guys drilling holes in boards to get it work.
@@OskarJohansson1 thanks Oskar, just got the foil drive and have been using it on my 39l Armie board but connection issues. FD tell me they’ve got a solution coming. In the meantime I’m using one of Marcus Tardrew’s old prototypes. Keen to stay 100% pure Armstrong though. Want to use the FD to become a better pump master than Oskar:)) (dreaming)
You mentioned the thicker board makes it feel less responsive, but why not just drop down 5 cm in mast size to get Your feet back to equal distance from the foil as your thinner board? Even though there is less clearance between the bottom of the board and foil the board is so narrow, you would have equal or greater clearance on hard carves and the bottom shape is so crazy that the few additional touchdowns would likely not be much of a penalty?
Thats a really fair point and I have been keen to go down to the 795 mast to feel more connected. My prone board is similarly 17" wide, but it doesn't touch down on the rails as well as this board so I am having to ride a little higher anyway. Good point!
Does it work with the Foil Drive Gen2? Or block the signal?
I don’t own a Foil Drive Gen 2, but I know Jeremy Wilmotte (@oceanpixels) has tried it on a prototype version of this and he struggled with the signal. Might be worth reaching out to him to confirm. I’ve heard of solutions to get around it but they have been solutions that involve drilling into the board which I am not keen on.
Could this potentially be a prone/knee hand-paddle DW, or is it best to stick with a longer DW board with more volume?
Thats a good question. It really depends on the DW conditions you have. The DW boards will always be easier to get up on foil, even with hand paddles or knees. You also need to go more volume than your weight to do knee paddling so you'll end up at a DW literage anyway. Would be interesting to see if you could get one of these boards up prone DW through!
How much pump do you lose? You were on foil about 3 min in this video. Let's suppose you swapped to your 28L prone board, how much longer would you have been on foil? 6 min instead of 3?
To be honest if I move the mast far enough foward to get the swing weight similar I don't really think I would loose any pump. The extra length out the back actually counter acts the swing weight of the nose too so it almost becomes a little easier and more balanced. The overall weight is a little higher than my prone though so that is a negative on that front. Overall its not massive if much of a loss.
How is this board for downwind sup? Looking for a single board for everything but downwind most often.
I use the 75L for DW SUP but I also weight 71kg. It works fine for DW SUP if you’re a strong paddler but it definitely doesn’t paddle up as easy as the dedicated DW boards. There’s always a con I suppose, but it definitely works as a 1 board to cover both!
sick. Can you get some footy of you proning with it filmed from the beach. showing your paddle in's and pop ups. Its hard to see on the gopro the waves your on. Thanks
I wish they'd make 6ft prone foil boards. Would be much easier to paddle
Also most of us arent pros and like more paddle power lol
Make them Foil Drive compatible at production, you won’t be able to keep up with demand
Army...Noooooooooooooooooo! another one?? Better and better!! I just purchased 2 in the last 6 months!! Needless to say this one looks more appealing..again....
I feel you on that front... this one is pretty though ;)
It’s almost like it’s a Swiss ARMY Board
🤣😂🤣😂 That is soooo good! Would have been the best board model logo ever!!!!