Tkb Review: 2022 CORE SLC 1000 Foil

Sizes Available: 1000, 1250cm2
Sizes Tested: 1000cm2

Core Says:

Meet the SLC Foil a carbon and aluminum hybrid with options to suit every foiler. With every detail and material choice thoroughly tested, it brings newfound confidence to surf spots and freestyle slicks. Our wings feature a stress-optimized carbon layup over a PU core that minimizes bending at the wing root while allowing the tips to twist. Our wing features a seaweed shedding and self-stabilizing sweptback shape. The reduced area tips and concave trailing edge outline add a little speed. An anhedral wing root (downward curvature) improves stability. This curvature is flattened towards the tips to improve breaching performance and minimize ventilation when a tip comes out of the water. Maintaining your track is easier than ever.

Our extruded aluminum mast is almost as light as some carbon ones with the added durability of 6063 aircraft aluminum. And its silent trailing edge design is a welcome relief. New foilers and wave riders should consider the 71cm mast whereas the 92cm mast is our allrounder. Our extruded aluminum mast features a progressive five-stringer, thin wall design that reinforces the highest stress areas. Precise fit tolerances ensure the mast fits tightly into the fuselage.

Visit for more info: www.corekites.com/us/kite/foil/slc

TKB Says:

The SLC 1000 front wing is part of a carefully designed hybrid aluminum/carbon system that combines the SLC foilboard for a highly refined foilboarding experience. To that end, the SLC foil system arrives in a thoughtfully designed carrying case that integrates all of the protective covers (wing/mast/stab) into the soft, padded carrying case with every detail brilliantly executed.

The SLC foil set comes with a carbon front wing, aluminum fuselage, carbon stabilizer and extruded aluminum mast, all the while ringing in at a surprisingly light weight given the use of aluminum spars. The details of the SLC system is clearly grounded in Core’s exhaustive engineering and deeply analytical approach to innovation. Core’s designers have used some very creative ideas in the shaping of the front and back wing that combine both extreme efficiency and user-friendly handling. All the bolts use the same Torx head bolts and the front wing connects to the fuselage with bolts of all the same length so you don’t have to think too much about assembly. The mast plate features slider groves so you can connect the foil to your board without completely removing the bolts.

We rode the SLC 1000 with the 92cm mast and were immediately impressed with how light yet stiff the entire SLC system feels, whether carrying down to the beach or arranging it in the water for a waterstart. The foil-up speed on the 1000 struck us as a little faster than we expected but the takeoff was very easy, with controlled lift and a smooth exit from the water. The speed range of the 1000 is well within the freeride kitefoiling range, but it was a bit faster than we might choose for wave riding, where you have to slow down to match the speed of waves. The 1000 likes to keep the pace humming (but without any sound!) and it shines when you’re pushing the speed envelope and attempting more complex kitefoiling tricks.

In terms of control inputs, the SLC 1000 felt fairly active with a balanced yaw and roll and the pitch feeling just a bit more stable. Rolling into turns and correcting out of harder carves felt incredibly intuitive and reliable, which in turn, encourages you to begin to push the foil harder for faster speeds and tighter turns. There’s a lot of factors that go into foil design, but it seems as if Core made dependability a key design goal, because no matter what your skill level, a balanced and intuitive foil will always meet the limits of the rider. The SLC 1000 seemed to want more front foot pressure to get into the higher speed ranges of the foil, yet the amount of lift felt static. No matter what speed you were going, the SLC 1000 was perfectly silent, with no hums, slight vibrations or whistles””this is something that was quite notable. Feeling super smooth and more stable the faster you went, we were impressed with how the 1000 floated through tacks, carrying speed through turns and responding to inputs. It usually takes a couple of tacks to adjust to a foil’s inputs, but the SLC made us feel quite at home right away. On a couple of hard carves, we did breach the wingtip and the wing continued creating lift through the turn which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. This made carving mistakes a little easier to recover from.

You can push the SLC 1000 as hard or as fast before topping out and this leaves a lot of potential for skilled kite foilers to explore their technical limits. At the same time, the SLC 1000’s DNA is rooted in finely tuned control which gives you the option to go for a Sunday cruise or push the limits of speed, powerful carving and technical maneuvers.