SPOTLIGHT 97
The (foiling) future
Slingshot Levitator 150 & Hoverglide Fwind Infinity 76 alu foil
Info: www.slingshotsports.com/2019-Hoverglide-FWIND-Foil www.slingshotsports.com/2019-Levitator
Price: Levitator 150: £2,050; Levitator 160: £2,100; FWIND Hoverglide: £1,150
WORDS: WINDSURFING UK PICS: WSUK
SLINGSHOT MAY BE A NEW BRAND TO SOME WINDSURFERS BUT THEIR
HISTORY IN THE SPORT IS UNDENIABLE – SS HEADS TONY AND JEFF
LOGOSZ BEING INVOLVED IN WINDSURFING FOR 20 YEARS. THEY NOW
BRING THEIR FOILING EXPERTISE, FROM MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES, TO
THE PARTY ULTIMATELY BENEFITTING YOU. FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH:
‘1 FOIL, 5 SPORTS, ALL ABILITIES, EVERY CONDITION’.
Following Slingshot on social media you
may have seen Wyatt Miller’s
(interviewed last issue) aerial foiling
antics. Based on his moves you may
think Slingshot products aren’t for you.
At first glance the Levitator is futuristic
and miles away from standard
windsurfing boards. A chunky back end,
chined rails running to its minimally
rockered, short nose (the Levitator is
only 6’6 in length!). Flip it over and you
have the pedestal track box – all in it’s a
new concept that’ll be alien at first.
Accompanying is SS’s Hoverglide FWind
alu foil and Infinity 76 front wing. SS
describe this as the best set up for
comfortable/confident flights. Utilising
their switch fuselage mechanism its
61cm mast can be tuned across multiple
points. Combined with the Levitator’s
settings you have kit just begging to be
tinkered with.
For our money the Hoverglide worked
best with the mast slotted straight into
the Infinity 76’s forward point. This sat
about an inch off the track box’s front.
Footstraps were shoved forwards while
rigs below 6m were comfortable a few
cms from the start of the mast track.
Anything bigger needed to be moved
forwards.
On the water the Levitator takes a bit of
getting used to. Its short length doesn’t
deliver quite as much glide as
conventional (longer) boards. It therefore
needs to be scissored off the wind
assertively. There’s also a degree of yaw
(side to side movement) that’s easily
overcome but may feel unusual at first.
SS’s Hoverglide Fwind foil and Infinity 75
wing lifts progressively and efficiently. It
doesn’t rev up too quickly and is
therefore a good tutor for progressing
flyers. Once up the Levitator’s
configuration and mechanics encourage
an upright and forward stance. It’s
unusual to have so little board up front
but a couple of runs will see riders dial
in. Minor touch downs are easily
brushed off, however, if diving at speed
its lack of nose rocker does mean
breaches will occur. Fortunately this
doesn’t happen too violently due to the
composed nature of the Hoverglide foil.
Conclusion
Both the Levitator 150 and Hoverglide
foil are superbly engineered pieces of
gear. It’s equipment that sits at the
new school end of the windfoiling
spectrum. For totally green flyers it’d
be worth logging some flight time
before switching to this set up. With
consistency though the Levitator 150
and Hoverglide FWind foil will take
you where you never thought
possible. Fun to jump, gybe and we
even started getting round our first
foiling loops. Great looking, well
manufactured with progressive
performance attributes: windfoiling
equipment for the revolution.
uk
WIND
SURFING