TESTED: KT GINXU WING FOIL BOARD
Our most radical wing board, reviewed by our most real-world rider.
Here’s our lineup of KT Ginxu wing boards available now!
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Sam: The KT Ginxu – we spent a whole season on it. We’re really excited about it. I’ve been doing this whole wing foiling thing. Super stoked on the Ginxu and loving it different sizes. Eddy’s just kind of getting into it. Relatively new winger catching on quickly. He just kind of got thrown onto one of these Ginxus by TJ. He was a little skeptical but it seemed to work out for you. You like it, yeah?
Eddy: Yes, I mean the skepticism was the Ginxu is Kai Lenny’s wing board. What in the world does that have to do with me? Probably nothing. TJ enforced I get out there on it it. I went from a 95 liter traditional board to an 82 liter Ginxu. My fear was that winging is a light-wind compliment to my windsurfing. I feared going smaller board would mean I was going to sacrifice my wind minimums and suddenly need real wind to go winging. The reality on my Ginxu 82 liter was I am actually able to get up on that 82 liter sooner than I was on my larger board. I’m pretty sure, Sam, it has to do with this design here and the direct connection I feel from the the rigidity of how these foil tracks are set in the board. And yeah, the pumping for me on the Ginxu is amazing how early I can get it going. So maybe there is a little bit of Kai Lenny in me.
Sam: I think there’s a lot of Kai in you. I’ve seen you out there sailing. But you’re absolutely right on the on the design of the board in lowering your wind minimums. A lot of it has to do with how quickly the Ginxu releases from the water. There’s kind of two stage two-tiered release. It works really well for getting up and going. You can reduce the amount of pump you have to do. You don’t have to work the board as hard to get flying. It works so well that KT is starting to add it into their Dragonfly downwind board coming out. The Ginxu’s stepped tail has a lot of other added benefits toolike Eddie mentioned the construction of these things is unbelievable. They’ve taken construction techniques from their windsurf board constructions. You know the windsurfers really know how to beat up a board.
The Ginxu foil boards here are stiff and durable and you can feel that when you’re foiling. You all that feel because there’s so much less foam between your foot and the foil, which is you know the real reason that they started down this design path. KT wanted the littlest amount of foam between your foot and your foil. More foam equals less direct feel. Less foam equals more direct feel. Then there’s these other things that Eddy was talking about that were sort of an added bonus. KT was like oh my God – like this thing’s releasing so well you don’t touch down as much when you’re pumping. You don’t catch a heel side rail in the waves.
Eddy: Absolutely I think for me it feels like a cheat code. I can ride a fairly large board relative to what you and TJ ride and I feel feel like I’m still getting that direct riding sensation that you guys preach about on boards that otherwise drown me. The Ginxu is a really quick way for someone who might be an intermediate or beginner to get a sensation of how a smaller board would feel without having to make that big commitment.
Sam: Totally. The intermediate and beginner riders get to have the volume of a bigger board and the agility of a smaller board.
Eddy: And I’d just put an asterisk on that – I think with this board from a stability standpoint you do give up a little. At least I felt it in that when choosing a Ginxu size, going about five liters higher than you might otherwise isn’t a bad plan to ensure that you still have that stable platform for going from your knees up to your feet.
Sam: Yeah absolutely. It’s a super fun board. I’ve spent pretty much all winter uh on a 46 liter Ginxu here and really really love it. It feels tiny, super fast, super fun.
Eddy: Yeah, I echo that on an 82 liter Ginxu that I’m sure Sam would think is huge and yet for me it is my Ferrari. I love it!
Sam: Hey if it works you know it works. It doesn’t matter what size you’re riding. The KT Ginxu: Check it out if you have any questions feel free to give us a shout at the shop 541 386 6086.
