I've spent a lot of time on the 730pfi, so wanted to try something different.
Bolted right up the the SS Fuse with a perfect fit. No gaps etc. Didn't change anything, mast position uj in the same place. My usual 3.7 sail, Winds 16 to 28 knots with some big lulls.
Initial impression: this thing looks tiny.
Launching: need more patience and speed(no surprise). I launched too early a couple times and abruptly nosed in.
Low Speeds, abruptly drops off the foil and slaps down (again, no surprise).
Riding: Once up, easier to ride than I expected (big surprise). Plenty stable, easy to jibe (at speed). Accelerates quickly, smooth and silent speed. Very low drag. When hit by a big gust on a broad reach, is just shoots forward with little resistance. BUT, No low speed jibing allowed. Cashed a couple of times dropping off the foil mid jibe. On the 730, I can spin on the mast axis at very low speeds and stay up. Can also use waves to keep going in a lull. With our low lake levels I "short jibe" to avoid loosing too much ground going up wind in the narrow spots in the lake. Gotta keep the speed up on the 769.
Carving: does this very well. No sensation of losing any speed like the 730.
Up wind. "Feels" very fast and don't get overpowered as quickly as the 730. Not that the 730 is an issue to control, but seems like I keep more speed and can hang out over the water a bit more on the 769.
Things I need to tune/ figure out:
The 769 feels very capable of high speeds, but over 21ish knots (my max on the 730) I can't keep it in the water. I have to tilt the board back up wind to keep from foiling out. So either shim the stab (I've never done, more drag ?) or a stabilizer with less lift (harder to control ?).
In short, it's a keeper. Will use on consistently high wind days. Looking forward to playing with stabilizers for control at high speeds. The 730 will be my daily driver with our typical variable winds.
The PS400 is pretty thick and starts building a lot of front foot pressure past 20kts.
You can try shimming it but I'd also consider a thinner option.
Nice one. its great when you know a wing so well (in your case Pfi 730) and you can use it as a gold standard to compare other wings too.
sounds like my highschool physics teacher is still right...."no such thing as a free lunch"
Also have the 769, it's my go to in consistent wind over 15 knots and shines when it's over 20. As you say in gusty on/off conditions a bigger front wing is a better option. I have the WO940 for this.
I pair all my front wings with the 399 stab +2 shim.
I think you will get more out of it with the PS340 or PS360.
The 769 is very pitch stable, I love the way when a gust hits you just accelerate with no change in foot pressure.
In swell it charges, even had it recover from breaches in top turns, not so much on over enthusiastic bottom turns when you put the power back on too early
Below are my tracks on the 769 with 3.7m in 20 knots yesterday. Wishing you some more consistent wind WsurfAustin so you can get that wing dialled
I'll chime in too, just received a 769(!) - had a fully/over powered session in rough chop with 4.4m, seems to like being driven hard and doesn't over-lift like the 799 (understandable as so much smaller). Stab is the Sabfoil reverse 375, must try with the 430 as well.
I used to think the 799 was quick to react but 769 on another level. Agree that when lift goes it switches off abruptly so likes speed and forward drive being maintained. It seems to cope very will with aggressive carving however.
Also used with a 5.3m in marginal conditions today, the 799 would probably have been better option but was still fun but more work to take off. Going to try playing with mast rake rather than just tweaking rear shim as might benefit from moving to front foot bias as it's easy to control the lift once flying.
Great fun so far and managed my biggest jump today even with the marginal conditions.
Love the way foil design and optimisation is ever improving
I have also recently upgraded to the Medusa pro and have both the 869 and 769 with the flat 370 stabiliser.
I have not had heaps of sessions but at the moment I just keep reaching for the 869 - super efficient, good top end, great for jumps.......and is a little more forgiving when the speed drops. More sailing required to test them both out
I have also recently upgraded to the Medusa pro and have both the 869 and 769 with the flat 370 stabiliser.
I have not had heaps of sessions but at the moment I just keep reaching for the 869 - super efficient, good top end, great for jumps.......and is a little more forgiving when the speed drops. More sailing required to test them both out
Been thinking the 869 could replace my 899 and 940.....anyone want my old wings to fund this
Thanks for the feedback all. I'll start experimenting. Did some digging and found some SS video on stab angles. PS400 is 3 deg, and others are 2 deg. I see SS also makes a shim kit (don't know how I missed that ). Great to have so many options to play with. Having the same front wing connection with sabfoil is pretty cool.
Update:
Swapped the ps400 stab for the 340 turbo tail. That took care of the lift at higher speeds. Moved the mast base around and ended up abot 2.5cm further forward than my 730/400 setup. A little harder to ride, but after 1/2 hour got used to it.