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

[longwhitecloud]

About 6 months ago i noticed a lot of friends that took to kite foiling as their bodies had worn out had given up kite foiling now also. Some said it was it was a phase and that they would be back; however all that has happened is that even more have given up foiling with a kite with the exception of a few " ill never wing foil!"

A friend tried it recently.. got up first attempt and did a gybe, and their daughter (12) got up on the foil 3rd try
... had never foiled before!! Another sold all their windsurf foil equipment after trying it once!

This is great for kiteboarding because it will go back to focus on kite "boarding"!

I think it is the swing weight of the foil in kite foiling makes any freestyle jump look so awkward when dangling. Style wise i dont think it ever looks good.


I predict that kite foil racing will now also die out as the riders look for more competition outside of the small amounts of trust funders and sponsored riders involved in such a rediculously class based eurocentric sport.

This is great news for kiteboarding by bringing the focus back on freestyle, waves style and progression!

Watch the brands scrabble for an increasingly small piece of the pie by the week regarding wing foiling as it saturates super quickly.. but no doubt it will grown even faster now.

Kiteboarding is coming back to its roots after becoming diluted by kookness and that is AWESOME.

Discuss

[Oldman_Dave]

^the opposite of that

[sonny2727]

I'm glad people find winging interesting otherwise kite foiling is too crowded and i can by cheap gear from folks selling. There's always people who want to go fast and jump in light wind and those will keep kite foiling but the crowd that's lawn moving now on kite foiling will gain something i guess by moving...like anything learning curve flattens and we loose interest and select few keep progressing ..this is not going change just by changing sport and not everyone looking for performance..So all in all I think its a very positive development and if I live in wave spot like Gunner i'd try it too but on choppy bay its boring and why bother carrying all those huge gear around..I mean I gave up windsurfing and with winging its back to 80s

[RidingRobi]

Not sure about that.
I really wonder why would kitefoilers cross over


I got myself Wingsurfing gear as well, foiled 3 sessions and now I am reselling all the Wingstuff again.

I mean it is reeeally easy to foil with the wing compared to kitefoiling and it is uncomplicated to set up. But that's it.
While kitefoiling I feel much more free and agile. When winging the board is huge (5'5) and heavy in comparison, the Wing is directly in front of you while foiling and everything feels a bit more sluggish.
So for my main foiling purpose, flatwater and chop in mediocre winds, it didn't convince me. I was rather thinking about the missed kitefoil session when winging the 2nd and 3rd time..
And in terms of freestyle... I admire kitefreestyle too much, to find wingfreestyle visually appealing at the moment. Personal opinion.

In windswell waves, where you really have to be on top of your game with your kite to keep a minimum of line tension, winging still looks super tempting and could be a nice addition.

But overally, my Wingfoil experience rather resurged my love for kitefoiling again tbh. Not what I expected when buying the new kit but hey

And for my local lake, I rather give Windfoiling another go when the wind is super fluky. Or explore the single skin/ short lines world a bit more.

Just my two cents on the wingfoiling hype.
Nonetheless, more focus again on freestyle in kiting wouldn't hurt though

[jumptheshark]

Totally knew this was your thread!

Whats your deal? Why the KBfoil hate?

Kite foil will be what it will be.

[sonny2727]

Totally knew this was your thread!

Whats your deal? Why the KBfoil hate?

Kite foil will be what it will be.

Jumptheshark...cool..haven't seen anyone wearing shoes before

[darippah]

About 6 months ago i noticed a lot of friends that took to kite foiling as their bodies had worn out had given up kite foiling now also. Some said it was it was a phase and that they would be back; however all that has happened is that even more have given up foiling with a kite with the exception of a few " ill never wing foil!"

A friend tried it recently.. got up first attempt and did a gybe, and their daughter (12) got up on the foil 3rd try
... had never foiled before!! Another sold all their windsurf foil equipment after trying it once!

This is great for kiteboarding because it will go back to focus on kite "boarding"!

I think it is the swing weight of the foil in kite foiling makes any freestyle jump look so awkward when dangling. Style wise i dont think it ever looks good.


I predict that kite foil racing will now also die out as the riders look for more competition outside of the small amounts of trust funders and sponsored riders involved in such a rediculously class based eurocentric sport.

This is great news for kiteboarding by bringing the focus back on freestyle, waves style and progression!

