Tkb Review: 2021 NAISH Jet HA 1240

Sizes Available: 1040, 1240, 1400 1800, 2140
Sizes Tested: 1240

Naish Says:

Designed for advanced and semi-advanced foilers looking to push their performance levels in surf, SUP, Wing-surfer, and downwind foiling. These wings feature high aspect ratio planforms and proprietary thin section profiles””the result is maximum glide, excellent pumping, and improved top speed while still maintaining the excellent turning and control that defines the Jet range.

To complement the high-end performance of these new wings, the complete foils feature a new high aspect stabilizer that emphasizes pumping ability and glide. Designed with a thinner profile and higher aspect ratio, they support the higher speed of the HA front wings while giving excellent response to rider input.

The Carbon mast utilizes 100% carbon fiber construction over the high-density PVC foam core. Its 12 cm chord and thinner foil section provide high speeds and maneuverability. This mast’s extremely stiff and direct feel offers the most direct connection to your foil possible.

Visit for more info: www.wing-surfer.com/product/jet-ha-1240-complete/

TKB Says:

With what feels like one of the sleekest rides in the foiling game, the Jet HA 1240 delivers mind-blowing glide that hits high-end speeds and seems to offer infinite drive in the smallest swell. With a mixture of carbon wings and a carbon mast outfitted to an aluminum fuselage, you get a super-responsive platform that will unlock your secret glide game for wingsurfing and foilsurfing.

Design and Features
There are a lot of little details in the new Jet HA setup that are worthy of note, but from the look of it, the sum total of all the design decisions put aerodynamic efficiency as the key goal. You can get the 1240 with an aluminum mast, a carbon 35 hybrid mast, or as we tested it, a full carbon mast. When you mate the carbon wings with the full carbon mast you get an amazingly light setup that is quite noticeable in your hand. The aluminum fuselage with its streamlined and aerodynamic shape delivers robust mounting connections that eliminate every ounce of drag. The 1240 front wing has a really high aspect shape with a 94.5cm wingspan and its noticeably thin profile which is likely why the 1240 is able to maintain its glide for so long. We tested the Jet HA with three different stabilizers (HA 280, 220, 215), the stock stabilizer being the HA 280 with its subtle sweptback winglets.

Impressions
The first thing we noticed about the 1240 was it’s nice and slow foil-up speed that works great for wingfoiling. The first stage of lift had a little bit higher departure angle and then the 1240 leveled out with predictable handling. The 1240 impressed us with its amazingly slow foil-down speed””it seemed to continue to create lift and drive when you are barely moving. This proved really helpful when linking up waves because even when we found ourselves between swells, the 1240 would easily stay on foil when you lost most of your momentum. We found the 1240 to be incredibly stable on all its axes with super user-friendly steering, but its freakish talent happens to be its glide and pumping that seems to want to fly forever, hooking into the smallest chunks of a wave’s energy.  When you pump the board, you can feel the drive coming out of that front wing with a really direct translation into forward momentum.

Combining the 1240’s end glide capabilities with its pumping drive allows you to hover out the wing and really focus on honing in on swell energy, rather than constantly putting the inflatable wing back into the power position. In terms of inputs, the 1240 felt fairly active on the roll axis and a bit less active on the yaw, which meant that carving turns were fairly easy. In fact, it was much more active than we had expected for such a wide wingspan. At first, we focused on big arcing turns but when we needed to bank hard and pivot on a dime, just a bit of extra toe and heel pressure could whip the 1240 wherever we wanted to go. If the 1240 stands out for its exceptional glide abilities, it’s still quite active and maneuverable for more aggressive carving. Sometimes when foils accelerate you have to follow up with extra front foot pressure to counter the extra lift, but the HA had an extremely even lift to speed ratio that almost required less front foot pressure at higher speeds.

Our setup came with some extra stab and fuselage options so we were able to experiment with the 1240’s handling. Swapping in the extra short fuselage made one of the biggest differences in terms of extra maneuverability that quickened up the directional steering on the yaw access. The shorter fuselage definitely made the 1240 feel hyper agile and is probably a good mod for more advanced riders that are looking for the most aggressive steering in a downwinding foil. As the stock stabilizer that comes with the 1240 is the 280, we also tried the 220 which is a bit smaller but also comes with micro winglets. The 220 seemed to really loosen up the pitch axis, making our up and down pumping motions much quicker with easier access to the front wing’s drive. For intermediate riders looking for some extra spice, we might recommend the longer fuselage with the 220 stabilizer to get the most out of the 1240’s glide. More advanced riders who want the most aggressive configuration could go with the short stab and 220 for the highest turning performance. The final piece of optional equipment is the 215 stabilizer with its flat and rectangular shape. The 215 seemed to jazz up the directional steering and added a bit more resistance to pumping that might have given us a little more drive with each pump, but our preference seemed to revert back to the 220 for the best of all worlds.

You can tech out on this stuff forever, but at the end of the day, the Jet HA 1240 in its stock configuration has the corner on efficiency and delivers seemingly endless glide that will take your downwind wingsurfing to the absolute next level.