" UNION FOILS - Prestige - Analyse complète par Damien Leroy avec Jon Modica"

Are you guys ready? We got a special one today. We got the amazing new system from Cabrinha, the Union system. We're going to go in depth on all the wings and sizes, so join us for this one. Let's rock and roll. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. We got a special one today. We got a special guest today. We have John Modica, my dear friend, and also what is your main role with Cabrinha? Chairman. Chairman. There it is. Chairman of Cabrinha. Today we're going to go over the Union foils. This is a brand new lineup from Cabrinha. These are the Prestige wings, the 760, the 905, and 1150, and I've actually put my hands on them, ridden them, tried a few different, and we're going to go in depth, and we're going to break it down. Thank you, John, for joining us today, and thank you for your time because your time is very valuable, so thank you. Thanks for having me. Okay, so let's dive into it. How did all this come about? There's a collaboration here, and let's go a little bit in that collaboration because to me, people may not know this, but I raced a long, long time ago with John in the kite surfing days, and there was two kind of innovation leaders at the time, and one was Mike Zajcik, and the other one was Nick Leeson, and I would say Mike Zajcik was known for building foils and boards that were absolutely unheard of, untouchable, and kind of unfathomable to get them because it would take like a year to get them because they were handmade, spectacular foils, so I'll let John kind of lead into that relationship. Well, we've known Mike for a long time. We grew up having a ton of respect for him, and a couple, a year and a half, two years ago now, when we thought of redesigning our foil system, making sure that it's a system we want to stick with for a very long time into the future, we thought, well, we want to design the very best thing possible and after months and months of conversations, we all said, well, really what Mike Zajcik and Stefano Morris at Mike's lab did years ago was still the holy grail, and a lot of companies were, you know, imitating it for a reason because it was simply the best, so instead of trying to re-engineer something from the ground up, we gave Mike a call, explained to him what we wanted to do, and he agreed to license us the connection system, so hence the name Union, all about the connection system, so this is the part of the foil that we licensed from Mike's lab, which is the design of the connection. It's been slightly modified to be a little more for the masses, and so the number of screws, the size of the screws, the location of the screws, and the overall thickness of the system was changed slightly, but it's based on the original Mike's lab connection. And so let's dive into the foils because everybody's obviously frothing because there's a lot of hype on these foils, and truly I put my hands on the biggest and the smallest, so I've ridden the 1150, and John and I went flat water paddle ups, and to be straight up, I was absolutely blown away. It was kind of the easiest foil I've ever put on my feet, now I weigh 150, so like 70 kilos, to paddle up. It was just very effortless. I was on an 80 Questboard, I think, Questboard, and honestly, like, definitely I would go on record to say it was the easiest I've ever paddled up onto foil. Yeah, they're pretty awesome, and it's funny because, you know, you've spent time now on the biggest one in flat water, and the smallest one, and at your weight, that makes sense to me. At 150 pounds, you on the 760, this is your all-around go-to foil. Well, yeah, and I'll lead into this one real quick, but the 760, which is what I tried, I haven't tried the 905, so I can't comment there yet. John says it's the greatest one, and the best one, of course, because it's like the perfect middle size, right? But the 760, I actually forgot my mask, went down to the beach, and John's like, okay, we're throwing the 760 on, and I gotta go out, and here was my biggest feedback that I think you all should know. When I try a lot of different foils, sometimes when you try a new foil, you're uncomfortable, or it feels weird, or you gotta kind of get it dialed in, or you gotta like find that right balance. I'm telling you, that 760 was like perfect, and then I was pumping anywhere I wanted to go, which to me, I would say the 760 to me felt really like kind of maybe the only one I need is actually what it felt like, so it felt like I could do everything on it. I could pump it, it was an incredible glide. I would say the roll was really smooth, really nice, but to me, that's what was shocking about it was sometimes it takes a while to get used to something, and it was just absolutely instantly comfortable, and just I kept coming back to John. I was like, dude, what? And yeah, well, and that makes sense, and that's how we kind of size the foils. I mean, for me, we used to be similar in size, believe it or not, but now I'm a little bit bigger, and you know, I'm about 185 