Zeeko Spitfire review - A beginer POV

Hi Guys,

Having spent a fair amount of timing reading through the various topics, I decided to give my small contribution.
Kitesurfers since 2009, I recently bought a Zeeko Spitfire + AirWave 5'2 as a first set. I'll spare you the reason of the choice.

After 4 session and a test back to back with a LF hoverglide, here are my thought :

The first overall impression of the zeeko is the built quality: packaging, fuselage, wings... but also the weight (aluminium...)
The board look nice, its quite compact, not so much volume, come with fins but no straps.

First session, I went strapless... It took me 20mn to manage a waterstart. With the weight of the foil, you really have to maintain with one hand the board to have a small tilt to manage the start. Then, I add a front strap, which made it a lot easier to start with. After a couple of run maintaining the board flat on the water, it was time to fly !

Second and third session (15m Best TS, 12 knot), I started to fly, trying to find my balance. This foil needs some speed IMO to take off, and then accelerate quite fast as soon as it is up. This was quite scary at the beginning, especially when you are going full mast out of the water. Thanks to its canard design, when you give too much pitch (longitudinal angle to the water?), the stabilizer is going out of the water first, so, I managed to still recover it (as a beginner) without a crash.

On the fourth session, I tried a LF Hoverglide NF2 with the Simulator 5'6 back to the Zeeko Spitfire. The balance you need to have between the two foil is completely different. The LF need 80% weight on the front foot (at least), where as the spitfire would be close to 50/50 depending on where you put your back foot. What also strike me was the speed needed for the LF to take off, almost nothing (it may also be due to the board, which has much more volume) ! I managed several run full mast out, no problem of stability, however, you reach the top speed very fast, and the foil is not super reactive IMO.

So, to conclude, the LF is a super easy foil to start with, doesn't need speed to take off, but feel quite slow where the spitfire feel nimble and fast ! It might be easier to start with the LF as a beginner, but even after 4 session only, I was feeling frustrated with the lack of speed due to (i think) the enormous front wing of the hoverglide. I would add that the Zeeko does not nose up so much compare to other foil I have seen on the spot, making it a bit safer to start.