The AXIS SURGE 1240 on Lake Geneva: three sessions with a team rider
The AXIS SURGE 1240 is the biggest SURGE we carry: 1240 mm span, 142 mm maximum chord, 1340 cm² and an aspect ratio of 11.48. With any new big wing, the first question is who it is for. One of the AXIS team riders on Lake Geneva, a 75 kg pump and dock-start coach, has just given the best answer we have seen, in three videos: a first look, a light-wind downwind run and an evening chasing the lake steamer's wake. Here is what the rider found, and who we would point to this wing.
"Nobody asked for a SURGE 1240"
That is how the review opens, before explaining why it turned out to be the wing nobody knew they needed. The low end is close to the PNG V2 1300, so a rider learning to dock start can begin on it. It turns better than the Fireball 1250 and stays steady when a hard carve brings a wingtip out of the water, and its glide is close to the Fireball 1250 and 1350. The rider's summary: "the first wing that we can buy as a beginner and that we keep for life".
Pumping and glide
After riding a boat wake out for 2 km, the rider pumped the 2 km back into 8 knots of headwind, eight to ten minutes, with energy to spare, and puts the 1240's pumping time at over fifteen minutes. The KAIWI mast flatters that number, the rider admits: it gains you a wing size. Against the Fireball 1250 and 1350 the estimate is about 10% less glide, in exchange for an easier turn and a low end the rider calls incredible: "we can go so slow".
Downwind in minimal conditions
The second video is a downwind run in 10 to 12 knots with bumps of 30 cm, the kind of day most riders leave the big foil at home. The 1240 is in its element: slow enough to wait for the bumps to form, and able to take off again from almost stopped "without any problem". In these conditions it replaces both Fireballs. The honest caveat, and the one we would give you too: if you already pump a Fireball 1250 or 1350 well and love it, you do not need this wing; if you want one that turns and starts better, you do.
Wake thieving behind the lake steamer
The third session is pure fun: an evening on Lake Geneva riding the wake of a paddle steamer, linking wave after wave without pumping, thirty waves before stopping. "I'm stopped, I'm waiting for the wave to push me. It lifts me up, I'm doing nothing." That does not happen on the Fireball, the rider says, nor on the SURGE 1150 or 1080. The smaller Fireball 1160 still carves tighter, but for gliding from wave to wave the 1240 is the pick.
The set-up in the videos
- AXIS SURGE 1240
- AXIS Black Sillyshort Advance+ fuselage
- AXIS SKINNY 250/20 rear wing. Run it with a small rear wing to find all of its potential; the SURF SKINNY 280 held the wing back a little.
- AXIS KAIWI 780 mast
- AXIS Dock 880 board on the downwind run
Already on AXIS and not sure the 1240 fits what you have? Our fit tool checks it against your fuselage and mast, and the setup builder puts a complete foil together around it.
Who we would put on it
A rider learning to dock start who wants one wing to keep; a pumper or downwinder looking for a light-wind wing for small days; and anyone who wants to stay on a boat wake longer. Order the SURGE 1240 from Live2Kite; the product page shows the current delivery time. Questions about sizing or set-up? Call us on 415.924.9463 or email info@live2kite.com. We are at 200 Gate Five Rd, Suite 101, Sausalito, open Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm, and US orders of $150 or more ship free.