![]() ![]() If the waves were powerful enough with plenty of speed, the ADX was a pleasure, as it would get low and drag behind you like a cape with ease. ![]() When riding in the waves, the wing did feel a little heavy at times. The direct nature of the wing and the stiffness of its construction mean that the gust is very quickly translated into more power, which can catch you off guard. You do have to be prepared for the gusts, however, especially when you’re overpowered. Small adjustments can be made to the hand positions on the handle to increase comfort, and it still rides upwind with ease when overpowered. The wind range of the ADX is very impressive, and the canopy handles are overpowered well. The direct nature of the pumping made riding away easy if you didn’t manage to land with speed. In doing so, the wing was controlled during takeoff and had plenty of hang time, which is always nice when landing on foil. They were so reassuring that I found myself tempted to go and throw some jumps (which also doesn’t happen often!). Whether riding open, closed, or reverse grip, I found myself comfortable (unusual for someone who still prefers soft handles generally). Naish is to be commended on the design of their teardrop shaped hard handles, which I found to be one of the most comfortable diameters I’ve used so far. Should you wish to adjust the distribution to your preference, the handles provide enough length to do so, and the wing retains its controllability whether you choose to ride more front or rear hand heavy. It accelerates easily and maintains a good distribution of power between the front and rear handles. The ADX accelerates upwind effortlessly, and while it is happy and comfortable riding along at a moderate speed, it is particularly impressive when you pick up speed when pinching the wind. This made for a very engaging riding experience. Every little adjustment of the wing or change in the wind was noticeable immediately. ![]() ![]() It was easy to dial in the pumping technique for efficient starts on this wing because of how immediately the power was delivered and how much feedback was provided through the hard handles in the process. The whole setup felt super tight, and responses to inputs were immediate. The most obvious characteristic was immediately evident, and that is the direct nature of the wing. While the ADX, like every product ever created, has its pros and cons, it does feel very refined and is very easy to get used to. You can tell immediately that the Naish ADX is not the product offering of a newcomer brand. The ADX utilises rigid handles in an optimised teardrop grip shape and a very thin eva covering. This, in combination with the 240g plasma Dacron used on the ‘centre T’ (depower handle area of the leading edge, LE to strut connection area, and the front face of the strut), should result in a very direct response. The curved strut has a reasonably large diameter which is maintained towards the trailing edge despite the taper. It will be interesting to see if this is maintained on the water as the panel layout is traditional (Leading Edge to Trailing Edge) compared to some of the ‘radial’ designs used in the Matador, for example, where the panels run almost from wingtip to depower handle. The higher aspect leading edge arc creates an impressively high canopy tension. The wing features a good amount of dihedral, which should result in stability when flagging on the depower handle. While the Wing-Surfer Mk4 and Matador have obvious similarities when placed side by side, the ADX looks as though it comes from a completely different bloodline. The ADX is the culmination of five years of R&D by the Naish team, resulting in a wing that they promise caters to all skill levels and riding styles. He was not wrong! Luckily, we are no longer limited to one size option, as was the case back then, and you can now buy the ADX in almost every 0.5m increment between 2.0 and 7.0m. He foresaw every kite brand, as well as new wing brands, having a variety of offerings. With the introduction of their first Wing-Surfer in the spring of 2019, I remember Robby himself assuring dealers that the market would be flooded with products by the end of that year. Naish was one of the first brands to see the potential of Wing-surfing. ![]()
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