Kite foiling is dying sooo fast

[deniska]

I predict an eventual hybridization of wing and kite foiling. A wing/kite with short 1-2 m lines attached. Just long enough to get the wing/kite above you and open up your field of vision but short enough that you can easily bring it down and grab the leading edge to fully depower and ride a wave.

nah..
there are many reasons why kite lines are longer than 10meters:
- you can control much bigger wing with that setup
-you get to better winds (wind gradient and all that stuff).. some time there is no wind at the surface but plenty at 20meters..
- you can send the kite (generate lots of power on demand)

here is an examle of session never possible in 12kts on a wing (today's shot):

no way wingers can compete at speed or height with a kite/foil setup... period.

[Toby]

That’s really big in 12 knots, congratulations

[lifeinthehood]

I predict an eventual hybridization of wing and kite foiling. A wing/kite with short 1-2 m lines attached. Just long enough to get the wing/kite above you and open up your field of vision but short enough that you can easily bring it down and grab the leading edge to fully depower and ride a wave.

nah..
there are many reasons why kite lines are longer than 10meters:
- you can control much bigger wing with that setup
-you get to better winds (wind gradient and all that stuff).. some time there is no wind at the surface but plenty at 20meters..
- you can send the kite (generate lots of power on demand)

here is an examle of session never possible in 12kts on a wing (today's shot):
vlcsnap-2022-09-21-20h19m17s839.png

no way wingers can compete at speed or height with a kite/foil setup... period.

The point would not be to match a kitefoil in performance. The point would be to have the advantages of wing foiling - launch from anywhere, instant on-demand 100% depower, safety, etc; without the disadvantages - poor visibility, wingtips grabbing the water, large board needed for water starts. Plus, even a meter or two distance from the water surface would improve wind, esp without the body itself creating a mini wind shadow.

[mede]

Plus, even a meter or two distance from the water surface would improve wind, esp without the body itself creating a mini wind shadow.

Once you get going, there is no wind shadow because of relative wind.
To get going, the gains by pumping strongly outweigh the small loss of a shadow. And you would be stuck with the worst of two worlds with very short lines: no pumping, and no room for generating speed when flying the kite.

[Lamilu]

There is a “launch anyware” propaganda in winging that has to be better discussed.
Yes, you need space to launch a kite, but in onshore relatively shallow, getting out in winging is a pain.
In +/- heavy sea sideshore, the power of a kite to body drag out is a must…
And so on…

[mede]

Horses for courses...
At my home spot (lake Geneva) I can't even dream about launching a kite... Neither on or offshore, as there are trees, wind shadow, no space for the lines etc.
With the wing, I paddle out 50 m and off I go.
In Sri Lanka, totally the contrary... Getting through the shorebreak with a wing would be very difficult, with the kite it's a breeze

[Flyboy]

Horses for courses...
At my home spot (lake Geneva) I can't even dream about launching a kite... Neither on or offshore, as there are trees, wind shadow, no space for the lines etc.
With the wing, I paddle out 50 m and off I go.
In Sri Lanka, totally the contrary... Getting through the shorebreak with a wing would be very difficult, with the kite it's a breeze

Yes - there are unquestionably practical advantages to wing foiling ... depending on the particular spot. I can see many places - like Lake Geneva - where wing foiling is a complete game-changer. Kite foiling has an advantage in lighter winds - the same advantage that kitesurfing has over windsurfing: the ability to create apparent wind due to the sail/kite/wing being at the end of 20 metre lines.

I can see that wing foiling is great in stronger winds - I look at video clips from Maui showing skilled wingers using small (like 3m or 4m) wings and it looks very appealing - elegant & effortless. Bigger wings a lot less so.



I do assume that the design of the wings is going to improve fairly dramatically for a while contributing to better & better performance.

In an area where the more common winds are in the 10 - 15 knot range, would it make sense to switch to winging? I'm not sure I want to go out and buy a whole new set of boards, foils and hand wings ... and how much stuff do I then have to take to the beach? At the minute I take one foil attached to a 108 cm board and 3 or 4 Peak4 kites - no pump. It's very compact, very easy.

[nothing2seehere]

I predict an eventual hybridization of wing and kite foiling. A wing/kite with short 1-2 m lines attached. Just long enough to get the wing/kite above you and open up your field of vision but short enough that you can easily bring it down and grab the leading edge to fully depower and ride a wave.

Its been done. This guy videoed it 2 years ago. Locals at my beach reckon they tried the same about 15 years ago too but without the foil.

[bragnouff]

In an area where the more common winds are in the 10 - 15 knot range, would it make sense to switch to winging? I'm not sure I want to go out and buy a whole new set of boards, foils and hand wings ... and how much stuff do I then have to take to the beach? At the minute I take one foil attached to a 108 cm board and 3 or 4 Peak4 kites - no pump. It's very compact, very easy.

Looks like you have spots suitable for kite foiling already, so it doesn't really make sense to switch to winging. Main benefit of winging is access to other spots and conditions where you wouldn't sensibly kite, and limited consequences in sketchy conditions. And around that idea, accessing the spot 5mn down the road rather than the kite spot 30mn away. If you're already well covered for local sessions on a regular basis, keep enjoying what you do, and enjoy traveling with a small kit.
With stronger winds, and on spots with the right wave configuration, however, winging can be a great option to pick even if you could kite there, matter of feeling or preferences. Just depends on your local spots.

[tkaraszewski]

The video above - Maui (and the Columbia River Gorge as well, where you see a lot of wing videos) is probably one of the most ideal wingfoil spots in the world. They have excellent conditions with waves and strong winds. If the wind is strong, a wingfoil is more versatile than a kite. You can launch from more places, you have infinite depower, if the wind dies, you have a better platform for returning to the beach.

Like others have said, both sports have their advantages. If you are traveling by airplane, the kite is definitely easier. And if you are traveling by airplane, you can likely choose a destination that's well-suited to whichever sport you want to do. But transporting a 50+L wingboard by airplane is cumbersome and cost prohibitive. Kites have, and likely will always have, a light wind advantage. Nobody is going to come out with a 23m wingfoil wing. Even if you want to limit your big kite/wing to 7m, the kite has the advantage in light winds for being able to be looped.

Wingfoils have advantages on some beaches where it's impossible to launch kites, either because there's not enough open space, or because regulations prohibit it (as is the case on many busy European beaches in the summer). Kites are, and likely will continue to be "higher performance" both in terms of speeds, and jump heights, simply because you can carry more sail area with a kite than a wing. But the wingfoil is more accessible in several ways, not the least of which is the ability to learn on your own. Kiting also maintains the ability to switch to non-foiling boards if you want, which gives you access to different areas (shallow water, or places with seaweed) that you can't use a wingfoil.

There are plenty of cases for either sport to make more sense. Anyone should pick the ones that suits them, their conditions, and their location. I have winged in places where kiting was not an option (launching from behind a hill where the wind is shadowed and you need to paddle out several hundred meters to get clear wind), and kited in places where winging was not an option (because it's nearly impossible to make it out through a bigger shore break with a wingfoil).