Code S Series vs. Code R Series Foils | Which One Is Right for You?

Welcome to Foil Fridays with Tucker! Today, Tucker introduces Code Foils, and-

...Wait, MORE foils? Tucker, what's up with that? Care to explain yourself??

Does Tucker Have a Foil Hoarding Problem? You Decide...

This is a new brand for us in the shop. Arguably, we probably don't need another foil brand; we do have a ton of amazing foil brands, but after riding the Code foils, we had to add them to our lineup because they are just that special! Their system is pretty simple and straightforward and clean.

S Series Front Wings

The most popular series in their lineup is the S Series front wings. You could say it stands for "Surf", but I guess you could also go with "Speed" because, while these are a pretty surfy foil, they are also really quick with amazing glide and a huge speed range.

Being very surfy and maneuverable all at the same time, they tick a lot of boxes, so a lot of different disciplines are going to be happy with the S Series wings. For 99 percent of the people out there, this is going to be your go-to wing in one of the available sizes.

I personally have been riding the 850 and the 980 quite a bit. The 980 is very lifty and very surfy for its size, even for me at 200 lb. I can prone it in small waves and I can Foil Drive it in flat water with no problem at all. Light wind winging is also no problem.

The 850 is my go-to shredder on any of those days where the conditions are good and a bit more windy or and wavy, starting around 16 or 17 knots of wind with waves chest high and over. You could ride it down to about waist high, but I think the 980 is a bit more in its zone there, especially at my weight.

The thing to know about the S Series is that they do have more lift than you would expect for their size, so I would suggest sizing down just slightly. If you want to maximize your performance or if you just want a cruiser, then ride a similar wing to what you normally would and you're going to get some extra lift on the low end and more forgiveness with your stalling.

These wings are very easy to pump as well, so if you're somebody that just wants something fun and cruisy and surfy that you can pump everywhere, stick with a similar size to what you would normally ride in a similar foil.

R Series Front Wings

The R Series stands for "Race", or as I would say, "Really, Really, Really" fast. Or "Really, Really, Really" glidey. These things are very high aspect, about 12 aspect ratio, so there is a lot of span on these; even the 770 is wider than the 850 S by about 4 or 5 inches, so they're really stepping up the glide game with these.

Because of that, you should look to these for downwinding, downwind racing, any kind of downwind gliding you want to do, or pumping in the larger sizes. These wings are very efficient pumpers; the glide and pump-ability is at maximum efficiency with regard to winging and kiting.

With the extra wide span, you'll want to size down if you want to keep good maneuverability. The 770 is about as big as I would take for winging and it is really fast, but in breaking waves the wingspan can get a little bothersome from time to time, so it's best used in conditions where you just want to glide and cruise, or where you have the ability to go really fast and not have to worry about breaching the wingtip in the swell or in hard carves.

It is really fun to ride this one, and it has a surprisingly low stall speed and great low-end lift for such a small, thin wing. It is sleek, almost like a knife, so it has great low speed lift for a wing of this size.

It was fun to play with that one a bit and find out where it fits in the quiver. For day-to-day riding, a one-foil quiver, or something that's just a bit more recreational, fun and good over a broad range of conditions, the S Series is what most people are going to want to be looking at unless you're hardcore into downwind paddling.

AR Series Stabilizers

Code has two series of stabilizers as well. The AR is your standard stabilizer that most people are going to be riding with the S Series. It can also be ridden with the R Series if you want a little bit more stability or a little bit more stall protection

.

The AR is a really good, surfy stab. It's got just a little bit of an anhedral V to it, and that gives you some flow in and out of turns. It gives you active turning where it wants to bounce in and out of turns and gives you something to push off of. It also creates some acceleration out of turns, so this is a really fun, surfy stab.

I've been riding the 158 and the 150 most often. With the 950, the 150 is a little better, but on the 980 I can mix and match. If it's lighter wind, I go with the 158. If it looks pretty good and more surfy, I go with the 150 for a little looser feel.

R Series Stabilizers

The higher aspect R Series stabilizer also has a slight V anhedral. That locks that wing in and gives it some directional stability so it's not so twitchy and unstable or slidy. It gives you a bit more traction, but not so much that it isn't still fun and surfy and really efficient.

With such a high aspect, very thin stab, it's really glidey and has a massive speed range. It pairs well with the R series, but if you want to take your S Series up a notch in terms of your glide and you don't mind sacrificing some of that surf-ability and traction in the turn, you can go ahead with an R Series as well.

Fuselage Extensions

There is a small, medium, and large fuselage extension, and they will be releasing an R Series fuselage in the near future as well.

The small is best used for shorter boards, kite foiling and shortboard prone foiling. If you want a really loose and twitchy feel in the turn or a very skatey feel, use the small.

Medium is what I'm using most. That's the go-to fuselage for winging, proning in average conditions, and even for downwind if you're not riding a really long board. The medium is going to be the go-to fuse. It provides you with really good stability, stall protection, and glide, but still is very maneuverable and surfy and fun.

The large is for longer boards or people wanting to maximize that glide efficiency. You'd primarily use it on the R Series and downwind, especially if you're on smaller foils, big, fast conditions, or longer, stretched-out boards. The longer fuselage is going to give you a bit more glide and stability in the pitch so that everything's smooth and easy and you don't mind sacrificing a little bit of maneuverability and opening up the arc radius of the turn.

For most people, the medium is the go-to unless you're really on one side or the other of average. If you're a really light rider, you might even want the small size just to adapt for your weight distribution and the smaller boards you're riding.

Tucker's Review

One thing I noticed throughout the entire Code range is that everything is very sleek and clean. There's not anything on these that is flashy just for the sake of being flashy or cool-looking; it's all about maximized functionality and efficiency.

Something unique about the entire Code range is that it is incredibly stiff. That goes for the stabs and the wings. Even with the huge wingspan, narrow chord, and thin profile on the R Series wing, it's still rock solid. The mast is one of the stiffer carbon masts on the market, and that's even without going to an ultra high modulus.

Even the mast connection is really stiff; the mast cavity where the mast connects to the fuselage is larger, and it locks that in so there's no tolerance or wiggle between the fitment. How the fuselage is molded into the front wing is rock solid and stiff. It has a fuselage extension like some other brands, including F-One and Cabrinha. This one is similar and very stiff, again with a larger connection than most so it can really lock in there and make the stiffest possible connection for the transfer of energy, rigidity, and efficiency.

This stiffness makes Code's foils a joy to ride and really levels up the ease-of-use and how intuitive they are. When you're riding them, especially as a heavier rider like myself, the more you weigh, the stiffer your equipment needs to be to maintain its performance, otherwise it's going to feel nervous, unresponsive, kind of twitchy, and hard to ride. Code really levels that up. If you're a heavier rider looking for high-end performance, this is a foil you should definitely consider.

Coming from somebody that has been an F-One lover for a long time, I would say these foils share a lot of the attributes of the F-One line, but a little bit stiffer and heavier, so that's something to note as well. The weight doesn't bother me in any way; it's so minimal that I don't really notice it when I'm riding. However, if you're a lighter rider the weight might bother you more, but I would put this foil in anybody's hands and feel confident as long as we had the right setup for you.

The Code foil lineup all comes with really nice covers and hardware with all the pieces. It is all 100 percent carbon, and much of it is in high modulus carbon, which is why they are so stiff and solid and awesome.

If you have any questions about this gear, reach out to us at the shop. I'm really excited to get some of you guys on this and hear your feedback. Until next time, we'll see you around.

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