Postby tkaraszewski » Wed Oct 05, 2022 10:15 am
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).