martyman said..
Has anyone here chopped or heard of anyone chopping the kujira stab? I was basically Forced to by both stab and front wing if you want to buy a (different) wingset. So stupid.

I have chopped one of mine,taken about 1 fingerwidth out of each side.The first "notch".
Some superglue to seal the new tips.

Only tried it on the wing so far,no big difference ,i think it turns better ,looser,feels a bit faster.No major changes in control at all.

Anyway,nothing bad happens if you chop those wingtips off and just for safety i think it is worth it.

Those tips are criminal.

hilly said..

randomfoiler said..

Alysum said..
With the lack of protective bags, how is everyone protecting their wings ? Keen to see what everyone is doing Not so keen to disassemble everytime and put the wings in the suitcase.

I cut tennis balls to protect the ends. Now I can put it on the floor and won't hurt myself if I bump into the (crazy sharp) ends. Also works well for transport. I take the mast off though as it won't fit into the car fully assembled.

Do the balls effect the glide?

This actually works even better for car transport as I can put it upright.... and on low wind days I can use it as a hovercraft :)

randomfoiler said..

hilly said..

randomfoiler said..

Alysum said..
With the lack of protective bags, how is everyone protecting their wings ? Keen to see what everyone is doing Not so keen to disassemble everytime and put the wings in the suitcase.

I cut tennis balls to protect the ends. Now I can put it on the floor and won't hurt myself if I bump into the (crazy sharp) ends. Also works well for transport. I take the mast off though as it won't fit into the car fully assembled.

Do the balls effect the glide?

This actually works even better for car transport as I can put it upright.... and on low wind days I can use it as a hovercraft :)

Wont covers do that?

giggle.. I know just being a prick

God i love the 1210 but every other part of this setup is absolute garbage. I'm certain Takuma lucked into this design because from what i can tell from the rest of it they're absolute idiots. Please for the love of god can a competent company rip off tubercles so we can have this performance in a better package. I'm looking at you Go Foil, axis, armstrong...

I have the new AL setup where they built they angle into the mast fuse connection so you dont have to shim the plate it but they built too much into it (its like 4 deg). So with the new setup you have to shim it the other way.

Other things that suck.

The goddamn tail doesnt bolt on straight
Every single connection is loose and needs to be epoxy filled
The AL mast is totally inappropriate (i switched to axis with an adapter)
The tennon on the wing connection is 100% too small and is going to be bent sooner or later.

I absolutely love the front wing though.

This is worrying the sub par quality of the set-up.
Mate in France broke 3 M6 screws on his 1 month old takuma foil.

I'm still very happy with my full carbon setup but have had to do the gofoil fix on my 1210 as the wing/fuse connection was getting loose.

gofoil is, hands down, the best of the connections. the square taper is the most resistant shape to torsion, its the simplest out of the bunch(so most likely to be produced accurately) and having the slot on the wing screw means you are guranteed to be able to seat the compression joint (the hammer is the best part!) and still get the screw in.

That last one is the most important part, i've seen some armstrong setups fail to have a good mechanical connection where the screw connects, its kind of luck of the draw there.



I just wish that being on the gofoil program didn't mean being a year behind in wing design.

When i put that takuma fuse in that wing and realized he damn that didn't even have a chance of fully seating i almost packed it up and mailed it back right there.

eppo said..
Yeh right. I must have seen 15 odd armstrong setups (probably closer to 20 but hey) and i've never seen this screw problem. But there is some validity in the square taper connection. The carbon konrad we have uses this.

Armstrong is like the Apple of foils,creates this loyalty :)

I saw more cases like this when i was in the Armstrong foil riders group in facebook.
It is a better connection than Takuma with more contact flat surfaces but pretty similar design concept.

I would also prefer a square Gofoil system,rubber mallet an all,these propietary poligonal tapered BS interfaces suck for modding,frankesteinizing and general screwing around with gear.

BTW we should all email Takuma and tell them to please stop selling foils with huge padded cases instead of more practical padded velcro covers.
And to make front wings available without stab, we might as well be ignored twice while we are at it.

I love the example 1 cm of movement at the tips with no screws in. Seems a major issue. I will throw my Armstrong in the bin it is garbage.
I rode by mine with the screws not done up once. One screw actually fell out after a few hours. As many people have said flex at the foil end is not as bad as flex at the base. Every aluminium foil I have used got loose at the base where the bolts held the base plate to the mast. That feels awful.

To bag all brands as garbage is a big call. You would like Lift as you need a mallet for them as well. Oh but I heard one cracked once they must be garbage too I saw a GoFoil explode when it hit the reef at speed. Does that make them bad? Armi foils are really solid at least.
As I said before I have the A+ mast now with lots more bolts and weight. No movement. It has not transformed my foiling abilities. I miss the lightness and simplicity of the original. The lighter your gear the better it feels for sure.

