CrazyFly Chill and Up Foil 130 x 46cm 2018
Reviews / Hydrofoil Boards
41,705
At A Glance
With the recent news that kiteboarding has made the 2024 Olympics in Paris, I’m pretty sure we are likely to see a massive uptake in kite foiling, at both ends of the scale, entry and racing. There have been quite a lot of foils on the market now for many years, however top board manufacturer Crazyfly have recently released their first foil line up. We are going to be taking a look at their Chill and Up offering.
The 2018 Chill foil board is a twintip construction, low volume foil board. Aimed at all-around foil riding for beginners through to intermediates. Small in length but featuring a high nose, concaved deck and full deck pad the board is ready for a variety of foiling fun. The 2018 Up foil features a 91cm carbon mast, carbon wings and an alloy fuselage.
The Chill foil board comes with 3-foot strap options, and the deck pad is ideal for strapless riding. The Up foil comes with the Freeride front, and Up rear wings, however, all parts are interchangeable so you can upgrade your wings when you feel you’re ready.
Size: Chill: 130 x 46cm. Up: 91cm mast.
“Easy going and incredibly fun to ride.”
On The Water
Setting up the Chill and Up foil combo is a doddle, and the rear mounting inserts are a great addition to varied mounting positions. We opted for the middle setting, while the further back or forward settings are designed to give you more or less leverage over the board. We headed out with a Y strap configuration.
Firstly, walking down the beach with a carbon foil makes life a lot easier, far less weight. Although you do feel the need to be even more careful not to knock it into anything.
The board gets up and going quickly, however, in ultra-light winds, the lack of buoyancy does make it slightly harder to start. Once you are up the foil is quick to provide lift and lift up out of the water. The foil is very stable and smooth underfoot. As you increase your speed, the UP remains stable, and the speeds you can reach are ideal. It’s not a super-fast race foil, that’s what the Master foil from Crazyfly is for; the speed of the Up is brilliant for freeriding though. You can also ride the Up slowly which makes it ideal for those foiling newbies out there.
The Up foil loves to be carved around; it delivers a flowing ride while remaining balanced. Great fun while chasing down some small mounds of swell. Jumping is also possible on the Up, it releases from the water easily, and the wings provide a stable landing platform and get you riding on the foil again in no time.
The Chill board is lovely to ride with a small feel underfoot, straps are very comfortable, and the concave deck provides a direct feel to the board.
Overall
The Crazyfly Chill and Up combination are well worth a look for those wanting to look for their first foil or those wishing to take the next step towards a lighter more premium freeride foil. The foil itself and board look incredibly well made just like all Crazyfly boards. The setup is very stable, easy going and incredibly fun to ride.
Videos
This review was in Issue 69 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit CrazyFlyRelated
By Robin and Sukie
With years of kite sport experience combined, you can be sure you’ll be receiving the highest quality of knowledge on the best equipment the industry has to offer.
