Wing foiling the Kalama E3 DW board short review.

[Badger]

I've had about 15 sessions winging the Kalama E3 DW board and am enjoying it so far. The dimensions are 6'1 x 23" 105L. I'm 6'0, 165lbs, 65 year old intermediate, mostly flatwater winger. My previous board was a Naish S26 Hover Carbon, 5'10 x 29" 110L. The wind in coastal NH is often gusty. It can be blowing 15 or 20 mph then drop to 5 or even 0 in the lulls. I wanted a board that would lift off easier. I also wanted a board that would slog well between gusts and get me back to shore easily if the wind dies.

For the type of winging I do at my level of ability it's close to being the perfect all-around wing board. Getting up on foil is almost effortless compared to the Naish. Sometimes all I have to do is sheet in, give a couple of tugs on the handles and the board lifts off like magic without any need to pump the wing. I can often use a smaller wing than I normally would have needed with the Naish.

The narrow 23" width is a little less stable on the water than the 29" Naish but I got used to it pretty quickly. Slogging through chop is no problem as long as there is enough wind to hold you up. The board moves through the water with very little resistance.

Conclusion - I'm very happy with the E3 and don't miss my old board at all.

[AGK]

I want to second all of Badger's observations above.  I have about ten sessions on a fairly similar board (6'2" x 24"  100-liter Sunova Casey Pro) and  have similar skills (intermediate coming from a 95 liter 5'x27" board) and find that the DW board gets on foil way,way easier (especially in chop), goes upwind better in windy conditions (surprisingly, and I am guessing that it is because it is narrower and thinner), and turns just about as well.  I bought the board for light wind but am using it for everything and have yet to perceive any disadvantages.

[Dwight (DW)]

It is wild how much performance you gain being narrow. Not just getting going, but once in the air.

I built two identical boards, 23 and 24 wide. The 24 wide is one mph slower racing upwind.

A longer narrow board pumps better than a short wide board. I think the wide board pushes too much air.

[StellaBlu]

Im getting a board like this built.  Very curious to see how the increased efficiency translates to wing/foil size.  My daily board is 60L, 4'9" x 22.5" and this board is going to be 80L, 5'7" x 21" with a very efficient hull.  Some interesting crossover between downwind and wing board design going on right now.  Even seeing some very interesting downwind prone boards in this space too (check out the Majek Burner DW for example).

[Badger]

I had an excellent light wind session yesterday. Guessing 6 to 8 mph wind. No problem getting up with the 7m CWC and Axis BSC 1060.

Location - Little Harbor, NH, aka Wentworth Harbor.  https://goo.gl/maps/Lg6Fv7dpSCafAqwF9

[Caribsurf]

very cool Badger..nice set up and lovely setting however I can feel the chill all the way down here in FL.... I just bought the 7m CWC and love it.  I have used it from 9 mph to 20mph (today) I will have a lot more days on the water with the 7m.

[Badger]

Hey Don. It's getting warmer up here. I recently broke out my 5/4 spring suit. We're still wearing mitts, boots, and hood though.

The 7m is the best size CWC. Not too big. Not too small.

[SeattleFoiler]

Thanks for the review. You've almost got me ready to place an order.

The 6'1" seems to be the popular model. Any thoughts on if the 5'9" x 22.5 would have worked for you?
I'm only interested in using it for LW winging on a relatively flat water lake (Lake Washington). I'm wondering if the next size down would be too unstable for me and bring more frustration than benefits.

I saw dwight post in a similar thread on a different forum that a shorter DW board was 'better in every way', so I figured I'd ask.

---
50yo, 5'8", 165lbs
LW setup: Naish Hover 110, Axis 1150, 7m CWC
Intermediate wingfoiler

[Badger]

Thanks for the review. You've almost got me ready to place an order.

The 6'1" seems to be the popular model. Any thoughts on if the 5'9" x 22.5 would have worked for you?
I'm only interested in using it for LW winging on a relatively flat water lake (Lake Washington). I'm wondering if the next size down would be too unstable for me and bring more frustration than benefits.

I saw dwight post in a similar thread on a different forum that a shorter DW board was 'better in every way', so I figured I'd ask.

---
50yo, 5'8", 165lbs
LW setup: Naish Hover 110, Axis 1150, 7m CWC
Intermediate wingfoiler

I saw that too and wonder what Dwight means by "better in every way".

The 6'1 x 23" is considerably less stable on the water than my 5'10 x 29" Naish. Don't let the length fool you. The narrow width makes the board feel small.

I expect that the 5'9 x 22.5" would be noticeably less stable, making it more difficult to get to your feet in the chop and more difficult to slog in light wind.

