How difficult are the various foiling discplines?

[Flyboy]

I do them all, here's my take from HARDEST to EASIEST:
1) Prone surf foiling: hardest by far, you have to catch the waves and make the pop-up. Because it requires waves you get limited practice compared to kite/wings.
2) SUP foiling: you still have to catch the waves but at least you are already standing!
3) Winging: you have to learn how to use a hand-wing
4) Kite foiling: By far the easiest as long as you are a decent kiter because you have consistent power source and can try over and over again until you learn.

Prone foiling I accept as probably the hardest (although I've never tried) because you have to time the pop-up while controlling the foil. SUP, wing foiling & wind foiling all have the advantage that you are standing on a (much larger) board already which allows for a more gradual take-off. The hard part in those 3 activities would seem to be dealing with choppy water before you get up on the foil.

From scratch, all of them would be very difficult, but surely kite foiling would be the most difficult ... probably next to impossible. You need to have good kite skills already. otherwise there is way too much going on at the same time. Learning "how to use a hand-wing" while learning to get up on foil is much easier than learning to kite while learning to get up on foil. I would vote for winging to be the easiest to learn - which partly accounts for its exploding popularity. It's quite realistic for someone with no prior experience to learn to wing foil ... the same couldn't be said for prone, wind or kite foiling (not sure about SUP foiling).

[bragnouff]

(...) from HARDEST to EASIEST:
3) Winging: you have to learn how to use a hand-wing
4) Kite foiling: By far the easiest as long as you are a decent kiter because you have consistent power source and can try over and over again until you learn.

learning to use a hand wing takes half an hour, whereas becoming proficient enough on a kite to be able to tackle kitefoiling is a matter of a handful of seasons. No way is kitefoiling easier than winging.

Arguably supfoiling is also harder than prone since it's much harder to keep balance and take off, than to do a lazy pop up. Or it's more demanding in terms of conditions, i.e. no chop at all. Whereas prone can allow a bit of messy sea state

I guess, whatever's your background will greatly influence that ranking. But for a complete newbie with zero experience in any kind of wind or water sports, wingfoiling is the easiest and most accessible. (also the least affordable)

[RadDrDuke]

Yes, I was referring to people who already know how to fly a kite. Otherwise winging is definitely the easiest.

Regarding "windfoiling" ie foiling with a windsurfer - that sport is essentially obsolete!

[Peter_Frank]

Yes, I was referring to people who already know how to fly a kite. Otherwise winging is definitely the easiest.

Regarding "windfoiling" ie foiling with a windsurfer - that sport is essentially obsolete!

Not obsolete here, and also an Olympic discipline for what it is worth.

It has its advantages in several aspects

Peter

[Flyboy]

Yes, I was referring to people who already know how to fly a kite. Otherwise winging is definitely the easiest.

Regarding "windfoiling" ie foiling with a windsurfer - that sport is essentially obsolete!

One of my two local spots has a crew of wind foilers. I am the only kite foiler. From observation, wind foiling seems to have most of the advantages (& disadvantages) of wing foiling, but wind foilers appear to be able to get going in less wind than wing foilers. This may reflect varying skill levels however.

[Peter_Frank]

Windfoil advantages and disadvantages IMO and experiences:

Starts earlier than wingfoil.
Goes better upwind and faster than wingfoil.
You can float, meaning you can always get ashore even in almost zero wind.
When too little wind to foil, you can cross big distances easy and relaxed.
Self rescue better than everything else.

So by a margin better than everything else for long distance trips


Cons -
Starts later than lightwind kitefoil.
Can not turn in waves the same way as kite or wingfoils (when YOU can).
In a tad too light wind, you might stand totally parked, just like wingfoil.

Peter

[Eltreato]

I started with kitefoiling before getting in to windfoiling and wingfoiling. I have tried wakefoiling too. Kitefoiling is definitely the hardest, as an an accomplished kiter I felt like it was like riding a unicycle and juggling, there's just so much going on with kite control. Windfoiling was a cinch after kitefoiling, coming from a windsurfing background. Wingfoiling was outrageously easy compared to kitefoiling as was wakefoiling.

[Flyboy]

I started with kitefoiling before getting in to windfoiling and wingfoiling. I have tried wakefoiling too. Kitefoiling is definitely the hardest, as an an accomplished kiter I felt like it was like riding a unicycle and juggling, there's just so much going on with kite control. Windfoiling was a cinch after kitefoiling, coming from a windsurfing background. Wingfoiling was outrageously easy compared to kitefoiling as was wakefoiling.

I have an old windsurfing buddy who has taken up wing foiling. He has a big board (around 135 litres). He has struggled to learn, although he is gradually making progress. I have suggested to him that he might want to try wind foiling, as that would allow him to get into foiling without having to deal with the unaccustomed aspects of handling the wing. Once used to the feel & control of the foil moving on to wing foiling ought to be easier. He has not taken that path, however.

Again ... I think the difficulty with learning to kite foil is that there is an abrupt moment when you have to get up on the foil - it's an all-or-nothing moment. And to make it more challenging, it's very counter intuitive to an experienced kite surfer, requiring you to keep your weight forward while you surge out of the water. It may be somewhat easier with modern, larger, lower aspect front wings than it was with smaller wings back in the day.