By Maurin Rottenwalter, The Official Test Centre Operations Manager.
Are you looking for a wing that excels in various wind conditions, from light breezes to stronger gusts? You might have found your match with the GA Cross Wing. Designed with innovative features and years of experience in all watersports, this GA wing offers an exceptional experience on the water. Join the OTC Team as we get ready for lift off with the 6.2m and 4.2m Cross Wings and explore their outstanding performance.
6.2m Cross in 5kn - 19kn: Light-wind Power House
Setting up the GA Cross Wing is a breeze, due to its convenient one pump system. The 6.2m comes to life when pumped up to 7 PSI, revealing its new shape. The newly designed leash looks smart, fits easily and comfortable onto the wrist. The Dyneema line is the ideal length, a very positive improvement for 2023.
Carrying the GA Cross to the water, you immediately notice the neutral balanced nature of the wing, instilling confidence from the get-go. Once on the board, the Cross flies comfortably overhead in light winds, offering a featherlight feel, combined with the NEW thin handle bars for 2023, makes us smile already.
At first glance on land, the Cross shows a tight canopy, paired with a deep profile beneath the Leading Edge (LE) for optimal power generation. On the water, this becomes apparent with the first gentle gust, you immediately feel the wing come alive, providing positive feedback and effortless pumping to deliver instant power, yet remaining neutral in your hands, creating a controlled foiling experience.
Equipped with well-positioned hard handles for the new season, the Cross enables easy wing placement for optimal angles, driving you efficiently upwind, which is supported by the light and slippery feel through the air. When the wind momentarily drops, when hitting a lull, the GA Cross remains light and assists in pumping the foil through the lulls, utilising the wing, foil, and subtle wave lumps until the wind provides that extra power again for stable flight.
For added convenience, attaching harness lines elevates the Cross's performance, giving you a sensation of cheating the system as you glide through the air with hands free feel. The wing keeps its angle and position to the wind, generating ample drive and lift to drive you forward. A welcome rest for your arms to gather more energy.
Transitions become a joyous affair with the Cross. The hard handles make changing hand positions a breeze, providing you with enhanced control to guide the wing through the wind. Even in super light wind conditions, the Cross responds well to rider input, making it easy to guide the wing through the tack or gybe and create usable power and drive to keep the foil engaged.
When we tested the wing, we had very gusty conditions, but even so the Cross produced very smooth useable drive and lift while keeping its shape due to the tight canopy and stable LE. So you can use the power to drive through the foil and gain plenty of ground upwind. A big plus from us. Notably, the Cross exhibited no bagging out or flapping, reaffirming its reliability and performance.
Overall Impression for Light Wind: The GA Cross Delivers on Its Promises
The GA Cross Wing lives up to its initial impression, combining a tight canopy with outstanding bottom end power. As a result, it excels as a light wind wing, providing abundant power and lift while remaining efficient and stable during lulls and gusts. Whether you're a beginner or more experienced rider, the GA Cross will provide the perfect balance for exploring the potential of light wind conditions.
4.2m Cross in 15kn - 32kn: Embrace the Thrill of Strong Winds
Like it’s bigger brothers, the 4.2m Cross takes a bit more pressure 7-8PSI when pumping up. The new designed leash and the new handle bars are a top improvement for this year. The bars make it super easy to quickly attach harness lines if you wish so.
On the water the 4.2m feels light and compact with impressive bottom end power to get up on the foil, providing a fantastic balance between lift and drive.
When the wind picks up the wing remains extremely stable and light in the hands, the extra power gets smoothly transformed into speed and upwind drive. The wing feels very efficient through the
air with minimal drag.
The handles provide a great amount of control, enhance the overall performance and make transitions easy to control. In tacks and gybes the Cross remains neutral when needed and provides immediate useable power and drive to apply when wanted.
Overall impression for the 4.2m Cross:
The 4.2m is the perfect overall pocket rocket with a massive wind range and use a-cross a wide variation of conditions. Its compact and light feel is enhanced by the easy handling, control and efficiency it provides. Definitely a little gem in the making. We were impressed by the power it delivered in light winds, which is often related to a baggy soft wing, which gets twitchy once the wind picks up, but not with this years GA Cross, it actually comes into it’s own, thanks to the tight canopy and wing tension, once the wind picks up, the Cross showcases great gust control and stability, transforming the extra power into usable drive.
Smitten by the overall performance it’s become the first go to wing for our typical unstable UK conditions.
If you are inspired and pumped up and would like to try the GA Wing Cross, sail over to SurfDoctor to get your hands on a GA Wing Cross today...https://www.surfdoctor.com/ga-wing-cross-2023.html