Author Topic: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)  (Read 106527 times)

Admin

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The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« on: June 20, 2019, 03:36:01 PM »
OK, not the end of the beginning, just the end of the waiting :).  Its the beginning of the beginning. 

First impression photos below.  Well boxed, arrived with flat sides and square corners from S. Africa.  Thanks Aramex! 

Just unboxed, of course so no water time to tell of.  The quality is excellent.  Carefully sewn and reinforced.  It feels like a very well considered construction.  The strut handles have a stiff flat plastic inside which maintains their width when you grab them.  There is a neoprene like outer and they are comfy and positive in hand.  The 45 degree angle handles from leading edge to struts are very nice.  more on that later.  The strut ends are heavily reinforced for abrasion resistance.  Good thing here in the rocky Gorge.  The leading edge is also bomber feeling.  The canopy has a square weave rip stop material and is nice and light.  There is a Spectra leash loop (as well and two additional spectra loops about 1.5 feet off of the center loop).  Overall it feels on par with the high end Naish kites that we owned (Pivots).  They came with great backpack bags and leashes.  Pumping a little 4 meter with a big double action pump is a real treat.

Of course we pulled them out to our slope and flew them a bit.  Relatively familiar feel.  They fly with a light finger hold on the center handle.  It is odd but after nearly 40 years of windsurfing it still took a minute to adjust the mind to the new format.  From the handle, my first intuition was to go far back with the other hand on the boom (err, strut).  Do that, however and you are stuck.  It needs to be a crossover to the strut.  That, of course, works great.  We mock jibed a few times from strut to strut.  That felt really nice. 

So far so good.  Just add water.
« Last Edit: June 20, 2019, 05:49:50 PM by Admin »

Admin

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2019, 03:40:36 PM »
Some details.

Admin

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #2 on: June 20, 2019, 03:42:38 PM »
...and some more.

Rider

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2019, 03:57:00 PM »
Nice painting. One of our favorite paddles. :)

Seattle-Wind

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2019, 05:05:30 PM »
Thanks for posting the pics, the quality of the SPG wings looks great! I'm curious to hear how the double-strut design performs on the water!

ninja tuna

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2019, 05:11:33 PM »
Thanks for the write up admin.  They look great.

PonoBill

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2019, 06:03:46 PM »
Looking good. Tomorrow, eh? We just need to figure out where there will be some decent wind and a long beach. I went to Rowena this afternoon, blowing 25, gusting to infinity and beyond. I practiced on land for quite a while, working on standing from a kneeling position. With the wing more or less perpendicular with the wind I could get it flying well, give a little pump and it yanks me to my feet. So that was cool, and 3 meters is enough at 25. Went back to the car to rig my foil and board. Got a little too excited and fumble fingered, dropped my mast onto the board like an axe and poked a big ol' hole in the bottom. Beyond pissed. Back to Hood River to repair Fugly. Back at it in the morning. Arrrrgghhh!

So tomorrow.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

Admin

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #7 on: June 21, 2019, 03:22:07 AM »
JP posted these shots from the wall.  Maybe we start there :)






PonoBill

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #8 on: June 21, 2019, 07:19:40 AM »
Well, there's plenty o' wind. And swell. We'll probably end up being blown to Boardman, but it's been a while since I've been there, so why not?
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

supfoo

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #9 on: June 21, 2019, 02:52:49 PM »
Your ass kicking awaits, nothing worse than the first time on new discipline!

PonoBill

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #10 on: June 21, 2019, 04:21:15 PM »
Too true. I think we'll all sleep well tonight. I went to my shop after our flopping around in the water session and tried to get some forward progress with the engine rebuild I'm doing. I realized after about ten minutes that I was just staring at the engine, so I gave it up. One of those afternoons where I'd probably make ten mistakes a minute.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #11 on: June 22, 2019, 05:51:39 AM »
Your ass kicking awaits, nothing worse than the first time on new discipline!

