Designer Notes | HA Front Wings 2023
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Engineered for the highest speed and efficiency possible across a range of disciplines, with North’s new North HA Series, you need minimal pump and power to generate glide.
The smaller HA550 to HA850 have less surface area and higher stall speed. As a result, they generate maximum efficiency and minimum drag for high-speed wing foiling, racing, tow-in surf, and kite foiling. The HA850 to HA1050 are also ideal for tow-in and kite foiling.
Your core wing-foiling and prone sizes are the mid-range HA850 to HA1250. The larger HA1150 to HA1450 is ideal for dock starts, pumping to connect wave after wave, coastal runners or bumps and lumps.
North Brand Director Mike Raper loves how every wing size feels underfoot and has the exact mast positioning on the board.
“The way our Design team have combined mathematical precision and aeronautical engineering means our new HA-Series feels like a family. These wings are engineered using proven formulas – we’ve calculated the centre of lift and centre of buoyancy about stance position for every size and every board, so there’s no need to adjust your mast or shim the stab. We’ve taken the guesswork out.
The HA Wings have been designed for maximum efficiency and top speed. The high aspect ratio outline provides low-end lift and excellent glide. At the same time, the foil sections along the span have been engineered specifically to increase laminar flow and minimize drag at high speed.
The high aspect ratio means these wings have a wide span for their size; this gives you more lateral stability and a slightly longer radius turn than a lower aspect ratio wing of the same size.
The wingtips are refined to ensure no ventilation when you tip breach, allowing you to crank tighter radius turns at higher speeds without losing lift.
North Product Manager and Foils Engineer Uli Sommerlatt say the HA Wings are incredibly fun, efficient and user-friendly. We designed the HA Wings for the upper-speed spectrum. To achieve higher speeds, we needed to find a foil section that reduced drag significantly.
The wings feature a high aspect ratio, a relatively short cord length and a thin profile thickness. This high speed comes at a cost – the HA Series has reasonably high stall speeds compared to our MA Series. You have to focus on efficiency to have the optimum performance for the top end. Everything feels quite effortless with these wings. Uli Sommerlatt, Foils Engineer.
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