NAISH S25 Wing-Surfer
Sizes Available: 2.8, 3.6, 4.6, 5.3, 6.0, 7.2m
Sizes Tested: 4.6m
NAISH Says:
The S25 Wing-Surfer takes the first-generation Wing-Surfer’s basic design principle and carries it into the future. What has not changed is the pure, simple, pump-and-go design philosophy. But the changes made to the new Wing-Surfer are many and address the demands of a rapidly growing new sport.
The first major change is that the new Wing-Surfer is now available in five sizes: 2.8, 3.6, 4.6, 5.3 and 6.0 m2. The second big change is the addition of large windows in the new Wing-Surfer, creating a safer and more engaging ride for both beginners and advanced.
Leading edge diameters have increased substantially over the original Wing-Surfer. This combined with an increase in canopy profile depth gives the new Wing-Surfer a dramatically stiffer, more stable and more “solid” frame, while requiring a lower inflation pressure. More on demand power in lighter winds with increased wing rigidity in stronger winds is the result, improving performance in both underpowered and powered conditions. Finally, the overall outline and shape of the wings has been re-designed to provide a more balanced power delivery, which combined with new construction details make the new Wing-Surfers better handling and stronger.
The new Wing-Surfer is still an amazingly simple, pump-and-go design, but it now offers more sizes, power and performance allowing you to take this sport wherever you want to go.
Visit for more info: wing-surfer.com/product/s25-wing-surfer
Tkb Says:
In the second year of wingsurfing, Naish has released an updated version of its Wing-Surfer, adding S25 to its name to differentiate it from the original single-size wing released in 2019. Among the big changes for this year, Naish has added a full range of sizes, a generously-sized window and larger diameter inflatable spars to improve range and performance.
Out of the box, we first noted that the addition of the window doesn’t seem to have added much weight to the overall design, which is really key to the performance of wings. The inflation system uses Naish’s SureLock valve for inflation; with its push-button design and twist-lock hose, the attachment never slips out during the inflation process and it’s easy and effortless to get your wing to the desired inflation pressure. The leading edge and boom seem to be a little thicker than last year’s design, but overall, the spar diameters are a modest increase that makes the wing still seem fast and efficient while winging. The boom uses a medium-sized luff strut to control the camber of the canopy down the center and you’ll notice extra beefy reinforcements construction at each of the segments in the leading edge that give the S25 a really solid build feel.
The S25’s leading edge offers three neutral/hover handles (one in the center and one on each side). The side neutral handles help when you have to flip the wing right side up before a relaunch and are particularly handy when you are riding waves upwind—flagging out the S25, while holding one of the side handles balances out the wing when riding waves upwind in side-onshore conditions. We also found these additional side handles are helpful when jibing; you can use the side handle with your back hand to create a cleaner path for your front hand to find the front boom handle.
The S25 also features a number of handles all the way down its boom. The handles are made of comfortable webbing with extra bands of webbing inside which give the handle a little more dimension in the grip of your hand. The webbing width is a little wider and seems to strike a good balance between stiffness and malleability right out of the box for optimum comfort through the course of long sessions. During our trial, we were lucky enough to swap with Naish’s V1 Wing-Surfer from last year, and we noticed that this year’s handles are just a little bit bigger, giving you a little bit more of a larger target to grab and also some extra wiggle room to choose the perfect balance points on the boom. You can position your grip on the front part of a handle or the back to find your perfect balance spot. The S25 doesn’t come with mounting points for a harness, although it does come with Velcro loops that have an orange indicator that you can attach to your most commonly used handles as a visual reminder to help you find the right handle in a pinch. On those long tacks back upwind, we really liked the extra handle loops that allowed our back hand to move back and widen the stance of our arms, straightening out our elbows for less fatigue.
This year windows were introduced into the S25 to give riders added visibility. Naish has become a strong advocate of windows, pointing out the potential for collisions and a lot of close calls in crowded waters. Out of the box, the windows come with a protective plastic cellophane that you have to peel off and while the windows likely add weight to the wing, it didn’t seem like a huge compromise for those that want added visibility. Adding a properly sized and placed window into a wing is actually more complicated than one might think. The Naish windows are good sized and are located in positions that allow you to see through the wing’s blind spots and locate oncoming traffic before it becomes a problem. Window placement and size are key to the function of the window and Naish has done an excellent job of making this feature work for those that want this safety feature.
Right off the bat, the 4.6m version seemed really easy to clear from an upside-down position. Other wings in this size sometimes can be challenging to flip, but the S25 Wing-Surfer’s outline seemed extra amenable to walking the leading edge with your hands to one side and then flipping the wing right side up. In terms of performance, the first thing we noticed about the 4.6m was how stiff the airframe felt. When you sheet/pump the S25, you can feel the wing creating drive that gives you crisp pulses of power that are often crucial in wingsurfing. This extra stiffness seems to give the wing more lower-end power range, particularly in lighter sessions. Compared to the previous year’s wing we had at our disposal, the S25 at similar inflation pressure seemed to offer a much stiffer leading edge and superior power, which makes the S25 a fairly huge step forward in wing evolution.
When we first tried last year’s Naish version 1.0 Wing-Surfer we were really impressed with its easy upwind ability. The S25 seems to deliver that same upwind performance but also offers up a little bit of a wider sheeting range that gives the power delivery a wider sweet spot, so that you can feel a little more low-end power when it’s partially sheeted-in. With this year’s modifications, the S25 seems to have found a better balance between user-friendly intuitive handling while keeping its efficient upwind performance. The roll stability on the Wing-Surfer is super stable, although perhaps because the airframe has a little less dihedral in the wingtips, it seems to want to default into the vertical upwind position. This means sometimes switching into hover mode you have to induce the wing to roll into a horizontal position by grabbing the leading edge with your free hand to level the wing out. In terms of hovering, the S25 offers middle of the road lift but does a good job floating as you chase swells and drop in on waves.
In sum total, the S25 is a big step forward in wingsurfing design with its additional size options, new airframe that offers better performance, and its generously-sized windows for optimal visibility. The S25 makes upwind grinds feel easy and comfortable and the increased stiffness in the frame gives you a wider power range that is hugely important in the lulls when you need it the most. The S25 Wing-Surfer does a great job of blending in extra features like a window and tons of control points while keeping the weight down and making solid improvements in overall handling and ease of use.