pounds or 80 plus kg, and so for me, the 905 is the go-to for all around use, and the 1150 is definitely for a little bit lighter conditions, and you being at your weight, you know, 35, 40 pounds lighter, the 760 really, this is the 760, this is your go-to size, and you can either go to the 905 as your light wind one, or if you wanted more of the extreme, you go all the way up to the 1150. Yeah, I would say, and I'm only hitting this, all the info I can give to you guys, because I think it's super important. I would say the negative and positive of the 760, and I know you never want to hear any negative, but the reason I'm saying this is to be as straightforward as possible, is I would say the 760, the roll can be more on some foils with a shorter wingspan. Here's what I believe that has been working for me, now I'm getting older, I'm a dad, I'm whatever, I actually am going and sticking with a larger wingspan personally, because I actually like to have the glide to be able to pump to connect more waves, to always be able to pump and connect more waves. Sometimes when you go really performance, all you get is performance, and you got to get back out there, whether it's, you know, winging, you got to pump back out, or if you're pumping, it may not have the pump to get back out. And so to me, that was a really nice thing, is the 760 was small and fun, but gave me the glide and the pump to get back out, versus some foils when you get too small of wingspan, you lose that, or I lose that with my ability, and I just want to share that. No, spot on. I mean, this is definitely a high aspect wing, and the 760 is the highest aspect. So, you know, we wanted to design a foil that had unbelievable pump and glide, and it's pump and glide that's easy for the masses, and you always give up some maneuverability for that, but the way we really focused our time and effort was, how do we get more than sufficient pump and glide, but still have it in a maneuverable package, so that you don't feel like you need multiple foils, that you kind of just have one that you really get used to. Who are these foils for? Like who, what, what apparatuses are these? I think these are really do-it-all foils, to be honest. Do it all in the sense that they do it all if pump and glide is a priority of yours. If your number one concern with a foil is maneuverability, we have another foil coming out in the spring called the Whippet, and that's focused purely on maneuverability, and it's great, but this is sort of for the people who want pump and glide, whether they're behind a boat, a wing, prone surfing, downwinding, foil drive, whatever you're doing, if you want a foil that pumps and glides, but can still turn, the Prestige is the way to go. If your number one priority is maneuverability, then you're more of a Whippet foil. And if you were to choose a one and done at your weight, your size, what's kind of like, what have you been riding the most? Yeah, to me at 180 pounds, the 905 is the quiver killer of foils for me. If I only had one foil for the rest of my life, I'd be totally satisfied with that. I can ride it in as small as knee high, up to almost head high waves, and that's 90% of the time I ride. The 1150 really is my sort of groveler foil, or for anything that's knee high and under. And now, how would you pair these with the tail wings? What size tail wings work good for each one, or what's kind of your recommendation? That's it, yeah, and that's always a tough question, because it's really personal preference. We started our launch with just three tail wings, and they're all monoblock, so they're all adjusted perfectly for the foils. You don't have to play with shims or anything like that, we wanted it really easy for people. There's a 160, a 180, and 200. I love the 160, it's the most maneuverable, it's the fastest. The 180 is definitely the right in between, and the 200 is really for people who want more stability and easier pump. So if you know you're a little bit more on the beginner end of the spectrum, these foils are exceptionally easy with the 200. The 180 is sort of the size that works for everybody, and then the 160 is just that little bit more maneuverable, a little more advanced, a little more speed. Amazing, and do the fuselage change in length when you change those, or are they all the same? No, they're all the same length for these. We do have another stabilizer system coming out that has multiple lengths, and you can adjust the angle for people who really like to dial it in. I'm not going to say the name of it yet, but when people hear it, they'll laugh. It's very appropriate, but no, for the launch, we just wanted to make it really simple for people. That way, you know, when we stock retailers with it, they don't have a hundred options, and then they know what to try. It's like you really have one of three options, and most people are not, you know, it's very rare I talk to somebody who would be interested in the 160 or the 200. They're usually deciding between just the 160 or the 180 or the 180 and the 200. And now, as