When knowing you are using the best gear out there for a number of years (demo’ing new stuff as it comes to market, but still returning to your old faithful), contemplating a brand change is a big deal. It’s a big deal to leave behind the tried and trusted deep product range and excellent after sale service of an established player plus it’s not an insignificant financial commitment. In an industry in its infancy and moving fast you have to be certain something is simply better. Better is subjective as is the experience of foiling, no matter how you choose to enjoy it – SUP, Prone, Wing, Downwind etc. Pro’s and experienced foilers can go into great detail about chords, aspects, volume, actual versus projected area’s and there’s a lot of merit in drilling down in these areas for the technically savvy. For most average punters it comes down to ‘feel’. What does it feel like flying across a double over head point break, what does it feel like dropping into a big bowl at the end of the line… well, if the average punter were honest, it feels amazing on almost any gear and is simply a privilege to be out on the ocean with your mates flying above the ocean.
With that all said when something special comes along, when there is a real tangible difference in ‘feel’ it can take you by surprise and needs further detailed inspection and demo’s. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a demo Code Foils 850S, this was a drop of some 200 cm2 of area from my daily driver. That’s important to know as I’d class myself in the average punter category, 88kilo’s and nudging 50 so I was sceptical of being able to get the best out of a smaller wing. First impressions were WOW. WOW meant speed, rigidity, responsiveness, glide and pump way beyond my expectations for a wing of its size. You could break each individual component of that down but the feel only improves the more time you have on the foil. The speed it maintains allows for much shallower pumps much later than normally required as it carries distance beyond anywhere you would expect. I managed to compare my daily driver back-to-back over a 3-day period and came away with the only conclusion you could and placed my order at the local distributor.
The Code Foils 850S and High Modulus mast combo really are head and shoulders above anything out there right now. It’s super light, strong and the fit and finish from the factory is excellent with great protection sleeves for the mast, wing and fuse. Bring on the 980 and other product in the range!
–Oliver Darkes

Pic Credit WSS Boards