Exploring the PPC M1 Wing | Unique Materials and Unmatched Speed

Pacific Performance Company (PPC) has released a fresh new wing, the M1. Tucker and Ryan have had a chance to ride it, and they're pretty excited about it. Here, they chat about what makes it special and how it handled for them.

Tucker: The PPC M1 uses some unique materials, which we're always stoked about. After riding it a few times, we're ready to tell you what we like about it and what we don't like about it. A lot of people have been coming to us with questions about this wing since it's a hot topic on the market right now. Ryan, what were your thoughts on the M1?

Ryan's Impressions

Ryan: Overall, I really like that wing. It was a fast wing, and I like to go fast. It was really gusty most of the time that I spent on it. I rode the 5m in 15 to 28, and it handled the range awesome. On the low end, it was able to keep providing power, and as it went through the middle of that range, it really accelerated and took off, and it was able to handle those huge gusts too. Overall, I really enjoyed it.

I thought it did pretty well surfing, too. It flagged out really well, was easy to handle and easy to switch hands. The front handle on it was pretty awesome. On that day where it was gusting, the wind was pretty shifty so I found myself pistol-gripping that front handle quite a bit to have a little more control.

Tucker: That hard handle has a good grip. It's angled, so it gives you a handle for your pistol grip.

Ryan: About the only negative thing I would say is that the grip seemed a little big with gloves on. For my hands, it was just a little extra to hang on to, and a little more forearm fatigue. But riding it with a harness line, it wasn't bad.

Tucker's Impressions

Tucker: A harness line is usually a good idea with such a powerful wing. It can definitely be hard to hang on to with gloves if you're not running a harness line. While riding the 5m and 4m, I also realized that it's really fast, like you said. It's got top-notch high-end speed, great upwind, and a huge range, especially in the upper end of the range. It keeps wanting to build apparent wind. Some wings seem like they top out in that regard, where they still can ride in higher winds, but they don't get that much faster. The M1 was blistering everywhere I rode it.

It's also incredibly stiff. That comes back to the Dyneema airframe. That makes it stiffer and more reliable. It's almost like a laminated mylar, where it's totally watertight. When you pump it up really hard, it has a very small airframe, so it's super sleek and super fast since you don't have all this extra material to pull through the air. You pump it up to 11 psi and it is rock solid. It doesn't flex at all. It's super efficient, and every bit of power is going into creating lift, creating drive, and creating that forward traction.

Tucker: It is a wing that you feel, especially in those wild conditions like you were in where it's really up and down. That's not necessarily a bad thing since it puts you in tune with what the wing is doing and what the wind is doing. If a wing is a little spongier, sometimes it's hard to tell exactly what the perfect angle is where you can drive upwind. On the M1, you have such a direct response that you feel every little bump. It's kind of like driving a sports car. If you're riding it properly powered, this wing likes to ride with a lot of power. It's a physical wing to fly and it's definitely high-performance, and sometimes that means you sacrifice a bit of comfort. I haven't tried deflating it at all, but perhaps we could deflate it a little to 9 or 10 psi to make it more comfortable to fly if you're just going for a cruise.

Speed

This wing is really phenomenal in those powered conditions if you're riding fast foils, if you're racing, if you love ripping around freeriding, or if you just want a wing that has a massive speed range. It's got a pretty decent low end, and if you know how to pump it, you can definitely feel that sweet spot where it likes to be held into the wind and get it going in light wind. It doesn't have a ton of grunt where it's going to lift you onto foil in light winds, but it builds speed really well as long as you can get it moving and give it a couple of good pumps. Then you're off to the races and, once you're on foil, man, the thing takes off like a bat out of hell. It creates so much apparent wind. As soon as I started moving a little faster, it just compounded and got so fast it'll make you scared.

Ryan: I noticed in those real strong, gusty conditions that you hit that ideal wind range, and then you just keep taking off, and then, all of a sudden, the wind goes way up there and you've got to let it out a little bit because yeah, like you said, it gets scary fast.

Surfing

Tucker: You mentioned the surf-ability of it, and it is a nice, comfortable wing to surf with as well. Crossing over into the waves like we are a lot of times, it flags out really well. It's super light; maybe not as light as Aluula, but definitely lighter than your traditional Dacron construction. I'd compare it to some of the best surf wings on the market in terms of how it flags out, so I'm really happy there. It's always cool to have that racing performance alongside the surf performance because that covers a lot of territory in terms of riding style, so I'm pretty amped on that.

Nitpicks

Tucker: Any complaints about the wing? Anything you don't really like?

Ryan: I mentioned the handles being a little thicker than I ideally like to ride with gloves, but it's not too much of an issue with the harness line. With it being really stiff and rigid, if you start dragging wingtips with it, you've got to be a little more cautious because it doesn't re-flex and rebound quite the same as a Dacron wing would, but it's nothing that makes me want to ride anything else more than this.

Tucker: Yeah, it's just one of those things you get used to. It's a small wingtip, but you still need to pull it through the water if you touch it down, so just be a bit more cognizant not to touch a wingtip down. I think, for a lot of people that'll be interested in this wing, it's a non-issue because they're not out there dragging a wingtip every 5 minutes. When it does happen, you've just got to manhandle it.

Pump Valve

Finally, if you're familiar with the HP valve like you have on a SUP, F-One, Naish, or Flysurfer with that bayonet high pressure valve, that's what the M1 wing uses. If you have any other questions about the new M1, please reach out to us and we'll be happy to help.

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