Thanks slowboat,
even if my experience is not Yours and Gunnar's. Main reason could be that you both have very good wave spots with big fast running waves in comparison to wind speed.
I am just riding in continental european small wind wave conditions that are rideable, but just when there are > 22 knts wind speeds and so no problem with drift, when riding never more than 15 knts in downwind turns.
The main lesson I learned from winging was to just hook of during kiting which now turns as far to think about having sessions without harness and build special 2 liner style bars for it.
Haven't lost interest for winging, but much more enthusiastic for unhooked wave foiling with peaks. And while agreeing with some advantages of wings, for my conditions there are much more on the kite side:
- much smaller packed tiny kitefoil board with peak and without pump
- no wing that blocks your view in the riding direction (as it has sucked also with windsurfing), but just a one hand holded bar floating above your head (even a floating wing still blocks a lot of view on to wave to me)
- also don't see any relevant difference in freedom of movement, with 20 m lines the kite always drifting in the zenith there is nothing that blocks you when fast turnig 6 m to left and 6 m right,
the opposite, if you want to exit the wave with a backflip landed on the foil, just grab bar with two hands and do it, ... with a wing, well maybe if you are Philippe Caneri ... not so easy
- I think still a bit easier to have a bit wider windrange and to go faster upwind to get more wave time with a Peak that you can loop for start
- in 5 knots you may loop yourself faster downwind back to shore with the Peak and if not using a very fat board you also don't go upwind anymore with a wing
- when the peak is packed on a small board in < 4 knots for sure you don't swim home as fast as with a bigger wing board, but how often in wave conditions?
But if you let out the air out of the wing you can't rearm it on the water, the Peak you can, when learned from about 8 knts when the wind turns back ...
So to me not all black and white
Would be interested if you have tried unhooked with a Peak?
On waves I completely stopped being hooked since some month, as it just doesn't make any sense to me. Wanting to say that the difference is so big to me which was the most important lesson learned from winging.