Watch the brands scrabble for an increasingly small piece of the pie by the week regarding wing foiling as it saturates super quickly.. but no doubt it will grown even faster now.

Kiteboarding is coming back to its roots after becoming diluted by kookness and that is AWESOME.

Discuss

You’re just making fun of PMU right??

[PrfctChaos]

About 6 months ago i noticed a lot of friends that took to kite foiling as their bodies had worn out had given up kite foiling now also. Some said it was it was a phase and that they would be back; however all that has happened is that even more have given up foiling with a kite with the exception of a few " ill never wing foil!"

A friend tried it recently.. got up first attempt and did a gybe, and their daughter (12) got up on the foil 3rd try
... had never foiled before!! Another sold all their windsurf foil equipment after trying it once!

This is great for kiteboarding because it will go back to focus on kite "boarding"!

I think it is the swing weight of the foil in kite foiling makes any freestyle jump look so awkward when dangling. Style wise i dont think it ever looks good.


I predict that kite foil racing will now also die out as the riders look for more competition outside of the small amounts of trust funders and sponsored riders involved in such a rediculously class based eurocentric sport.

This is great news for kiteboarding by bringing the focus back on freestyle, waves style and progression!

Watch the brands scrabble for an increasingly small piece of the pie by the week regarding wing foiling as it saturates super quickly.. but no doubt it will grown even faster now.

Kiteboarding is coming back to its roots after becoming diluted by kookness and that is AWESOME.

Discuss

You’re just making fun of PMU right??

Just imagine a world where the person telling us about foiling was actually a foiler. Or the person telling us about foil kites actually used foil kites.

Nevermind, the thought is probably too revolutionary to work. As you all were.

[longwhitecloud]

I just got the latest issue of kiteboarder.. comes with a free issue of foiler featuring all wing foiling gear. I notice that instagram influencers from brands like duotone have their kiteboarders posting pic of them on wingfoiling kit :-0

People can do whatever they like but if you havnt seen the transition in your region yet with kitefoilers giving up and taking up wing foiling you are in for a big surprise this season.

[Peter_Frank]

I disagree.

As with all new sports, with crossover area/fun/conditions - we always see the following:

Because it is new, it is exiting for most of us.
Then there will always be a few saying "I will never do that" And most will eat their words later, apart from those who lives a bad surf life because they stick to their principle, and keep on riding "the way they were" as dinosaurs

Also, media and brands will expose a new trend hugely.

Third, most surfers will stick to one discipline, for obvious reasons - so those changing to wingfoil will of course lack from kitefoil now - the overall "mass" is still at least the same, actually increased, as new will enter the sport also.


Must say, I can not see why kiteracing would dissapear - as still by far the fastest on the water, when you look away from million dollar crafts like AC72 in some conditions.


For those doing a bit of everything, you can easily see it is very different sports, meaning:

Kitefoil a lot faster to rig and pack and transport (smaller and lighter).
Kitefoil works amazing in a lot less wind.
Kitefoil works great in waves, also steep ones close to the coast.
Wingfoil can be used better than a kite in some conditions like lakes and similar.
Wingfoil can be a good workout (for some this can be both an advantage or the opposite ha haa).
Wingfoil in waves feels great if you get it right, and "far out" swells can even be used.
Wingfoil deliver a new "free" feel, and you can learn many new tricks.
Kitewave works in higher winds and and using the edges and fins gives you clean carves and a nice direct feel to the water.
Kitewave gives you the "slashy" spray feel when riding DTL hitting the lip again and again, nothing can match this.
KiteTT works in higher winds, and you can do crazy freestyle tricks.
KiteTT will give you the ability to jump crazy high, or do megaloops.


Just see when kitesurf appeared, in the windsurfing scene - at first many said "No way I will never do that".
Then years later, some said "Windsurf will die" (because of kitesurf getting huge).

And what happened?
Well, many moved to kitesurf, a few moved back - and today both windsurf and kitesurf co-exist happily together and none of them dropping towards extinction.
Foil or no foil, in both sports - loads of action and riders in all disciplines.

I think we will see the same with wingfoil - many moving to wing from kitefoil, a few going back again - but all in all a good expansion of our water life, new riders appearing, but all disciplines will still be alive and well, is my take on this.

Peter