North MA v2 1500 / 1200 2024
Reviews / Hydrofoils
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At a Glance
The North MA v2 series is North’s second generation of the Mid Aspect Sonar foil collection. It is clear from both the product marketing and the unreputable performance on the water that the design objectives were even more ambitious than the last time around! To build upon the wide speed range and intuitive riding feel they’d already achieved, the team pursued even more, versatility and improved top-end performance characteristics to produce a wing to cover ALL foiling disciplines.
Overall, the North MA v2 collection bucks the trend of bringing a product to market. It is not just a bunch of sizes of a foil design that have been scaled up or down from one design size. It represents a collection of foils with key design characteristics (like foil profile, for example) that aim to deliver a familiar and largely consistent feeling to ride but with evolving performance characteristics as you progress through the sizes. All design details have been considered specifically for each size in the range, and every size features an optimised outline. As you go from bigger surface area foils (biggest being 2400cm²) to smaller surface area foils (smallest currently being 700cm²), the aspect ratio increases, representing a transition of priority from super early lift in the bigger sizes to increased top-end speed, glide, and efficiency in the smaller sizes.
North even emphasises this breakdown by splitting the size range into the more learner-friendly sizes (2400 / 2100 / 1850 / 1500) and the versatile sizes (1200 / 1050 / 850 / 700). To see whether or not they managed to achieve that similar feel throughout the range, I spent a good amount of time riding the 1500 & 1200 sizes. Not only do these cross over between the two groups, but these are some of the best-selling sizes within the range.
For reference, the MAv2 foils on the test were paired with the Carbon Edition mast/fuse (C600 fuse) and the Sonar S238 tail wing. The Carbon Edition North mast and fuse remain a great value carbon setup. It has a relatively low RRP compared to other high-performance carbon offerings, super stiff carbon construction, 30% weight savings relative to its aluminium counterpart, tight-fitting tapered mast/fuse connection, and an excellent surface finish. This high construction and surface finish standard can also be seen in the new mA v2 series.
Sizes: 2400 / 2100 / 1850 / 1500 / 1200 / 1050 / 850 / 700
On The Water
North has undoubtedly delivered its promise of a foil with a large speed range. The 1500 and 1200 have a speed range well beyond what you would expect for a foil of their size, and the feeling and control remain consistent throughout the speed range. The distribution of pressure through the front and rear foot, heel/toe input required to initiate roll, and pitch stability don’t vary significantly even as you approach the foil’s top end. This inspires confidence, and I suspect the impressive usability of the top end of the speed range was far from hindered by the combination of the front wings with the new S238 stab. The S238 is a sleek, thin profile, high Aspect Ratio stab. It looks and feels visually fast and felt like a perfect pairing when pushing the 1200/1500.
Having winged 1500 (on large boards between 68-108) and surf/wing/kite-foiled 1200 (on smaller boards, 48L and below), I concluded that the versatility of this collection as a whole for multi-discipline use can largely be attributed to its speed range. It has a very good low-speed lift. My initial impressions of the takeoff onto foil of 1500 in combination with a big board made me think that many athletic folks (perhaps up to around 85kg and above even) or those with prior windsports experience of some kind could probably get away with the 1500 MAv2 as their first foil to learn on with relative ease. When winging, the 1500 already delivers noticeable lift from slow taxiing speeds associated with displacement boards, whilst the 1200 provides confidence to use sinker boards in less wind than you might typically do. This is because of how well the foil assists in keeping the board on the surface with little forward speed and then releasing onto the foil in response to pumping inputs.
When up on foil, the MAv2s feel steady-footed and easily controlled. They are very pitch-stable. Even with the C600 fuse (the shorter of the two options), foot swapping was a doddle, and pitch control was the last of your worries when initiating manoeuvres, turns, or wave riding. The MAv2s are encouraged up to speed with reasonably minimal effort and have a very impressive and easily accessed glide once you do so. Because they’re inherently pitch stable, you don’t have to focus on keeping the foil at the right angle and steady to maximise glide; the MAv2s take care of that for you. As previously mentioned, the speed range is impressive, the top end remains as predictable as the rest of your riding, and the stall characteristics are very progressive. The low speeds at which the MAv2s allow you to ride make them very entertaining in weak waves, whatever method you access them with (kite/wing/prone).
I was therefore curious to see that neither size had got ‘wing-surf’ related riding ticked in their brochure, as they perform in this environment! Even in small waves, keeping the front wing near the water's surface picks up energy from the small waves very well and responds to a quick pump or two with a speed boost and easy elevation gain. It is easy to adapt to the optimum pumping style of the MAv2s as the natural cadence to get the best out of them felt relatively slow, in my opinion.
1200 is appropriate for potential kite foilers and has the speed range for this (kitefoiling generally requires a higher speed requirement than other disciplines). It would be a good choice for a nervous kite foiler looking for something with extra pitch stability or a one-size-fits-all all foil for all disciplines, but you’d want to go for a smaller size if it were your dedicated kite foil.
Overall
The North MA v2 series strikes me as a range of foils that is the product of a lot of hard work by the North product development team. In my opinion, they’ve achieved their objective of creating something versatile with a broad speed range. If I could only pick one of North’s foil collections for all the disciplines I do, this would be it. If you want something familiar across sizes and disciplines, consider the MAv2s.
This review was in Issue 19 of Tonic Mag.
For more information visit NorthRelated
By Liam Proctor
