Kite foiling set to die almost completely out as wing foiling takes hold

[SENDIT!]

I think Hawaii is way different than other spots

1:30 for wing sales makes sense in a place with many windsurfers and surfers.
The guys there are watermen and keen in everything new. Gotta love toys right ?

Maybe some other hotspots like Capetown, Tarifa and Hood River will have similar numbers.

But, I assume we might see more wing sales than kite sales in the future due to its easy access.

Good to have another sport and the companies making money.

As long as kiting doesn't die and we can buy new products, it's all good.

Problem is, if things shift in a way that you can't buy your favorite hear, like me with 18m kites for flying.

[Flyboy]

Surely, one major reason is that until recently nobody had wings, so anybody wanting to wing has to buy wings ... whereas kiters already have kites - they're not many people going out & buying a new quiver of kites every year.

[longwhitecloud]

and that is like one day into Hawaii wind season...

You watch this space - except for a very few....the already few pro kiteboarders will no longer be pro kiteboarders unless they use their influencer following to promote winging.

In fact the world has changed - it no longer matters how good you are, or that you are even a kiter - only that you can convert your influence to sales... steal other riders content? - no worries!


You watch as shareholder led kiteboarding companies put close to zero effort into kiting any more. It is a given.

Watch as the shitfight for olympic wingsurfing starts.,. watch the confusion lol!

History repeats. You let non grassroots kiteboarders run industry/ competition, they will sell you out for $1... and they did.

By kiteboarders for kiteboarders.

Great to see the young riders in south africa ripping so hard- new generation.

Wingsurfing will explode in the northerm hemisphere this summer - these things always follow the southern hemisphere in my experience. It will saturate.

Many more kite foilers i know have bought wings, 8 weeks ago they were like "naaaahhhhh" not into that. lololol

[Tone]

You think you're the oracle of wind sports. It's hilarious. Just because things change where YOU live doesn't mean it's the same everywhere else in the world.

There are a handful of wingers here and about 30 foilers, a few have tried and only a couple of bought into it but they still don't rate it as highly as kitefoiling.

I mean, I am happy you're happy, but it's not the same everywhere.

[mr_daruman]

Winging is just another fun tool you have for watersports. It works great in certain conditions; very gusty side-shore, side-off. Slow breaking big mellow waves. High tide. Nuking winds. I can show up at a Windsurfer spot without getting <kiter> badmouthed. LOTS of windsurfers are winging.
But kitefoil destroys it in terms of power, speed, and control in side-on, on-shore conditions. No problem during low tide, easy to get up quickly. Fast hollow waves, slow waves, whatever. The boards can be way smaller, I ride 11L in any conditions; same board for ligth wind or strong wind.
Im not seing wingers riding their 30L <tiny boards> in 10 knots and musshy waves. I mean I guess technically you could..but lol. You do get a hell of a workout though compared to kiting.
In the end I love the sport. I think it complements Kitefoiling perfectly, but in no way replaces it.

[Slappysan]

Wingsurfing will explode in the northerm hemisphere this summer - these things always follow the southern hemisphere in my experience. It will saturate.

90% of the watersports population in the Southern hemisphere live where there are long period ground swell.

In the Northern hemisphere it's harder to say, but probably in the 30% range.

Just look at the world population on a map:

WorldPop.png (157.13 KiB) Viewed 1473 times

There are almost no people in the South, and 100% of them live on the coast. Compare that to the North and it's a very different story.

One of the areas I can see wing popularity exploding in is Japan. Lots of waves, not a lot of kite friendly beaches.

[bragnouff]

90% of the watersports population in the Southern hemisphere live where there are long period ground swell.

I'm not too sure of the correlation to wing foiling. Of course swell is where the appeal of wing is, that's the dream that Instagram sells us but so far, from what I see on my scene, the vast majority of the winging happens on flat water, harbours, inland lakes, more than at beaches in the swell. Ocean beaches seem to be the realm of kiters, surfers, and of (very few) windsurfers at (a handful of) times. That's just from my perspective of course, but it's probably much easier to find shitty launches on random bodies of water than to find a side to side off wave spot with a mellow entry where you and your gear won't get destroyed. I'm still searching for that in my neighborhood by the way, and in between wave kite sessions refining my winging skills on flatish conditions in the meantime, to prepare for that promised spot...

My point is, for many wingfoilers, I'd say the mass of the market, they'll keep it at that flat water level, and never graduate to the phantasmatic wave level. There's a fair bit of that in kiting too, and in windsurfing. So maybe it doesn't really matter as much as you suggest if there's decent swell on your doorstep or not.

[Slappysan]

My point is, for many wingfoilers, I'd say the mass of the market, they'll keep it at that flat water level, and never graduate to the phantasmatic wave level. There's a fair bit of that in kiting too, and in windsurfing. So maybe it doesn't really matter as much as you suggest if there's decent swell on your doorstep or not.

While you are probably correct, I would hope that the reason you see most wingers in flat water is because it's easier and they are still learning. I just can't see the appeal of the sport in flat water long term though.

Kiting in flat water it's a no brainer to see the appeal.

Windsurfing I don't really see the appeal, but loads of people do seem to do it in flat water.

[elguapo]

i admit i was originally a skeptic..
it seemed then (and i was proven correct) that 'winging it' was an inorganic moneygrab for an industry that reached the end of innovation/ideas.

i do occasionally see the kooks dragging umbrellas to the beach nowadays...
not really a big deal. and frankly.. the more the better.
they're slow..and don't take up much space on water or beach

myself
i dont like big inflatable kites either..so i can't see myself going back to pumping up a kite nor lugging around a floating yoga mat.
..so i justt don't see the purpose or attraction to lugging all that windage .
...and it's ok.

"kooks gonna do kook things".
so go be you, wing-thingie-ers
embrace who you are and go have fun@!







now to be honest..
it took a LONG time for me to not see anyone in water with more that a finely shaped surfboard ...as a kook.
(looking at you mr kiter with the boardleash and wearing shorts over your wetsuit)




oh.
and me after reading page 1 of this thread...

[jumptheshark]

I kinda agree. My exp with wingers in the water and on snow is a stark reminder that it was a good idea to jump to kiting many moons ago.

Kiting is full of kooks nowadays and wings will be no different. There are a few like the F-one crew who are absolutely amazing and who's riding is cool as fu*k, but they were all pro watermen long before the grabbed a wing. There are no doubt places and conditions that suit, but where I live, with chiefly wind generated waves, there are literally no spots I cant just as easily get to with a Peak.

To the other aspect of the title of this thread and the heart of the dig longwhitebeard wants to push. I say:

Let kite foiling die. That's right. When I really think of it. What I think of as state of the art.... none of it's kiteboarding gear.

The board is custom and in principle as simple as it can get. The kite is a snow kite made for back country and alpine touring. It was developed without water or hydrofoils in mind. The foil is a Lift. They have about zero marketing to kiters and were making and will keep making killer foils even if kites go extinct.

None of my favorite gear will disappear if winging completely decimates kite foiling.

Scarcity breeds cool, and winging can adopt all the kooks it wants. We have plenty to donate. (no insult to you talented wingers out there, or at least only tongue in cheek)

The things that are possible with a kite and surf foil will continue to evolve as there are really only a small few who push evolution anyway.

I would rather be among that group.