Short test 2020: Slingshot Freestyle

On land:

115 litres are spread over 1.88 metres on the Slingshot Freestyle Foilboard - which inevitably results in a fat tail. Both a double rail and a tuttle box have been installed underneath. On the wide deck, the straps can be mounted either very far inwards or moderately outwards. Equipped in this way, the board should appeal to ambitious trick riders who want to follow in the footsteps of the crazy Swiss foil trickster Balz Müller.

On the water:

Just like on a windsurf freestyle board, you need technique here too: the short board needs to be loaded sensitively when starting off so as not to send the bow into a dive and it is also noticeably more challenging to keep the foil flying smoothly around all axes on the straight than on a larger foil board. How well the board can be stabilised depends primarily on the foil used - the recommendation is clearly for corresponding foil types with a smaller span. In the air, the board is ultra-compact, extremely agile and reacts very light-footedly to changes in load.

surf conclusion:

The freestyle foil board from Slingshot is designed for real trick riders who want an agile and compact board for carving manoeuvres and even jumps. The board suits manoeuvre-oriented foils better than performance-oriented wings - we used a Slingshot Ghost Whisper. However, if you are primarily into jibes and carved manoeuvres and don't want to do jumped freestyle tricks, you can do this just as well on a more moderate board like the Slingshot Wizard - with incomparably easier handling in a straight line. However, as soon as jumps are to dominate, the Freestyler definitely makes sense.

Technical data: Slingshot Freestyle 115

Sizes87/115 litres

Lengths168/188 cm

Widths: 66/72 cm

Price: 2269 Euro

Info: www.slingshotsports.de