Anyone tried foiling with a wing?

[danielkeder]

Hi, i could not find any results for wing foil (or actually too many unrelated) so here i go-

Anyone tried wing foiling? Now all the major kite brands are coming up with their offerings. Duotone, slingshot, cabrinha are just some examples.

Anyones tried it yet? Whats the minimum water that you need to start playing with this? Duotone offers several sizes and the biggest, 6m they say is from 10knots.

How difficult is it to learn? I have some experience foiling, but really just learning. I thought this could be fun in places where kiting is not allowed or bad access..?

Is it suitable to give to someone whos never tried a kite? Can u ride a regular SUP with this and have some fun?

Thanks everyone for your inputs!

[thewindego]

Lots of videos out there now.

[Laughingman]

LMAO, the manufactures be like OOOOh its the next awesome thing.... Facebook/instagram/kite pros etc.... (including Gunnar... so sad) be like ... its awesome get one...

Kiteforum be like ....... crickets

And this is why I love this place. No marketing BS is going to influence us!

search.php?keywords=wing <----- one thread ROFLMAO! Too funny

[Peter_Frank]

LMAO, the manufactures be like OOOOh its the next awesome thing.... Facebook/instagram/kite pros etc.... (including Gunnar... so sad) be like ... its awesome get one...

Kiteforum be like ....... crickets

And this is why I love this place. No marketing BS is going to influence us!

search.php?keywords=wing <----- one thread ROFLMAO! Too funny

Ha haa, somewhat I agree with you - it also looks wrong and stupid, dont know why...

Windsurfing, windfoil, kitesurfing, kitefoil, never looked stupid in my eyes, no matter if racing or freestyle or waves or whatever.
But there is just lacking something with these surfwings, maybe they are not evolved yet?

On the other hand, of course one (or some) should try, also find the limits and possibilities - more fun maybe, so respect for trying this and will be interesting to see where it leads.

Many options when riding, I can see that on above video, but as said, something looks wrong, or just me?

Might change, but the current setup does not seem right, somewhat not windsurf nor kitesurf nor sup, more like a patchwork of everything and still far away from a clean thing...

Something that works will usually either be aesthetic joy and beautiful, or change peoples minds into thinking it is

Peter

[juandesooka]

Here we go again.

Daniel: there's a few threads on kiteforum that talk about these wings, but they are 75% kiters posting their opinion on how lame and useless wings are, with a few positive and helpful posts interspersed. Your best bet to get useful information is facebook, the two groups now are wing.surf and wingboarding.

I have a Gong 5m that I am figuring out. I am quite into SUP foiling lately, hoping for it to add a new fun element to that. My answers:

Anyones tried it yet? Whats the minimum water that you need to start playing with this? Duotone offers several sizes and the biggest, 6m they say is from 10knots. J: with the 5m, minimum to get on foil is 15kt, 20kt is where I had most success. I suspect this will come down a little with experience, just like learning to kite foil, you get more efficient with the power as you get better.

How difficult is it to learn? I have some experience foiling, but really just learning. J: more difficult than I expected. It is closer to windsurfing than kiting. More wind makes it way easier. It is hard on arms and shoulders while fighting to get up on foil, once up, pretty light (again, similar to kiting, death grip while learning)

I thought this could be fun in places where kiting is not allowed or bad access..? J: yes, that's the hope...where launch isn't doable, or in offshore winds. Also potential for a quick session...fastest kite rigging, I am in for 10-15mins each side, which makes a lunch hour quickie not really doable. For wing, I am in the water in under 5 minutes.

Is it suitable to give to someone whos never tried a kite? J: kiting experience will help somewhat in understanding wind angles, about going downwind, upwind, etc. But the actual riding is quite different, kiting doesn't help all that much IMHO.

Can u ride a regular SUP with this and have some fun? J: yes and no. You can play around in almost no wind on a sup, but you will likely end up down wind. A windsurf board with a dagger, you could probably hold your position better. It is fun to just cruise around though, if this is your only windsports option. And that's where the kiter/windsurfer haters come in: this isn't really a replacement for kiting or windsurfing, as these are both more effective tools, assuming you already have them and are proficient. It will be fun for wind newbies though. And for dedicated sup/surf foilers.

[joekitetime]

I haven't read the reviews of the wing, I haven't tried the wing, but I have watched several videos (as we all have), and I've watch quite a few people trying to learn.

I did windsurf for a decade, and kited for two...

THE WING:
Cross between windsurfing and kiting? Do we need to cross? I abandoned windsurfing for a reason. I think the wing is a bad idea for the following reasons:
You need a super big board to learn, and to ride (forget it, I ditched a windsurfing van years ago and carrying big, heavy boards)...
You need 20mph winds (forget it, sick and tired of waiting day in and day out for a windy, steady, epic day - they rarely come)...
You need for work the hell out of the wing (forget it - I let the kite do the work while I day dream about lounging on a beach somewhere)...
It looks stupid (like when I rode a fat tire bike - I got so sick of everyone asking "what is that thing")...
It is low performance, period...
The crashes are brutal...
It is technology in reverse...
It is a two trip cross to the launch and a two trip back to your vehicle...
Actually, windsurfing is much more high performance than the wing. It isn't a cross, it is more of a mutant...