Well considering the post above about brand loyalty came after mine i should address this.
i am only talking about what ive physically seen not stuff on social media. In the flesh watching guys setup whilst i do then ride together.
that doesnt mean their may be issues - its just what ive seen. Including my sons new armie gear that we put together last friday.


ive seen guys shred on all the brands mentioned and ive used four myself. They are not garbage. All have their pros and cons but takuma to falls short in a few important areas at the moment that wouldn't allow me to lay down some coin.


thaf being said that front wing must be special because ive seen a few lads dominate on them.

jondrums said..
I agree the GoFoil system for the front wing is great. Their tail concept is trash and needs to go to two bolts directly the fuse.
What about Axis wing attachment - that seems to work really well, no? I haven't personally used it.

Axis wing attachment is good. The mast to base not so good. The 2 bolts through the base into the mast kept coming loose so I had to take the foil off tighten them and then go out again. Foils are a bit fragile when you hit rocks

I've been foiling for just over 9 months. I started off with the LOL 1300 in Nov 2020 with the full carbon mast. I switched to the Takuma Kujira 980 in Feb 2021. I got the Kujira 1210 in late May 2021. Since then, I've been switching off between the 980 and 1210. Since I started, I've been averaging 5 or 6 session per week.

Possibly due to my weight at 140 lb (63.5 kg), I have NOT had any problems with the front wings getting loose. With the 980, it fits assembled in my hatchback, so I never disassemble the wing unless I switch to 1210.

The stock rear wing had a tendency to get loose, until I switched to a slightly shorter screw. Now, when I use the stock rear wing, it never gets loose. However, I mainly use the KDMaui 13.5" tail wing (which also never gets loose).

I've hit cobblestones on multiple occasions with both front and rear wings. All my wings are very scratched up, but still watertight. I've been very pleased with how the durable the Takuma wings have been.

I bought the 1210 because after 6 months of foiling, I had only gotten one double dip with the 980. I wanted to see if the 1210 could up my pump game.

I wear a Garmin Fenix watch to track my waves. With the 980, after kicking out, my longest pump out the back was 69 yards. With the 1210 my longest pump out the back was 80 yards.

At first, I was highly disappointed that I didn't immediately double my pump distance. But then, I was noticing with the 1210, my "long" pumps were happening more consistently and if I kicked out without much speed, it was much easier to pump up to speed. Double dips happen a lot more often on the 1210.

At 9 months of foiling, I've been able to increase my max pump out the back from 80 to 120 yd with the 1210.I actually prefer to ride the 1210 over the 980 because of the longer pumps.

I switch to the 980 when the surf gets CH+ or a lot of back wash. Takeoffs are much easier with the 980 once it gets CH. I also just seem to fall less with the 980 if its choppy/backwashy.

With regards to turning, the two wings feel about the same to me. However, I'm only doing big cutbacks. Once I start doing wraparound cutbacks, I'll probably notice a bigger difference.

I ride both wings with 2x Takuma baseplate shims, all the way back in the tracks on a JS 4'8" (31L). Here's a Surfline rewind with me on the 980. I hit the sandbar at the end.

hilly said..

What you and mcrt (and LeeD when he is here) are engaging in is:

The phrase 'tall poppy syndrome' is ubiquitous in Australian language. ... When applied to people, the term 'tall poppy syndrome' refers to the practice of "cutting down" those experiencing success, by speaking badly of them, sabotaging their work, or implying that there is a reason other than merit for their success.

Sorry just the teacher in me

So i suffer TPS then?.Great,sounds cool :)
And who i am cutting down,sabotaging or implying that there is a reason other than merit for their success ?

I post my opinions on gear that i buy and ride,good and/or bad.I get no freebies,discounts or have any dealings with the industry.

Forums are one of the few places where you can get objective info so i think this is a good thing to do.

If my thoughts about Armstrong,Takuma or any other brand are not to your liking then please ignore them.
It's just gear not your newborn child :).

Ya know, I'm with Toomuchepoxy-the kujira front wing is truly standout. The rest of the setup is ****-garbage. The masts leak, the fuselage is quite bendable(I've bent one already) the tubercules chip easily, you are forced to buy duplicate stabilizers when you get a different wing, the wing package/box is truly garbage-an embarasssment really
Why am I still riding them-because have the 1210 and 1440(I'm invested), and the front wings are really,really good.
I'll still take my Axis 880 for DTL wallriding anyday though.