Kite foiling is dying sooo fast

[PugetSoundKiter]

SCT

20338311-8D28-4E73-AAAA-572CD417FFB3.png (29.71 KiB) Viewed 1081 times

It is always amazing to read stories like this

So many looking at wingfoil and deducting it "can not be fun"

Just like when we started kitefoiling - almost everyone said: Looks sloppy and can not be fun.

And look now, around here foil (all types) are the majority of kite/wind/wing surfers - and in other countries I believe it is big too.

Reminds me of a forum poster here, he wrote he had tried kitefoil, but did not find it fun, so he rides a big waveboard with a 17 m2 kite instead - each to their own, but I do not need to say more, right?

Somewhat the same here, we try to "think" how it is, without having any, or sufficient experience to know

Some ride both TT and Surfboards, with kites - these two disciplines are even further apart than kitefoil and wingfoil in my experience

Just an observation noone can use for anything, sorry, I know - but I am smiling when I read some of the postings here

Peter

[Oldman_Dave]

This thread was posed in the first post and perfectly answered in the 2nd post. All the rest is unnecessary but here we are.

I can put my hand up and say I've had an overreaction against winging because of the massive hype at the moment. And the fact that a lot of kite companies are only starting to separate their business/promotional streams. I have a carefully curated instagram account for pure kite pics and vids, with a little tow, prone, and dock start for variation. It's taken the last 2 years for kite companies to start realising that kitesurfers/kitefoilers don't want to be bombarded with wing content. Most kiters have seen enough and either decided for or against, and those against simply aren't interested. You can't just smoosh us all together and expect everyone to play nice. If that seems weird, I feel the same about wakeboarding, windsurfing, SUPfoil etc. They're great but I have no interest in watching those vids.

[mr_daruman]

You missed the absolutely huge Cons (in my personal order):
Kitefoil almost always outperforms wing: faster, smoother & more power on tap = continuously on the foil rather than periods on and off and slogging along double pumping.
Massive battleship of a board, heavy and can't turn
Massive foil under the board, can't turn
2 leashes to wrangle when you stack
Looking at a sail unless you're totally flagged out, can't see downwind
2 trips to carry your gear from car to beach & disassembly every time

Of your Pros: only No. 2 is relevant to most people. Downwind is fine kite foiling if you have any experience. Wind dying happens rarely, and foil kites will stay in the sky in all but zero.

However there's no disputing that for pure wave riding a wing does it better. There's simply no way to flag and hold a kite like you can with a wing.
Likewise there's simply no way to send a wing in a 30m loop to gather enough power spike to pull a small board out of the water.
[..]

The massive board/foil is absolutely the deal breaker for me. Just ... why? What a step backwards.

The leashes are comedy gold -- people getting tangled up in them, tangling around the foil, breaking and the wing going tumbleweeding across the lake... Don't ever change!

Nobody here does pure wave riding; in fact, the best they manage is getting on a wave and riding in a straight line. I can do that, I know cos I follow them around doing it

They do have the low wind advantage on me, but my board is 11L and I refuse to use a kite bigger than 10m. And I don't have to pump.

Massive boards? Slow foils? Yea, thats called beginner winging 101.

After a year getting good wingfoiling I can now comfortably ride 35L/4'10x22 2.5kg board in 10 knots.Using a High aspect 1100 foil. Turns nearly as fast as my kitefoil board. Super quick and nearly no difference shooting upwind; Id say maybe better. I can just pump for a minute if the wind totally drops.
Under 10 knots I commonly out-ride kitefoilers with my 60L 5'x24 and 1850 wing. Yea its a bit slower but Im actually riding more and longer.

I cant tell you how many times I was just riding light side-off shore/off shore winds with ease while kitefoilers was just watching on land. Tried to ride, dropped the kite, back to land cursing.
Yea if you have 5k worth of kitefoiling ram air race gear I guess its doable....

[Fatso]

Truth is, if you have the time/money/health... Enjoy whatever you want.

I can't afford winging, my knees are bad and kneeling is out of the question for long periods.

I think the next big step will be e-foiling when batteries are lighter and gear affordable.

Cut out having to wait for the right conditions or right place for a 2 hour blast.

That's years away, at that point I might just rent and do it occasionally as a treat. Old age.

[windmaker]

You missed the absolutely huge Cons (in my personal order):
Kitefoil almost always outperforms wing: faster, smoother & more power on tap = continuously on the foil rather than periods on and off and slogging along double pumping.
Massive battleship of a board, heavy and can't turn
Massive foil under the board, can't turn
2 leashes to wrangle when you stack
Looking at a sail unless you're totally flagged out, can't see downwind
2 trips to carry your gear from car to beach & disassembly every time

Of your Pros: only No. 2 is relevant to most people. Downwind is fine kite foiling if you have any experience. Wind dying happens rarely, and foil kites will stay in the sky in all but zero.

However there's no disputing that for pure wave riding a wing does it better. There's simply no way to flag and hold a kite like you can with a wing.
Likewise there's simply no way to send a wing in a 30m loop to gather enough power spike to pull a small board out of the water.
[..]