[gmb13]

Hi, i could not find any results for wing foil (or actually too many unrelated) so here i go-

Anyone tried wing foiling? Now all the major kite brands are coming up with their offerings. Duotone, slingshot, cabrinha are just some examples.

Anyones tried it yet? Whats the minimum water that you need to start playing with this? Duotone offers several sizes and the biggest, 6m they say is from 10knots.

How difficult is it to learn? I have some experience foiling, but really just learning. I thought this could be fun in places where kiting is not allowed or bad access..?

Is it suitable to give to someone whos never tried a kite? Can u ride a regular SUP with this and have some fun?

Thanks everyone for your inputs!

Whats the minimum Wind that you need to start playing with this? Duotone offers several sizes and the biggest, 6m they say is from 10knots.

It depends on what you are riding. If you just want to cruise around on a big SUP without a foil to get the hang of the Wing, you do not need so much power, so you can get away with a 4m in 10 knots or even less if your balance is good or the water is flat. If you want to get foiling it will depend on what size foil you have under your board and your weight and skills. I (85kg) can get the 4m to work in 15 knots with a large downwind surf foil and my 105 liter SUP Board.

How difficult is it to learn? I have some experience foiling, but really just learning.

If you have the right equipment and some foiling skill, you should learn very quickly. The learning curve is pretty shallow. I recommend you spend some time on the beach and get used to handling the wing first. For example, If you have windsurfing in your background you will also need to fight your instinct to push the wing down to create speed. I did the same thing as I was starting out and kept flying it into the sand/water. Once you get the hang of the wing and can use it to pull you from a kneeling position into a standing position, then you can go on the water with it. If you are not the best foiler, just go with a big SUP or windsurfer (beginner boards with daggerboards work great)

I thought this could be fun in places where kiting is not allowed or bad access..?

Exactly. This is what is great about this. It opens up a whole new world of spots and conditions. A lot of the Wave spots on our north shore are really dangerous to kite as the launches are super rocky and the wind is sketchy. Plus the wind is mainly onshore and wave riding with onshore is not that fun. The wing works great in these conditions. Also spots where there is no wind near the shore are easy with the Wing. Paddling with the wing dragging behind you is really easy and it has virtually no drag, and this makes it much easier to paddle compared to a windsurf board when there is no wind.

Is it suitable to give to someone whos never tried a kite? Can u ride a regular SUP with this and have some fun?

As I mentioned above, it works great without a foil too. Also with Landboards, Skateboards, Rollerskates, SUPs, Kayaks etc. It is a great tool for getting people into windsports as it is much safer and easier to handle than a Windsurf Sail or a kite.

If you have a chance, try one. Make up your own mind. I for one am loving it, but then again, I always seem to love new things and I don't really care what others think about it. 10 years ago people said that foiling look boring and could not possibly be any fun. Then 4 years ago they said the same about SUPfoiling. In the end people need to actually try it and see what it feels like to ride, because that is what counts, not what it looks like to others

--
Gunnar

[elguapo]

LMAO, the manufactures be like OOOOh its the next awesome thing.... Facebook/instagram/kite pros etc.... (including Gunnar... so sad) be like ... its awesome get one...

Kiteforum be like ....... crickets

And this is why I love this place. No marketing BS is going to influence us!

search.php?keywords=wing <----- one thread ROFLMAO! Too funny

little bit of a low brow on a broda, eh?




and this wingsurfing thing....what is dis?
it that like that umbrella surf fad that is taking the world by storm right now?

[Flyboy]

The biggest plus I can see is the ability to launch in areas where kiting is impossible. About 300 metres from my house is a very small beach that sometimes has great side shore winds ... but there is often a wind shadow close to shore that makes launching & landing a kite very difficult, or impossible. Very frustrating. A wingsurfer would allow access on those days ... however, so would a windsurfer. Wind foiling seems like a much better bet than wing foiling. There is a crew of dedicated windsurfers at another beach I go to. They are all foiling now & with big surf wings they will get out foiling in 5 or 6 knots with a 5.7 sail.

[cglazier]

Thanks Gunnar for your informative post. In contrast it is rather tiring to see those who have never tried a wing repeatedly posting their opinions. Perhaps they think ... whatever..

I was lucky to already get my hands on a 5m Duotone wing. I and almost all my friends have had a lot of fun on it. I have no shortage of new "friends" wanting to take their turn. Most of us are up and foiling and jibing but perhaps not doing the fancy tricks we see in the videos (my circle of friends are not as young and athletic as the pros). But the wing is quite easy to get foiling as long as the wind is sufficient. For me it takes 15 knots of wind to get foiling, but I see others with more pumping skills getting going earlier.

Some less experienced friends who never foiled tried my wing setup with little success. There is a bit of learning required to just handle the wing. So I am not sure that the wing is a good setup to teach new foilers. But things seem to come quickly to windsurfers and to more advanced kiters who foil already.

Anyway, I (and many of my friends) am looking forward to wind that allows more wing sessions. I recommend good steady wind and flat water to start. It really is fun.


CG