F-One Strike CWC V3 wing Review

Welcome back to MACkiteboarding Wing Wednesdays with Tucker. Today I'm going to talk about an exciting new wing for the 2023-24 season, the CWC Strike V3. This is the third version of this wing, and there are a lot of differences versus the previous versions. I'll tell you about some of those changes, give you some advice on sizing, and then I'll have my personal review.

Stronger and Stiffer Frame

The first thing I noticed when pulling the wing out of the bag is that it's clearly a heavier duty build than previous years. As a heavier rider who likes to ride powered, that was a huge asset. It means the wings are going to last longer, hold their shape better, and will maintain their performance longer as they age. As somebody that's really beating on their wings and putting them into high stress situations frequently, that was huge for me to get more longevity out of them. Let's be honest- wings aren't cheap these days, especially the big ones like the CWCs for light wind, so that's definitely a cool improvement, not only in terms of longevity, but also in the stiffness and the total rigidity of the wing.

How the wing can carry a load is much improved over previous versions. When you're riding overpowered, you're really pumping into it, and you get that crisp, tight feedback. Because the frame isn't flexing as much, it's not putting as much stress on individual areas of the canopy.

Radial Panel Canopy

Even the canopy is upgraded; it's stiffer with new panel layouts to help reinforce those critical areas. This is a big upgrade in terms of the total build of the wing, from the fabric to the additional panel layouts. They're calling it a "radial panel layout", and that really helps disperse that energy and makes sure the canopy is getting uniform tension and not stressing areas and causing premature wear. That's all awesome and I give it a big thumbs up.

Stiffer Handles

The handles look the same on paper, but they are slightly different. They're just a bit larger in terms of diameter, though not enough that I notice other than knowing about it. They've also been "rigidified", meaning they've sewn a flexible plastic support into the handle. It's not a hard plastic so it can't break, and it's not solid and straight like you get from some brands. But the flexible plastic in there does give it a bit more direct response and a tighter handle feel while still having that semi-soft, easy-to-pack-down, can't-break-it feel. It's very much what you're used to if you're an F-One guy or gal, but slightly improved for a more direct response and performance.

Balanced Handle Position

In addition to that, the handles' position has changed slightly. On previous models, especially if you're riding overpowered or powered up, the back hand impulse was a little heavy, so you had maybe 60 percent of the pressure on your back hand and 40 percent on your front hand. This year, the new handle placement is much more neutral, or 50/50 in each hand, which is a better, more ergonomic setup for me. It feels less physical to ride, and your back hand doesn't wear out as much when you can put both arms out and lean into them without having to have extra in one arm. That leads to an easier ride, and as a heavier rider, that's a huge benefit. Even if you're a lighter rider or someone that doesn't ride is powered up, there's still plenty of real estate on those handles, and you can hold them anywhere. You can definitely depower easily and ride comfortably as a lighter rider as well.

Faster Riding Design

The shape of the wing has received a lot of attention to performance in efficiency, speed, upwind ability, and upper end range. These wings are now designed to be ridden faster with more power. There are more experienced riders that are wanting to ride faster in different styles, so there's a higher demand for that. However, we are losing a little bit of grunt or lift. The Strike CWC now wants to drive forward a bit more instead, so with that in mind, we're suggesting that people size up slightly by half a meter in the smallest sizes, up to a full meter in the largest size. You want to make sure you have adequate power in the canopy.

Size Up for Power

On previous years' models, you could ride them a bit underpowered and still be pretty happy. However, this year the wings are wanting to be powered to receive the most performance, so size them up slightly to make sure you have that power available to give you that extra level of performance. Because they have so much top end range, you're not losing anything by sizing up; you're really gaining territory in terms of the range of the wing and your usability.

Because we're talking about the CWC and this is a light wind wing, if you were on a 7m last year you're probably going to want to be on an 8m this year. You're going to have more power from that wing with a similar low end, but when you are taking off and riding, you'll have more speed and more power, so you can ride smaller foils and have more apparent wind and more fun on those light wind days. No one wants to just get up to ride around slow; you want to get up so you can build apparent wind, accelerate, and ride more powered up and have more fun with more opportunity for performance. F-One has definitely hit it out of the park with those intentions in mind.

Tucker's Review

I've been very happy with the Strike CWC V3 after I figured out how to pick a size. They still have that legendary F-One feel, which I equate to having a very lightweight feel when you're flagged out, being very balanced, very surfy, with excellent luffing. It's that wing where you can hold the leading edge and go ride waves without even thinking about the wing. When you're pumping up on a light wind day, they're light yet still efficient and just plain fun.

F-One equipment in general is always very intuitive, easy-to-ride, and high performance, and this wing definitely ticks all of those boxes, so I'm pretty amped on that.

The handle improvements are all positive for me. All the new materials are excellent; they're proven materials that have been in the industry a long time, so it's stuff you can rely on, which is always comforting. It's also not coming at a premium price tag for a large wing; they're right around $1300-1500. There are wings this size that cost nearly twice that much, so you're getting a lot of performance and a lot of range for what you pay.

Tucker's Nitpicks

If I had to say anything negative about the Strike CWC V3, I would say that for some riders, especially beginners in light wind who are after something that has a compact span and a ton of lift and grunt to put you on foil, they've moved away from that slightly. Sizing up is the way to remedy that, but it's not going to provide the same ease-of-use / pull-and-go on the same size as previous years. As long as you're sizing appropriately, I'd say it's not necessarily a bad thing since it is giving you plenty of range, but you just need to know that.

This has been Tucker with MACkiteboarding.com, and we'll see you next time.

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