The massive board/foil is absolutely the deal breaker for me. Just ... why? What a step backwards.

The leashes are comedy gold -- people getting tangled up in them, tangling around the foil, breaking and the wing going tumbleweeding across the lake... Don't ever change!

Nobody here does pure wave riding; in fact, the best they manage is getting on a wave and riding in a straight line. I can do that, I know cos I follow them around doing it

They do have the low wind advantage on me, but my board is 11L and I refuse to use a kite bigger than 10m. And I don't have to pump.

Massive boards? Slow foils? Yea, thats called beginner winging 101.

After a year getting good wingfoiling I can now comfortably ride 35L/4'10x22 2.5kg board in 10 knots.Using a High aspect 1100 foil. Turns nearly as fast as my kitefoil board. Super quick and nearly no difference shooting upwind; Id say maybe better. I can just pump for a minute if the wind totally drops.
Under 10 knots I commonly out-ride kitefoilers with my 60L 5'x24 and 1850 wing. Yea its a bit slower but Im actually riding more and longer.

I cant tell you how many times I was just riding light side-off shore/off shore winds with ease while kitefoilers was just watching on land. Tried to ride, dropped the kite, back to land cursing.
Yea if you have 5k worth of kitefoiling ram air race gear I guess its doable....

You must suck at kitefoiling ...

[Kamikuza]

Massive boards? Slow foils? Yea, thats called beginner winging 101.

After a year getting good wingfoiling I can now comfortably ride 35L/4'10x22 2.5kg board in 10 knots.Using a High aspect 1100 foil. Turns nearly as fast as my kitefoil board. Super quick and nearly no difference shooting upwind; Id say maybe better. I can just pump for a minute if the wind totally drops.
Under 10 knots I commonly out-ride kitefoilers with my 60L 5'x24 and 1850 wing. Yea its a bit slower but Im actually riding more and longer.

I cant tell you how many times I was just riding light side-off shore/off shore winds with ease while kitefoilers was just watching on land. Tried to ride, dropped the kite, back to land cursing.
Yea if you have 5k worth of kitefoiling ram air race gear I guess its doable....

Still more than 3 times the volume of my board, and your wing is twice as big. And you've still got to hang onto that thing right there in front of your face the whole time. You're not going to convince me

Yeah I've seen the guys outride me in sub-10 knots too. On their massive boards and massive wings, going back and forth in a straight line, praying they don't foul up the transitions and fall in. Been there done that with the big foil kites and big foil boards too.

Now I'm happy not mowing the lawn, and just waiting for it to pick up a couple of knots so I can ride with my pocket board, reasonable-sized foil and 10m wave kite.

[Fatso]

Massive boards? Slow foils? Yea, thats called beginner winging 101.

After a year getting good wingfoiling I can now comfortably ride 35L/4'10x22 2.5kg board in 10 knots.Using a High aspect 1100 foil. Turns nearly as fast as my kitefoil board. Super quick and nearly no difference shooting upwind; Id say maybe better. I can just pump for a minute if the wind totally drops.
Under 10 knots I commonly out-ride kitefoilers with my 60L 5'x24 and 1850 wing. Yea its a bit slower but Im actually riding more and longer.

I cant tell you how many times I was just riding light side-off shore/off shore winds with ease while kitefoilers was just watching on land. Tried to ride, dropped the kite, back to land cursing.
Yea if you have 5k worth of kitefoiling ram air race gear I guess its doable....

Still more than 3 times the volume of my board, and your wing is twice as big. And you've still got to hang onto that thing right there in front of your face the whole time. You're not going to convince me

Yeah I've seen the guys outride me in sub-10 knots too. On their massive boards and massive wings, going back and forth in a straight line, praying they don't foul up the transitions and fall in. Been there done that with the big foil kites and big foil boards too.

Now I'm happy not mowing the lawn, and just waiting for it to pick up a couple of knots so I can ride with my pocket board, reasonable-sized foil and 10m wave kite.

Should look at Peak4 or 5's for your needs...

[flaps1111]

You can't compare apples and pears, if you live in Tarifa, Gran Canaria or Hood River, you can say hey guys I can ride a 35L board and a 3.5m wing...( only he omits that he rides with 40 knots) But that doesn't seem to be the world average. Talking about your case without saying your weight and conditions makes no sense.
In places where you can launch a kite and breezes of 6 to 20 knots kitefoiling is totally superior but that doesn't mean that you only want to wingfoil.
I know windsurfers who didn't switch to kitesurfing because they literally found it dangerous and intimidating, the same thing that happened to many kitesurfers when they tried hydrofoiling for the first time and said never ever again....

[Trent hink]

Getting back to my previous point, hydrofoiling is here to stay.

I don't care what watersport...

Kiting, windsurfing, wing ding, SUP, paddle in surfing, multihull and monohull sailing, electric powered watercraft, and on and on...

The efficiency is totally game changing.

[Peter_Frank]

Getting back to my previous point, hydrofoiling is here to stay.

I don't care what watersport...

Kiting, windsurfing, wing ding, SUP, paddle in surfing, multihull and monohull sailing, electric powered watercraft, and on and on...

The efficiency is totally game changing.

Word