Waydoo Gliding Wing and Folding Prop First Impressions

Welcome back to MACkite! This is Jake and Dustin, and today we have some new Waydoo accessories. We're going to give you our first impressions with the new Waydoo Gliding wing and folding prop.

Jake: We just got them in and we've been waiting a long time for these, so we were super excited. There's just one issue: it's currently winter here in Michigan, and although the lake is not frozen over, which is epic, it's about half a degree above freezing. We sent Pat and Dustin out to try these, but because it was so cold, rather than doing a test with a standard Waydoo setup, a Waydoo with the Gliding wing, and a Waydoo with the folding prop, we put both the new accessories on the same Waydooo and said, "Let's just go for broke, because we gotta get this review in before we freeze to death." So Dusty, you took them out. What did you think?

Gliding Wing First Impressions

Dustin: Right off the bat, the Gliding wing was insanely fast. You do need a little bit more speed; normally I can get up at around 8 or 9 on the remote, but you need around 12 to 13 with this wing to get up and moving. But once you're up... oh my gosh. It's so insanely fast. It was crazy.

Jake: Yeah, I stopped by the beach and you flew by like a freaking race car driver, which is interesting because the name says "Gliding". I wasn't seeing much gliding; I was seeing speed. Did you experience that sensation of gliding? We did have a little bit of waves, so I don't know if you guys were able to back off and ride. Or is this more speed?

Dustin: I would say it's more speed. Warmth was the big issue here, so I do need a couple more sessions on this before I can get a good feel for it, but right off the bat I would say this is more of a speed wing than a gliding wing, which some people absolutely love.

Gliding Wing vs. Patroller and Explorer Wings

Jake: Let's go over the wings. There's a little callout on the wingtip of each wing. The Gliding wing is 776 cm2, which makes it the smallest of all the wings in terms of surface area. The Patroller, which previously was their intermediate, higher-speed wing, is 1070 cm2. The Explorer is generally what we recommend people start off with because it has such early lift at low speeds, control, and stability. It's 1640 cm2, so this big boy is more than double the area of the Gliding wing, which is far more high aspect. Honestly, I just don't know if there's enough surface area there for it to be a good gliding wing. We need to session on it more, but I would be a bit hesitant to sell it as that to somebody, unless they were a lighter weight rider who was looking to do some gliding and pumping. I do think there's still a place for this, but our impression is that it's more of a high-performance speed wing. With these little winglets, it is going to lock in a bit more and be trackier, so I could see getting some really cool carves out of this. In bigger surf, if you had a lot of push, then maybe you could experience more of that glide, but in flat water, I'm not quite sure.

Dustin: Yeah, not so much. It's definitely going to be for more of the advanced rider. The average Joe like myself is going to go more for the Patroller wing.

Jake: I am excited that Waydoo has a new wing out, though, and I will say the fit and finish is quite nice on the Gliding wing. They also have a race wing coming, so I can't wait to see what those are like if this is what their gliding wing is. So great job on that, Waydoo. We want more accessories and more wings, but honestly, having ridden the Gliding wing, I would probably go back to the Explorer, or I would look at that Sabfoil adapter that we created to use the Moses/Sabfoil wing line. There you can get some actual gliding wings. I feel the 899 and the 999 are awesome. So Waydoo, if you're listening, maybe give us that. That's all we want. I do think this wing has a place, but I just don't want people purchasing it, thinking they're going to be letting off the trigger and doing a lot of pumping and gliding, because I'm not quite sure that's what this wing is meant for, despite the name.

Dustin: Yeah, I think the Patroller is going to be a better option for that pump and glide right now within Waydoo's offering. Again, going back to the Sabfoil, the 899 is what you want if you're looking to get into the surf and be pumping around.

Folding Prop First Impressions

Jake: So the folding prop was much more exciting, right? We've been waiting a while for this. Dusty, what is the reason for using a folding prop? What do you get from it?

Dustin: When I was able to hop into the waves, the folding prop was amazing. I let go of the trigger and just pumped it along. So cool. You are able to pull into waves, let go of the trigger, the prop folds in to reduce drag, and you are fully propelled by the wave itself. You can do a little bit of pumping, and then once the energy from the wave runs out, you pull the trigger on the Waydoo, the prop opens back out, and you pull right in to another wave. It's super sick. It gives you that full-on surf feel.

Folding Prop vs. Traditional Prop

Jake: I'm personally super excited to try that. Compared to a traditional propeller with its three blades, the folding prop has two, and the folding action is very smooth. The folding prop does not have a shroud, which makes a lot of sense because that would cause a lot of drag, but what does that mean for you as the rider?

Dustin: You've got to be a little bit more aware of safety. The folding propeller is free-spinning in the water, unprotected, so you've got to watch out for those toes or anybody with super long hair.

Jake: I'm still going to try the folding prop. Maybe the performance makes it worth the trade-off, but I think for new riders, or if friends or family are going out, I would still recommend using the shroud. It's nice to have the prop enclosed, so I would say that, even though it's going to be an accessible accessory, this is probably meant for the more intermediate to advanced rider, just because of the risk of danger. eFoils have had folding props for quite a while now, but I think it's something to consider.

Dustin: I think you're going to need a little bit more juice to get up and going with the folding prop, so just keep that in mind if you're not getting up on your normal speeds. For me, 8 or 9 is normally that magic number, but I think you're going to need to boost up to 11 or 12 to really get up and going with this prop.

Pros and Cons of the Folding Prop

Jake: We are going to do a follow-up when we have more time on the water with these, but we just wanted to give you an overview. Let's start with the prop: what do we love about it?

Dustin: It folds, and it's so sick in the waves.

Jake: I agree. That was something that was long overdue, and I'm super excited. I think the only cons I can see with it are that it'll take a little bit more speed to get going on the low end, and you do want to be cognizant that there's no protective shroud around it. It also does take a bit of work to remove it. Waydoo used a pretty high degree of Loctite, so that is really torqued in there. If you are going to be interchanging parts, you'll probably want to pick up some spare Loctite and maybe go a step down. As you're riding with that vibration, the hardware does tend to back out, and Waydoo's solution is to glue it in with that Loctite. So if you are switching out parts regularly, step down the Loctite and check the connection more frequently.

Dustin: Right. Every couple sessions or so.

Pros and Cons of the Gliding Wing

Jake: With regard to the Gliding wing, I think there's a lot to love here, but it's for a rather specific rider. It seems to have less glide and more speed and performance. Would you agree?

Dustin: I totally agree. If this is a little bit above your comfort zone, I think that Sabfoil would be right up your alley.

Stay Tuned for More Impressions

Jake: So those are our first impressions. Again, we're going to ride these more, and if we find that we are totally off the mark, we'll update this. I would expect we'll get more riding in March, April, and May when it gets a little bit warmer. Waydoo is coming out with more accessories this year and they have a lot of super cool things, so expect further updates in regard to all of that. We look forward to seeing you out on the water and, as aways, thanks for checking us out.

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