You nailed it. We got flopped around for 3 hours in all of the most ridiculous ways.  So fun, though, and a lot of learning went on.  It was a very windy day in the Gorge yesterday so we looked for a protected spot with a usable shame-walk.  That kept the swell down but the wind was coming in in blasts.  I started on the 6'6 Slingshot Outwit board with a GoFoil Maliko underneath and our SPG 3 Meter.  Chan and I had planned to 1. Start on a mellow, smooth day. 2. Spend an hour or two in good wind practicing on land.  3. Use a big SUP for our first session or two.  4. Start by cruising on the knees.  But, due to over-exuberance, we skipped to 5.  For that we were each rewarded with a half hour of extra flailing. 
Sanity eventually took hold and we did some knee runs.  Then some Bambi looking standing runs.  Bill swapped me his foil board which is super forgiving for me (but had a 280 foil underneath).    Chan used my board.  I think we will rent or buy a larger foilboard for the learning phase.  The larger boards made it way easier and allowed us to think about what had to happen with the wing and to set our sights on foiling.  The 280 on Bill's board wants to foil me at the slightest forward movement.  Ready or not...usually not. 

We tried both our SPG wings and Bill's Duotone wing.  Both are very cool looking products.  But, they could not be more different.  I should underline that.  There, done.  As a beginner, going back and forth was disorienting.  They sit in the water differently, they react to a leash pull diferently.  They fly differently from the leading edge handle.  The handwork to get them into lift position is different.  The hand position on the "boom" is different.    The single boom vs twin strut (dual boom) is very different.  I started on my SPG and when I swapped with Bill for his Duotone (both 3 meters) I basically went back to step one (mmmm, step 5).   But, it did become more familiar after a while.  I think switching back and forth as a beginner won't be helpful.  Later down the line that will likely be no problem at all.  One thing is for sure. With your hands in the correct position, both wings will fly themselves and require almost nothing from your arms, even in strong, stupid wind.  My body is beat to shit today but my arms are fine. 

Anyways, day one is out of the way.  I think we have two weeks of complete sucking ahead until the normal sucking kicks in.  Here's to day two!
« Last Edit: June 22, 2019, 06:14:46 AM by Admin »

eastbound

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #12 on: June 22, 2019, 05:57:22 AM »
thx for the travelogue admin--tho im not a foiler (yet? need to retire to have the time), let alone a wing-foiler, im enjoying following the journey

have fun!
Portal Barra 8'4"
Sunova Creek 8'7"
Starboard Pro Blue Carbon  8'10"
KeNalu Mana 82, xTuf, ergoT

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #13 on: June 22, 2019, 06:11:37 AM »
I asked Ivan (SPG) about the extra spectra loops on the leading edge and he replied, "The 2 extra spectra loops are if you want to add harness lines, still developing this idea more but added them for now so you can get some lines and attach to last handle and do some jumping."

I had read online about the fragility of some other wings and had wondered about SPG's thoughts there.  "We have used them in gales + some big surf and been smacked around over the falls and all.  We just got off the water now using the 3, 4 and 5 wind was between 12-45 knots with a winter storm hitting Cape town.  Wild and fun. We have 7m waves tomorrow so will be out with our wings at a unique lagoon that only breaks 2x a year."

Here is the thing that gets me.  Some brands are hedging on this new sport.  They are somewhat protective of their other sports and are treating this as an easy access alternative.  Other brands are all in.  They are looking to the high performance future (that in my mind is certain to happen) and are developing products with that in mind. 
« Last Edit: June 22, 2019, 08:50:39 AM by Admin »

PonoBill

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Re: The end of the beginning - SPG Wings (photo heavy post)
« Reply #14 on: June 22, 2019, 08:01:24 AM »
I can't believe how tired I was yesterday afternoon. I didn't feel like I did much other than a lot of shame walking, but I tried to read sitting in the back yard and woke up two hours later. Diane wanted me to make Carnitas nachos for dinner with her dad, so I did and then doubled down on the coma.

I definitely need the 4 and 5M wings. The little 3M requires 20-25 mph to even think about getting my ass off the water. I did perfect the technique for staggering to my feet, and managed a few stately jibes that took up a few hundred feet of river, but the few times that i got the foil up only lasted for the length of the gust. MORE POWER. We need more power.

Back at it today.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

 


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