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Great to see that Liquid Force – who were one of the primary innovators in bringing foiling to the masses and letting you think: actually, maybe I could do this – aren’t taking it easy and are stepping up their foil game with some new offerings designed to appeal to the kite/surf/wake crossover market. What does this mean? Well it means big wings and ease of use of course… Couple up the Impulse foil with the Galaxy board and you’ve got a set up for kite foiling or if the wind’s not up, for surf and wake foiling too.
The first thing that struck us about the Galaxy board was the low weight. For the competitive price point it’s feather light and very robust. The board has a generous amount of width and volume compared to most in this market sector, so you can rock it up and onto the plane quite early when the wind is on the lighter side. The concave deck is completely clad with grippy EVA providing a reassuring feel, and has a myriad of insert options for every strap combination you could possibly conceive. The track system has plenty of adjustment available for tuning and is on the now industry standard 90mm spacing, so compatible with most foils with pedestal mounts. Aesthetically, I think if Darth Vader was going to choose a foil board, this would be it.
The Impulse foil has a large front wing with a deep profile, and as you would expect lifts very early with high stability and predictable handling. The carving ability of this foil at low speeds is insane, and allows you to learn your transitions and tacks at a gentile speed without stalling. Behind the kite, looking at our GPS data, the foil tops out at around 16/17 knots, as you would expect from this design. You then have the option of trimming in the rear stabiliser in on the fuselage, making the foil more manoeuvrable which was very effective. We also tested the set up behind a boat with the shorter 60cm mast available for this. It really shone here and was fast and stable enough to park on the wake and let go of the rope with ease. Overall it is a well thought out and complete package with bag, mast covers and all tools provided. The brass fixings are large and robust, and go together with no stress.
In a sentence: An entry level set up does not get a lot more forgiving than this – combine this with the crossover potential as a surf and wake foil and the Galaxy board/Impulse foil set up really is superb.