we dive into the mass, different size mass, what's your go-to? What do you recommend? What do they make? So we do, there's four mass, but it's really only two. It's a 78 and an 84, so two lengths, and they each come in two different constructions. The Apex construction, which is a thinner mass with that more high modulus carbon, and then there's the thicker, which is the standard mass. The standard mass isn't a thick mass. The standard mass really is pretty much in line with 80 to 90 percent of brands out there, but the thin mass is very thin and very, very stiff. It is a bit more expensive, so is there a huge performance difference? There is a bit. I would say it's more price dependent. It's definitely more expensive going with the Apex. If you don't mind a little bit more in the price, the Apex is definitely a little bit faster. If you're riding smaller waves or you're not looking to hit really top speeds, there's really almost no penalty for going to standard mass. So I'd say 75 percent of people wouldn't really notice the difference unless they rode it back to back, but for people who are really looking for the best, that's why we have the Apex. Now, would you say the stall speed on these foils are maybe really good, and then the upper end limit is maybe a little less? I would say compared to other high aspect foils, we definitely sit in a bit of a bigger speed range than most. There's some foils that sit in that really low, I like to say first, second, and third gear. Some foils are really good in first gear, and they barely hit second. Some foils are more second and third gear. These foils definitely, I'd say, have a really big speed range, and that's why when Damien rode his 760 first time, it was pretty big waves, and this is a pretty big wing for you, and you were able to handle it no problem. I just couldn't believe how comfortable it was. A lot of times, I feel like when I'm trying different foils, you're not that comfortable when you first try them, and that was shocking to me. And I would just say the glide and the pump was unbelievable to where I was like, literally, I came in, I was like, John, I would never go bigger. This is it. This is one and done. I'll paddle up on the 760. I'll do everything on it. Yeah, so winging, pair winging, paddle ups to downwinding, I mean, they do it all. Yeah, no, it's definitely, I would say, I think a lot of people like to advertise foils for specific sports. I like to say, focus. What is the goal in the foil that you're looking to get? Is it pump and glide? Is it maneuverability? Is it low install speed? And then your options become a lot more clear as long as people are advertising their foils for really what they exceed in. To me, again, the number one takeaway I want people to have about the Prestige is it's one of the best pump and glide foils that you can still turn on. Yeah, that's awesome. No, I highly would second that. And that's why I kind of told you that story before, because sometimes I feel like every time I get more roll in a wing, I lose the ability to catch more waves, maybe because my ability isn't as great as, say, Gwen or this guy. But I would say that, to me, I really like the ability to be able to catch so many waves and still be able to do what I want on it. But maybe, you know, I'm not really blowing wingtips out or anything. But anyhow, thank you guys for hearing that. Thank you, John, for sharing your information. Is there anything else that you want to share with it? No, I'd say, you know, you kind of covered all the points. The most important thing from my point of view is to get out there and try it if you can. You know, I think all this information is really good for people, but it really should just be the starting point of saying, hey, you know, I think that foil could be good for me. Let me give it a go. You know, no one's a better judge than yourself on the water. So hopefully get out there and give it a go. Yeah, 100% agree. I think, you know, it's very important to try foils and very important to put your hands on it. And I think as this industry grows, I think a really important thing that I see happening more and more is like people put shims in wings, people have this, a shorter fuselage, longer fuselage, and really everybody sort of rides differently. And I 100% agree with John, like try to get your hands on them. Cool thing about our, you know, industry is people are willing to let you try their stuff on the water or on the beach. And I think that's what makes this sport so special. So thank you for being that person that lets people try their gear on the beach. For sure. If you see me or John or anybody, you're more than welcome to try anything we have. But I would say, man, I was super blown away and I just wanted to share that with you guys. I'm super excited to have John on here because he's so knowledgeable on it. And yeah, we hope you guys can try this on the water and anything else you want to say? That's it. See you out there. Thank you, everybody. Have a really good day. And yeah, we'll see you on the water.