Slingshot Infinity 76 wing catastrophic delamination

[d0uglass]

I was just foiling along today, deep water, no obstacles, not doing anything weird... then there was a crunchy feeling and I ended up in the water.

The leading edge of the Infinity 76 front wing had split open, and the top layer of the wing had completely delaminated and been pushed up at a right angle. I folded it back down and slowly sailed back to shore. Pretty disappointing early end to the session.

I got right on the phone with the shop that I bought the foil from and they were super nice about agreeing to send me a new wing under warranty. They said I'm the 4th person this year who has had to get theirs warrantied, and that Slingshot is aware of the issue. When I looked into the split it seemed there were layers of balsa and carbon fiber that met at the front seam, but no layer wrapped over the leading edge that I could see, so maybe that makes it vulnerable to splitting.

Anyway, just thought I'd give a heads up that this is a foil that works well but might not last long, so you should be sure and save your receipt if you buy one.

[kevinkan]

I had that happen to my 76 too. Pretty disappointing, and the lack of wrapping layers is the same as your case. wing was relatively new. had an "oh shit" moment wondering if I should be selling these wings.

Slingshot shipped me a new one right away, and all the guys here who have been riding them for many days haven't had this problem. I thought I was the only one.

Sounds like there was a bad batch. Have only seen it on the 76 so far.

freaking love the 76 wing though. hope the production problem has been solved. my replacement wing has lots of days on it now, and no signs of stress/delamination along the leading edge.... only some scratches from grounding into rocks at Candlestick, so I guess that's a good sign!

[LUCARO]

I had one too. Was way downwind when it happened and I found out how bad a foilboard is at schlogging upwind.

[dcharlton]

Wow! Nice to know Slingshot backs their products and sends a new one out with no hassle. I'm madly in love with my 84 Infinity wing. The thing never spins out, lifts easy, and moves a LOT faster than I thought it would.

Really enjoying Slingshot setup and just got the Wizard 125 and am having a great time.

DC

[wyattmiller]

I am the Brand Manger for Slingshot's Windsurf Division. Ever since I started working for them I have been absolutely blown away at how awesome their warranty and customer service team and policies are. Helps that they are all based in Hood River I am sure. But they really stand behind your products.

There was definitely a bad batch of the 76's with that front delam problem. They guys at the factory switched up the process and were sanding too far through the leading edge wrap. But one the over 1,000 that have been sold, it has only been a small number that delammed. Our production manager was at the factory and caught it pretty quick.

If this happens to anyone, just give a call in to Trina at customer service and she will ship you one free of charge immediately!!

Trina Saxe Slingshot HQ 541- 427- 4950

That Infinity 76 wing is insane! Its the best wing on the market for sure. The Infinity line have downforce on the wingtips that kick in at higher speeds and stop the wing from over lifting (this is a feature that none of the other wings on the market have). Its like the twist off on the top of a sail that dump power when you get an overpowering gust. The faster you go the more the downforce in the wingtips kicks in and creates a self stabilizing wing. Check out my vids on which wing is right for you for the full explanation:

https://www.youtube.com/user/slingshotsports/videos

[NOVAAN]

I'm thinking about getting the 76. Have all the bad wings been removed from stock? I don't really don't to have return issues....

[NOVAAN]

Don't want to have return issues...

[atlas.wave55]

I'm in the same boat Novaan.

To add to the questions...

Wouldn't this be a problem for all the wings not just the 76 that had a bad batch?
What is the warrenty of this wing. I assume if it was a wing from the bad batch it would fail before the warrenty expires and your SOL . Can you still return it If it fails with the warrenty expired ?

[wyattmiller]

If the wing fails like that they will warranty it even out of the warranty time. No problem. Slingshot stands by their stuff big time. They know a batch of these had this issue and they will always warranty them no problem. It is really a small number that have had this problem.

You have to remember that these foils are basically hand made, just like windsurf boards. They don't just pop out of a machine, there are guys hand sanding all day, so there can always be some human error.

Maybe 30 wings out of over 1400 sold so far.

Every warranty I have heard of, they send one out next day free of charge.

For how epic that 76 wing is, I wouldn't think twice.

[NOVAAN]

Cool thanks for your reply.