Quiver Reflections – Feb 2024
It’s been a while since my last quiver reflections. A few foils have been added to the Axis offerings and my focus has shifted a little bit (see my goals for 2024 post) so I thought it was best to write a blog about the foils I’ve been using the last few months. Also worth adding, I’ve got a new Appletree board (7’7″ x 20″ 110L same as the proto). It’s the production update of the proto that I had before, and safe to say the updates that have been made are great. An updated rocker line, displacement hull and updated outline too mean it glides way better making paddling up even easier.
So, which foils have I been using?
Since my last post the 1121 probably was my most used foil followed by the 1030 and 960 spitfires between October and December. On my podcast with Dave and in my year goals post I said I wanted to use the 1051 more and commit to using it more. Which is exactly what I did in January with the exception of a few runs, where I took the 1051 in pretty much all conditions. However since the end of January with a few struggle sessions where after coming down I took a while to paddle back up, I decided to switch back to the spitfires and bigger foils (quite a few runs on my 1121 again) just for a bit more fun with the focus of low effort efficiency with the goal of finding my ideal set up for longer 50km+ runs in the future when the weather gets better.
What did I learn?
Well to start, I definitely used the 1051 in conditions where I would say I was mostly under foiled. Paddling up was a pain at times, but I was really amazed by the low end of the foil. I managed to go really slow (3:00 / km splits) as well as fast (2:14 / km) despite predominantly slow wind bumps. I was using the 362 skinny, so there’s room to go faster with a smaller skinny and room to go slower and improve the low end with the 365 skinny or a progressive like the 300P or 275P. These are definitely combos to test in the future.
My paddle ups, bump selection and line choice got better. When I switched back to the 960 spitfire, 1201 (on a very light day) and my trusty 1121 I had no issues paddling up whatsoever. I guess the focus on selecting good bumps and generating speed for the 1051 meant I was getting myself to a speed which was well within the comfort range to lift the bigger foils early.
I also confirmed my theory about going fast in our bumps. With the 960 on a not too windy day (20 knots or so) I hit a new PR of 2:10 min / km (faster than I managed on the 1051) and also strung together more consecutively fast kilometres. I’ve always felt in these bumps it’s easiest to have a foil closer to their speed to allow you to keep going forwards and look for gaps as you go. The 1051 I feel is so fast that you have to traverse a lot to keep your speed and have to do a lot of ‘up and overs’. Whilst this isn’t too bad with the 1051 it’s tiring and with the goal / focus on longer runs for me it isn’t the most sustainable way to foil.
With longer runs as my focus; I felt the trusty 1121 will be my most likely choice and my first run back on it in a while was insightful. My second longest run on the North Sea (40k, could have been 45 but the parking lot where we wanted to finish was closed) was arguably one of my easiest to date. Paired with the 300P it pumped well and made the set up turn how I like it. I could have probably negatively shimmed the stab for a bit less drag, but this is splitting hairs. The biggest takeaway other than that the 1121 also can go faster than I thought (2:15/ km in medium-ish bumps), but how little effort it cost me with an average heart rate of 120-130bpm or so. This has been confirmed with a further 3 relatively low effort 20km+ runs.More to be done practising with this foil I think. I should also note, the distance and efficiency part drives my choice here. If I really wanted to have a surfy fast short run, I’ll still go spitfire most of the time.
New foils in the Axis range…
Surprise, Axis released new foils. Since my last quiver reflections, Axis have released the 1401 and the 1180. I was lucky enough to test both in France when Santa Roper came with a bag full of goodies. I must say for me personally, the 1401 isn’t my cup of tea. I understand why some people love it for its endless (literally) glide. But for me (as with the 1201) I don’t like how it turns (wider arc), especially when on the higher end of the foils speed range (I hear good things from folks who run these foils with much shorter fuses than the Adv+ ultrashort I run, for those wanting to try this out). The 1180 on the other hand, I really like. The biggest foils I use are the 1201 (very occasionally, 12 knots or less to DW or flatwater paddle ups, though now I’m doing my flatwater training sessions with the 1121) and the 1030. But I must say there’s something special about the 1180 (I prefer it significantly over the 1100 in all aspects for some weird reason I can’t pin). It turns relatively well, has a very easy pump but what amazes me is that for its low end and easy pump it glides so well and can go so fast. Disclaimer: don’t expect something like the PNG foils or other brand’s pump foils, it doesn’t have as ridiculous a low end, but at least you can get some speed with it. My experience with pump focused foils, or foils made to have good low ends is that once going they are typically a bit draggier and cost a lot of energy to push due to some compromise on foil section / area (probably due to the high camber and thicker profiles they typically have). It seems the balance of using area (IMO still a relevant design factor, though people seem to turn their noses down at ‘bigger’ foils for some reason preferring a small foil with the low end of a big foil…) in the 1180 and just enough camber contribute to a decent low end but also not too much that it holds it back. So I’ve sung its praises, but would I choose one for my personal quiver (I have one available in the demo quiver for anyone in the Netherlands who wants to try it)? I don’t know. I don’t have too much difficulty getting the 1030 going in tiny surf and bumps and the same goes for flat starting the 1201 and even the 1121. If I were to get an 1180 I’d probably take it out in sub 10 knot downwind conditions and use it for flatwater start training if I was doing intervals and pump training. As a beginner DW foil however, I think it’s the best and most versatile option in the range that would be your go to for a long time in the same way that the 1050 HPS was my go to for the first 6-8 months from 14 knots to 35 knots.
So what foils do I want to focus on at the moment / what are my favourites?
For the time being I’m going to focus on efficiency in light of longer runs on the horizon. This means going back to the 1121, playing with a few other stab combos (275 progressive, 360 skinny) as my go to for most conditions and also pushing myself in the 10-12 knot wind range and pulling out the 1201 a bit more. If the conditions are really good (25 knots plus) of course I’ll be grabbing the 1051 too of course though.
As always, I hope these insights were useful and feel free to ping me any questions you have.