Shallow Water Exploration: Winging the Florence 130 X in the Gorge.

I don't typically ride high aspect foils. In my, personal, opinion, most that I have tried sacrifice too much in the turns and user friendliness category for gains in pump/glide that I don't desperately chase after since I'm holding a wing in my hand. In the ocean I do find high aspect foils to be quite nice, but at home, 180 days a year in the Columbia River Gorge, I'm not desperately seeking them out. The highest AR I've ever ridden was a 10.1 which makes the purchase of this foil a bit confusing. I tried the 150hax last year and wasn't convinced to buy it so why in the world did I throw down the cash to get this one? Well, I'll be honest and say the marketing did sucker me in a bit. The graphics are fun and having it endorsed by the Florence brothers (pretty good surfers in case you accidentally learned to foil without having ever surfed) made me feel like having a what the heck moment where I tossed caution to the wind and bought an unknown.

Purchase and Disclaimer:

I wanted to ride and review this foil so I bought it from Poseidon in Santa Monica, CA. I was not asked to purchase, test, review or promote it in any way. I received no compensation for my review and am unaffiliated with Lift.

My riding style:

I'm a water explorer who enjoys long wing initiated downwind runs followed by upwinding back to my starting point. While I'm out and about I want user friendliness in terms of easy water starts, fast and aggressive carving, and stable/predictable responses from the foil in all water conditions. I had no clue if this foil would do these things and to be honest had my suspicion that it wouldn't.

My Gear:

Rider: 87kg

Sunova Carver 5'10"x20" 85l

Cedrus Evolution Surf: 77.5cm mast

Ocean Rodeo AA wings

Primary foils: AFS Silk

The Test Gear:

Lift Florence 130 X with Florence 21 X tail. The front wing is 839 cm^2 with a 39" span and 11.7AR. The tail wing is 135 cm^2 with a 12" span.

First Impressions:

My first day was in less than exciting conditions. Ankle high "swell", 9-12 knots of wind with a range of 5-15. I rigged my 4mAA and while I expected to be swimming I am quite pleased to say that the low end on this foil is phenomenal, perhaps the best of any foil in the 800-900 range that I've ever ridden. As such, I was up and riding right away.

Since it was so flat and light all of my turns were wing powered vs swell powered on day one and I can confidently say that this foil had a very fun loose feel when doing wing assisted turns. I'd say shockingly loose for a foil of its span. Tips breach without issue.

Wing Maneuvers:

Wing moves like tacks, foot switches, and 360's were all magnitudes harder on this foil vs my Silks. However, I find that to be related to aspect ratio across all foils. Foils with an AR of 9.5 and higher tend to lose their user friendliness in one way or another when it comes to winging and these foils were no different.

Upwind:

In order to achieve the kind of high performance turning I want in my foils I usually have to ride a shorter fuse on high aspect ratio kits. This of course decreases user friendliness on wing maneuvers as mentioned above but it also has a negative impact on basic upwind travel. Specifically, when trying to go upwind through swell the experience can feel very pitchy when going directly into the big stuff. To my delight, the 130 X has the best upwind performance of the various HA foils I've tried to date. It isn't world class at upwinding, but if you are looking for reliable upwind performance after flagging out downwind for a few miles this is great.

Swell Riding:

This is the whole point right? Nobody is buying this foil hoping it will unlock freestyle wing maneuvers, and upwind travel. Nor should they.

In small river swell this foil is a ton of fun. The exceptional low end inspires you to explore the river with a smaller wing in hand without fear of getting stuck far from home. The small wing also makes for a more enjoyable, less cumbersome wing management experience. When riding swell this foil gets rail to rail quickly and rides down the line really well. The turns are pretty classic HA turns, not the kind of carving you get out of MA foils but still a lot of fun. I had no problem pumping up and over the swell in front of me and this foil had the kind of speed and glide that encouraged me to sneak in an extra turn or two before focusing on maintaining my glide and transition into the next chunk of swell. The glide on this foil also aided me in my wing management progression. I've been working on keeping my wing flagged out behind me so I can't see it while riding and this foil did well with this technique.

In large, fast moving swell this foil continues to link swell effortlessly. If it's pumping you should have no problem staying flagged out for miles. You will, however, lose some maneuverability at high speeds. Again, this is normal with all high aspect ratio foils that I have ridden but I will say that the impact feels less on this setup which is really nice. Still, I would like to try the 110 X for when things are moving fast.

My only regret:

I really wish I had the chance to ride this foil in the ocean. I have a feeling that it would be absolutely amazing out in the deep water and all of my experiences point to me thinking it would be a perfect fit for my style out there. The Oregon coast is several hours away though, so it's shallow water exploration for me.

Noteworthy Data Point:

Speed: When flagged out in small swell (under waist high) this was one of the fastest kits I've ridden and it was a ton of fun while doing so. Very natural pump cadence for me and just a blast to explore the river on. You won't feel trapped into riding nothing but the Hatchery with this foil, you can range out around the Columbia and have a bunch of fun.

Who it's for?:

If you are a winger who is dedicated to swell riding then this is an excellent choice. Flagging out downwind and then upwinding in medium conditions is a lot of fun on this foil and you will learn a lot about how the river works while winging this. If you are early on in your DW wing progression and even considering taking the leap to DW SUP in the future I think this is a great foil to progress on.

If you are an advanced winger already riding a midlength or mini DW board and an accomplished rider I might encourage you to track down the 110 X before buying the 130 X. I can't speak to the smaller size at the moment but will say that on big days I think the 130 X limits my performance and would not be a first choice. Add to that the fact that the low end is so incredible on the 130 X, it makes me think the 110 X would also have amazing low end that shouldn't turn you away from it.

Beginners and wingers who are skill building: I meet a lot of wingers in the gorge on the 150 HAX who are struggling with gybes and tacks. They have reported that they bought this foil under the understanding that it's "The ultimate surf foil and will expedite progression!" Both the 150 HAX and 130 X are great foils. However, IMO, they should not be confused with being the best choice for surfing or winging skill progression. They are phenomenal at downwind, but I would not recommend these foils to beginners or even wingers who expect to spend a significant amount of time close to their launch working on wing maneuvers. In the gorge these are excellent downwind foils that can double dip as excellent downwind wingfoils but there are better options if you are more of winger than a downwinder.

Conclusion:

This is one of my favorite HA foils to date and I was impressed by how user friendly it was despite the high AR. This will be a light wind small swell tool for myself.

Customer Service:

I do want to give a special note on Lifts and Poseidons customer service. I had an issue with my order and they handled it faster and better than any other brand I've ever come across in this industry. If you are worried about wether or not you'll be supported by the company you buy from I can tell you that as a first time Lift buyer and repeat Poseidon customer I could not have possibly been more impressed.

Thank you!

I hope you found this review helpful and/or informative. My goal is to inform and educate so we can all maximize our smiles per mile on the water. If there was anything I missed or could have added, please don't hesitate to ask.

See you at the river,

Bryan Lee, M.S. Experiential Education.