A lot might depend on your ability and location. If you have steady consistent wind where you don't spend much time slogging and you are proficient at jibing and don't fall much, then the smaller board might be better.

I'm 65 and just starting to connect jibes. The wind where I foil is often gusty and inconsistent with lulls and the water can be very choppy. I need all the on-water stability I can get. I think I prefer 105L over 95L. Higher volume seems to work well with these boards.

I also want to get on foil easily. I traded the stability of my 29" wide Naish for the hydrodynamic efficiency of the 23" wide Kalama. I think for me, the 5'9 Kalama would tip the scale in a negative direction. Better on foil but more work off foil.

[Dwight (DW)]

I saw dwight post in a similar thread on a different forum that a shorter DW board was 'better in every way', so I figured I'd ask.

My 5’5 is 10 liters less than my 6’2. 10 liters = 1 lb of board weight. 20 liters would be 2 lbs of board weight. Keep that in mind when looking at specs.

Since the 5’5 is still super efficient, plus one pound lighter, it becomes a one board quiver at that weight and length, if you can handle volume and instability in light wind. At first, I was not sure I could. That’s why I still have the 6’2 in my van. I have not used it in 6 months. I’m now confident I can stop hauling it around. I might try it with hand paddles to see if it’s worth keeping.

[Beasho]

My 5’5 is 10 liters less than my 6’2. 10 liters = 1 lb of board weight. 20 liters would be 2 lbs of board weight. Keep that in mind when looking at specs.

What does your 5' 5" look like?  What is the weight and total liters?

Narrow with Barracuda style tail or ? ? ?

[SeattleFoiler]

Thanks for the helpful replies.

If I'm being realistic about my skills/coordination, the smaller board is probably biting off more than I can chew.
My main objective is getting more sessions in and having fun and less about getting the most performance out of a board.
I certainly don't want to spend the summer just trying to get to my feet.

Dwight,
I'll be using the board with a FD+. This has been great for motoring out to the windline and for ensuring I can make it back to a very narrow launch. Not to mention the help it provides in getting going in light winds, especially given that my LW pumping skills are not the greatest.

Since you have some experience with the FD, do you think using it with a DW board will provide any benefit over my current FD/traditional board setup in terms of getting me a knot or two lower end? Can I achieve the same low end with my current setup by just giving it 'more gas'? 

And along those same lines, maybe the FD makes a smaller board more 'doable' as I can always apply a bit of throttle to get some forward progress and stabilize things.

Next problem will be that with all the hype recently, I probably can't even get a board until fall when we'll be moving into the windy season and I won't need it.

[Dwight (DW)]

Since you have some experience with the FD, do you think using it with a DW board will provide any benefit over my current FD/traditional board setup in terms of getting me a knot or two lower end? Can I achieve the same low end with my current setup by just giving it 'more gas'? 

The DW style board is wasted with a FD. It was the efficiency of DW style shapes that convinced me to sell my FD.

I’ll revisit FDs or similar, when they get a heck of a lot better. Lighter, less drag, and less finicky. Maybe 5 years from now. Or maybe when I’m older and even more feeble. I’m going downhill faster, the older I get.

[Dwight (DW)]

My 5’5 is 10 liters less than my 6’2. 10 liters = 1 lb of board weight. 20 liters would be 2 lbs of board weight. Keep that in mind when looking at specs.

What does your 5' 5" look like?  What is the weight and total liters?

Narrow with Barracuda style tail or ? ? ?

It looks like any other Kalama clone. With my adjustments for increased stability. 92 liters. 12 lbs with deck pad.

[B-Walnut]

I'm really interested in trying the kalama dw boards, specifically the 5'3".

My experience is all on the kalama boards:
I learned on the 5'10" x 29" and have since graduated to the 4'8" x 26"
I really enjoyed the 5'10" and think it's a deeply underrated board for wingers. Everyone wants to drop liters so fast but I think the 5'10" is a nice size. The 4'8" is a little racecar when up on foil, but I was only able to demo the 5'0"x26.5" I don't know that I value the 4" I dropped enough to justify the increase in wing size necessary. Water starts are definitely way more effort with the shorter board. On the 5'10" I could pump up onto foil when noone was out on the water. The 4'8" holds me back enough that I don't really have an interest in light wind winging anymore.

Since all I really do is surf swell, I would love to demo the 5'3"x22" to see how the water starts are, as well as how well it pumps and links different sections. It's the same literage as the 4'8", but .7lbs lighter. I'd expect far less tippy front to back, and would also be interested in trying to prone paddle it into waves, whereas the 4'8" might be a little squirrelly and fat.