How does the 106l (or 96l) DW compare to the 85l ML in terms of stability to get on board and foil? I'm wondering which board to take, 196lbs, for winging only 10-20 knots. I already have a 125l DW board for below 10knots.
Thanks for the great videos on your channel, really appreciated! I am precisely thinking about buying 106l version only as very light wind winging board. However not sure should I go for 96l or 106l? I am 82kg (180lbs) and probably 90kg (200lbs) in 6mm winter gear, fresh water lakes, so slightly worse buoyancy than a typical salty ocean spot. I heard somewhat contradicting opinions on this topic: ranging from "get closer to your weight don´t go 10-15l plus since it all wasted in winging, you just add weight and bulk and no benefit" to "if not sure, go one size up, the benefits in earlier take off because you are more stable far outweigh the extra bulk of the board". What is your experience/recommendation here just from very light wind winging only perspective, particularly early take off?
Good run down on what you are looking for. You should get the 106L. It’s awesome. You don’t gain much by going to the 96L and the 96 will be a lot more tippy. The 106 is plenty turny and feels really positive under foot
@@REALmattnuzzo , Thank you! I got the 106l board now. It is great! Build quality is second to none. Performance on the water is unbelievable! It accelerates and gets out of the water with no effort. And with this forward geometry there is sooo little board in front of me, it feels like flying a much smaller board. The board unsticks from the water soo easy, much earlier in fact than my foil accelerates to become stable, so I had to adjust my style here (a very good thing). Also once flying it it feels so light that I had to adjust my style with foot change in jibes, since it is so light, has so little inertia, one has to be more careful with balance changes (a very good thing). I of course don't have that much comparison, I only tried Naish downwind 125l and F-one downwind 110l (cheaper construction version). Armstrong (imho) is next level, not just slightly better, next level (it is also noticeably more expensive). It is soo much easier to get out of the water and once flying it "feels" much smaller, feels "smaller/lighter/much more nibler" that my "simpler, classical" 106 board then in flight (Naish and F-one you definitely feel the weight and length of the front compared to "classical" boards = inertia in pumps, turns). However, Armstrong is noticeably less stable IN the water compared to those 2, well it is stable enough for me (glad I didn't go for 96l version) and I am happy to pay that and get earlier flight and nimble flight characteristics. I finally can pump myself on the foil in the same or even slightly less wind than I actually need to fly, so efficient is this board :). All in all, VERY happy. Thank you again for posting your observations on all the gear you are testing, really helps us to navigate in this gear jungle! PS. in the first session, first 2 minutes the rubber mat actually popped on me with a bubble, about 10cm (4in) in diameter, like a piece of it in the middle was not glued. I was bit shocked. However, while in the water I pressed it down with my hand, it made sound like there was glue there and it is not coming off since (2 sessions, 5h total). Not sure what happened there. Fingers crossed that this issue is not coming back (as I see several reports like this in the Internet with people showing a bubble in the rubber mat of an Armstrong board). Cause I love the board and don't want to spend a month waiting for a fix in case this will develop into a real problem
I really appreciate this style of video and review. Thanks!
How does the 106l (or 96l) DW compare to the 85l ML in terms of stability to get on board and foil? I'm wondering which board to take, 196lbs, for winging only 10-20 knots. I already have a 125l DW board for below 10knots.
What about that new Wing! Looking forward to to the review
Thanks for the great videos on your channel, really appreciated! I am precisely thinking about buying 106l version only as very light wind winging board. However not sure should I go for 96l or 106l? I am 82kg (180lbs) and probably 90kg (200lbs) in 6mm winter gear, fresh water lakes, so slightly worse buoyancy than a typical salty ocean spot. I heard somewhat contradicting opinions on this topic: ranging from "get closer to your weight don´t go 10-15l plus since it all wasted in winging, you just add weight and bulk and no benefit" to "if not sure, go one size up, the benefits in earlier take off because you are more stable far outweigh the extra bulk of the board". What is your experience/recommendation here just from very light wind winging only perspective, particularly early take off?
Good run down on what you are looking for. You should get the 106L. It’s awesome. You don’t gain much by going to the 96L and the 96 will be a lot more tippy. The 106 is plenty turny and feels really positive under foot
@@REALmattnuzzo , Thank you! I got the 106l board now. It is great! Build quality is second to none. Performance on the water is unbelievable! It accelerates and gets out of the water with no effort. And with this forward geometry there is sooo little board in front of me, it feels like flying a much smaller board. The board unsticks from the water soo easy, much earlier in fact than my foil accelerates to become stable, so I had to adjust my style here (a very good thing). Also once flying it it feels so light that I had to adjust my style with foot change in jibes, since it is so light, has so little inertia, one has to be more careful with balance changes (a very good thing). I of course don't have that much comparison, I only tried Naish downwind 125l and F-one downwind 110l (cheaper construction version). Armstrong (imho) is next level, not just slightly better, next level (it is also noticeably more expensive). It is soo much easier to get out of the water and once flying it "feels" much smaller, feels "smaller/lighter/much more nibler" that my "simpler, classical" 106 board then in flight (Naish and F-one you definitely feel the weight and length of the front compared to "classical" boards = inertia in pumps, turns). However, Armstrong is noticeably less stable IN the water compared to those 2, well it is stable enough for me (glad I didn't go for 96l version) and I am happy to pay that and get earlier flight and nimble flight characteristics. I finally can pump myself on the foil in the same or even slightly less wind than I actually need to fly, so efficient is this board :). All in all, VERY happy. Thank you again for posting your observations on all the gear you are testing, really helps us to navigate in this gear jungle!
PS. in the first session, first 2 minutes the rubber mat actually popped on me with a bubble, about 10cm (4in) in diameter, like a piece of it in the middle was not glued. I was bit shocked. However, while in the water I pressed it down with my hand, it made sound like there was glue there and it is not coming off since (2 sessions, 5h total). Not sure what happened there. Fingers crossed that this issue is not coming back (as I see several reports like this in the Internet with people showing a bubble in the rubber mat of an Armstrong board). Cause I love the board and don't want to spend a month waiting for a fix in case this will develop into a real problem