The new KT Foils are out and I already had the change to test them both in Tarifa and here in the Netherlands while wingfoiling.
It’s a complete new foilsystem designed from scratch and it already comes with a range of 3 different front and rearwings. The Instinct, Nomad and Atlas.
Every frontwing will have its pro’s and con’s, as they are designed for specific conditions and rider preferences. For me to do a full review on the whole range will take time. For that reason, in this review I will only focus on the system, and with time I’ll do reviews of the different foil ranges. Hopefully it will help you decide if KT foils, and which foil setup, will fit your foiling needs.
A complete foil package unboxed
Your not only getting a new frontwing or mast to start with, so let’s have a look at what comes in a complete KT foils package. Every main foil part comes with a cover and it makes uses of velcro to open or close them. You can also leave these on when the foil is assembled. It doesn’t come with a bag to put everything in, but they can be ordered separately. As most people just leave the fuselage with front- and rearwing attached, in which case you don’t need a bag.
A hardware pack with all the needed bolts, t-nuts, tools and shims is provided. There is also an 1 degree mastplate adapter. So you can adjust the angle of the mast towards the board a bit. I don’t use it for KT boards. But if you board has tail rocker this will come in handy.
Taking a closer look at the foil system
The foil range has been developed by Kane de Wilde from Maui. Still a very young guy, think he’s only 25. So it is impressive that he already developed a whole foil system and full on foil range. This being the first release, I’m sure much more will come out way in the future.
Good foils are one thing. But the system connecting all the foil parts together is just as important. It of course needs to be solid, stiff, light and strong at the same time. But what you also like to avoid is coming up with a new foil system every so much years, making the old products incompatible with the new system. Something that happens to often in the world of foiling. For this system time will tell, but looking at everything I think we can trust Kane thought a lot about the system to last for many years. It looks like an efficient design and all the parts look well produced.
To attach all the parts, two bolt sizes are used, m6 for the rearwing, and the rest is using 8m bolts. All torx and you have different lengths. Every front and rearwing makes use of the same length bolts. When assembling everything, you’ll notice some large numbers on the masts and frontwings. This corresponds with the shim you will need to use between the rearwing and fuselage. Everytime you change your frontwing or mast length. You need to make this simple calculation, of which the end result will be the rearwing shim you need to choose. What they told me, this needs to be done because every frontwing and mast length has a different amount of drag. Larger frontwings need more taillift and therefor a different rearwing angle. It makes sense, but I would stack a spare bag of shims in my car somewhere in case I’d lose one on the beach. Replacements shims from KT are cheap anyway.
The masts
The carbon masts I have seen all look beautiful. They are not the thinnest (15.5mm) or stiffest on the market. But on the smaller foils wingfoiling in choppy water with lots of current the mast performed quite well. The weight of 85cm carbon mast is 1.7kg . If you have no use of the mast adapter that is provided, a soft layer between the mast and the board is missing. This might take some paint of your board when sand comes in between. Also I don’t think you can change the coils easily if the tread would get damaged. When attaching the m8 bolts for the connection with the board, these bolts do stick out a little bit on the surface of the mast.
The profile of the mast itself feels very slick.
I haven’t tested the aluminum masts at this stage. But they did look well made. They also come with a different hardware pack, having some more bolts to connect the baseplate and topplate with the mast. The connection with the fuselage is more towards the middle of the fuselage then some other brands do. In theory this gives better pitch stability, making it less critical your feet at the right spot all the time, but also provides a less direct feeling and more of riding style where you feel more pressure on your rearfeet. All of them which I felt testing the different foils.
The fuselage
You either choose a 63cm or 56cm fuselage. Where 63cm generally is more stable and an easier setup for beginners. Where the shorter fuselage will be good for the more experienced riders. I have tested both and went good on both. I can tell you because the foils work quite easy, even on the shorter fuselage in difficult conditions the setup with smaller foils still felt stable. On the shorter fuselage it was easier to do shorter and quicker pumps.
Which front or rearwing to choose?
For each series I will try to make a review, and test them in the conditions where they are designed for. What I felt up to this point is that the Nomad series is great for messy conditions and in waves where you really want to make a lot of turns. The Atlas feels more at home in longer swells and flat water where glide can be more important. I also think only the smaller sizes are more suitable for wingfoiling. The larger ones I think become a bit too flexy for this use. The Instinct is the beginners series. But it goes quite small aswell, they might surprise me if I get a change to try them.
Hopefully this review gives you a clear overview of the new KT foiling system. I have used the Nomad quite a lot while wingfoiling, and this will be the next review coming up.