Flysurfer Mojo

Flysurfer are a German kite brand with a beautiful development center tucked in the foothills of Bavaria. They are responsible for a lot of innovation in terms of closed-cell soft kites for both snow and water use, which are highly technical to produce. We were eager to see how they could apply all this top-level aeronautical design to a handheld wing.

First of all, you are greeted with an excellent backpack – two straps, decent pockets, and roomy enough to get the wing into without being a black belt in origami. It comes bundled with both a waist and wrist leash to give you all options, which is a great touch. The MOJO has a twin chamber inflation system with an iSUP valve on both the strut and leading edge. This makes getting up to the hefty 10PSI on the strut as easy as possible. Once up to pressure, the chunky tube diameters and big pressures mean the wing is exceptionally stiff and there is little flex when pumping vigorously. The diameter is maintained into the wingtips. There are some small arrow-slit PVC windows that sit fairly well in your eye line when riding, which give you some awareness of what’s going on downwind of you. The almost ubiquitous profiled section of ripstop behind the strut builds shape into the canopy, which has a medium level of forced tension.

There are some nice luxury features on the wing, such as a silky layer of material sewn onto the strut behind the handles, which avoids any knuckle chaff from aggressive Dacron. There are some textured bumps sewn in the handles which take a little getting used to, and the level of grip is reassuring. The handles are long, with three in a row spanning a decent section of the strut, and they are easy to grab without having to look up at them post-tack or jibe. The length means you can slide your hands up and down to micro trim and find a comfortable shoulder width and upwind position; combine that with the incremental bumps and it is easy to find the sweet spot.

Weight-wise, the MOJO sits in the middle of the field for its size. In the hands it is powerful for a 4.5m with plenty of grunt on tap. Its power development is smooth when sheeting, and it retains a little background pull when depowered which is reassuring for learners to stabilize against. Tacking the MOJO is a simple procedure and it goes into wind well without much drag. Luffing the wing on a wave, it is well behaved, and the stiffness in the front handle helps prevent too much rocking around and disturbance of your balance. The MOJO has a great application for beginners as it is uncomplicated and powerful, and has great potential for flat-water blasting. It achieves decent forward speed combined with the right hydrofoil. The stiffness and power delivery means it is easy enough to load up and get airborne with, and is relatively agile in the hands.

As you would expect with Flysurfer’s background and design nouse, the MOJO is a refined first wing that slots seamlessly into the market and is extremely competitive. It is a classic Flysurfer mixture of an innovative build and high attention to detail.