Hit Kailua this morning.
No.36 with the Evolution Wind Mast, Eagle 890 and DW 190 rear stabilizer.
Donnel was letting me try out a new Ezzy Flight 5.0 prototype.
Totally weird wind today. Super cranking winds, followed by a band of nothing wind, then super squall, and on and on.
Zach also came out - he and Naomi said they like Kailua and will probably spend lots of weekends there.
I also had an Ezzy Flight 4.5 - which I pumped up while the super squall was coming through - but by the time I was back launching - no more wind again.
This chart is from Waimanalo and it is kinda close to what was happening (but not really).
So all three of these outings were with the 5.0
I really liked this version of the 5.0 here's the feedback I sent in:
Here is my feedback on the 5.0
Much better low end than the last one I tried (the one with the darker gray canopy material)
Luffs almost as good as the gen 1 4.0 - almost
I really liked luffing from the front flying handle and it felt really good. Jump City had some swell, but it wasn't consistently breaking. I did catch 10 or so breakers and luffing on a beam reach was effortless - the wing just parked and followed me. Going straight downwind, the wing did dip (tail), but every wing does that (this isn't a critique).
This version didn't seem to point as high as the others - but I'd rather have the better low end and more behaved luffing and trade a few degrees of pinching.
There was a tiny amount of flutter at the third batten (from the wingtip) when the wing got into the upper range of what a 5.0 should be used in. This is also nitpicking and not necessarily something that needs to be addressed.
This version did not have any backwinding. I switch stance all the time and prefer to ride heelside going both port and starboard tacks. Because of this I may be able to position the wing into a more favorable position when pinching upwind, and that's why I may not have experienced the back pressure you guys noticed. Comparing this to what I regularly ride (North Mode Pro), not having to focus on this (on this version) made it easier for me to focus on stance to go faster. The North Mode Pro will do the same thing you described (some backwinding when hitting extremely high angles into the wind) - I usually sheet harder with my backhand when that happens. The previous version I had tried before backwinded worse than the Mode Pro. I enjoyed not having to address this on the current version.
The canopy material was different than the other iterations. On the surface it did not necessarily give me the same impression the first version did (crisper canopy - perception of durability) - but the limited time I had on this one wouldn't be enough time to judge durability (you're more likely to notice this). I don't think this is necessarily a driving factor, but the groups I wing with judge wings on their "crispness" - the perception being that a wing is good to go and not bagged out as long as it is crisp. I know that this isn't the case - just painting a picture of what the layman's viewpoint is.
I really liked the handles on this one. They felt intuitive to use, and I didn't have any abrasions from hitting any high spots. I have been contending with tendonitis at my forearm/elbow. This version did not strain my forearms at all. There was balanced power distribution between both hands - even at the higher end of the range.
I think this 5.0 is dialed in - I would buy this version.
W:86/FD:48/F:4/S:13
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