Wing foiling in gusty winds

[lightwind]

Hi everyone, I started kitefoiling one year ago and it’s working pretty good for now. My closest spot is 2 hours away from my house so it’s too much for one day trip especially in summer time when roads are getting super jammed. I live in bay which is surrounded with mountains and the wind is gusty and shifty, so it’s not good for kiting, also there is no space for launching the kite. I was thinking to buy wingfoiling setup to be able to ride in front of the house. What do you think, is it possible to have fun in gusty choppy conditions when wind blows 10-30 knots or 5-20 knots?

Cheers.

[gmb13]

That is the cool thing about the wing. It is very easy to handle the gusts. No worries about the kites dropping out of the sky. In the wind ranges you listed you will be fine. Usually once you are up on the foil in a gust you can stay up as long as you nail your gybes or tacks. Best to do them in a gust

And if the wind totally drops you can just paddle back.

--
Gunnar

[gl]

What you are describing is when I wing foil most often. If the wind is really gusty or a bad direction for kiting that is when I use it. Getting a large hydro foil wing and a floaty board means I can easily stand while waiting for a gust and as Gunnar said once up it can drop quite low and I keep going on the foil. Even off the foil no problem heading back to my launch spot.

[lightwind]

That’s exactly what I was hoping for. How many liters you consider floaty board for 75 kg rider? 90-100 liters?

[bigtone667]

That’s exactly what I was hoping for. How many liters you consider floaty board for 75 kg rider? 90-100 liters?

For me, just something I could kneel on ..... 105kg = 125 litre board (but might be able to go lower).

[gl]

I am about 80 kg. My board is 7'10" by 30" and 138 litres. I can stand on that in most conditions. I could easily go smaller but do like the how easy it is to stand on and do pivot turns in large chop without falling off when I do not fly through a jibe. I use the same board for windfoiling so have no desire to go smaller at present.

[cglazier]

At 75 kg I chose a 96 liter board which is probably small for the first few hours of learning but still easy. I now want to try an even smaller one.
I have had many friends learn on my board without difficulty.
When the wind drops I can still stand on my board.

CG