Armstrong Mid Aspect Foils

Beginner foilers all start on low aspect foils, these are foils where the chord line is relatively long in compare to the wing span. These foils take off in slow speeds and continue to lift the rider even in low winds and slow speed. Once we progress, we look for more speed and enjoy foils with a lower aspect. These foils come with its own set of challenges: The longer wingspan make them harder to turn and the short chord line makes them a bit tricky to start as the angle of attack is not as steep as with the bigger wider (chord line) wings.

Now Armstrong came out with their MA (Mid-Aspect) front foils. These foils merry the best of both worlds: The speed of an HA (High Aspect) foil combined with the agility of a low aspect foil.

We had the opportunity to do a straight comparison with the HS 1250 to the MA 1225. As you can see in the numbers below, they have almost the same wing area. However, it was said that their performance varies quite a bit, so we took both wings to the beach and rode them one after the other.

In the straight comparison we found that the MA 1225 allows a higher top speed due to a lower resistance. The lower resistance results from a shorter chord line paired with a thinner profile of the wing. (see comparison in the video)

We found that the stall speed of the HS 1250 is a bit slower but not by very much. It was easy to get both wings started, particularly since we were testing these foils on a low wind day.

Recommendation for beginners: Both of these wings are not beginner wings. They are too small not stable enough for the novice foiler.

Recommendation for advanced riders: If you are riding an HA 1250 and your are looking for the same characteristics paired with higher speed and performance it is worth the while switching over to the MA 1225.

Watch this video for a detailed review and out in the water test: