high aspect foils

[slowboat]

One of the more exciting aspects of winging to me is the ability to use and benefit from super high aspect foils with their pumping and gliding abilities. Do you love them or the more moderate/low aspect foils for winging?

[gl]

I have not tried any high aspect foils. I'm using a Slingshot Infinity 99 foil. So far I really like it. It seems to rise up early and I get as much speed as I want. I'm not a speed guy so others may find it limiting in terms of speed. I use the longer fuselage and it seems to give me more stability than the short one. Other than dropping down a large wave under wing power I rarely breach.

[slowboat]

I tried some high aspect foils with a kite but had trouble even in very small waves and sold it. Loved the glide on the smallest bumps but really didn't like working to keep the kite up. I figured with a wing ding, it would be better. I just don't have a high aspect foil yet to try.

[gmb13]

It is really hard to tell what exactly is meant my high AR foils now. The Moses 1000 and 800 I am testing now are super high aspect with very thin profiles. The Go Foil GL foils are less high AR and have thicker profiles. Then there are the Foils like the Moses 1100 and Indiana 1100 and Fone Phantoms which are sort of high AR. I would tend to call them Medium AR High Performance Foils.

The Super high AR foils like the 1000 and 800 from Moses need good skills and a power to get flying with a Wing, but when they are up, they are super fast and you can barely feel any resistance in the water. They pump well if you can keep the speed. These are great for towing in and higher wind winging.

The Medium AR wings tend to be a lot easier to get flying in light winds and make manuvers very easy while keeping decent speed. If you plan to pump for a very long time they are the choice.

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Gunnar

[gmb13]

[slowboat]

Great video. Why we wing

[jumptheshark]

Really?

I know Im gonna piss a few off here, but what is it that you see in that clip that makes you wanna wing? I know I need to try it to be objective, but thats a 2:27 sec clip, of which only 42 seconds is not simply straight line riding under power. What is the draw over straight line windsurfing, or kite foiling ? Of the 42 seconds of off the wind riding with the wing in one hand, literally all of it is spent pumping to maintain the ride. All of it.

I have TONS of respect for Gunnar and don't fault his choices or anyone elses for that matter, but I want to know what you see in that that attracts you?

I can fins loads of clips of Gunnar doing far more impressive and inspiring stuff.

I see the wings like the initial spread of SUP. It's new, so people wanna get all excited about it, but new is not necessarily improved. Years later, I have a SUP for the family, but its a toy for goofing around on when there is no wind and for the kids to play on while camping or following a swimmer across the bay. It never improved upon the Kyak or canoe for utility, and certainly if there is any kind of wind and swell, it's not the gear I go for.

For sure there may be conditions or spots where a wing trumps a kite, but in that clip?

The real push behind winging is commercial. It's to tap into a market that won't kite. It's a big market and like SUP, I understand that, but for a kiter to say: That's why we wing to that clip.... ?

[ulx]

I know wat you mean. I was curious from the beginning but all I saw in videos was not really convincing to me. That is until I saw the videos of Balz Müller and Horue. And then from young guns like Jeffrey Spencer. Just like years ago when I got into kitefoiling because of the videos of Horue and Boardriding Maui. Now I cant wait to get my equipment and give it a go.

[slowboat]

Really?

I know Im gonna piss a few off here, but what is it that you see in that clip that makes you wanna wing? I know I need to try it to be objective, but thats a 2:27 sec clip, of which only 42 seconds is not simply straight line riding under power. What is the draw over straight line windsurfing, or kite foiling ? Of the 42 seconds of off the wind riding with the wing in one hand, literally all of it is spent pumping to maintain the ride. All of it.

I have TONS of respect for Gunnar and don't fault his choices or anyone elses for that matter, but I want to know what you see in that that attracts you?

I can fins loads of clips of Gunnar doing far more impressive and inspiring stuff.

I see the wings like the initial spread of SUP. It's new, so people wanna get all excited about it, but new is not necessarily improved. Years later, I have a SUP for the family, but its a toy for goofing around on when there is no wind and for the kids to play on while camping or following a swimmer across the bay. It never improved upon the Kyak or canoe for utility, and certainly if there is any kind of wind and swell, it's not the gear I go for.

For sure there may be conditions or spots where a wing trumps a kite, but in that clip?

The real push behind winging is commercial. It's to tap into a market that won't kite. It's a big market and like SUP, I understand that, but for a kiter to say: That's why we wing to that clip.... ?

Let me first say that no one should be upset by your questions or scepticism, I certainly am not. To answer your question specifically, what that clips shows is someone foiling without being pulled. Yup, that is it. That is the key idea that appeals to me about winging. There are people who say so what? To them, I say there is nothing here for you, move on. But to me (and many others), the beauty of foiling without being pulled is that it means you can ride a wave with a foil without being pulled= true foil surfing. At this point, people will interject with how well their kite drifts......yada, yada, yada. Again, if you are happy foiling in waves with your kite, have fun.....there is nothing here for you.

As far as winging being a passing fad, I think you are wrong but time will tell.

[tkaraszewski]

Let me first say that no one should be upset by your questions or scepticism, I certainly am not. To answer your question specifically, what that clips shows is someone foiling without being pulled. Yup, that is it. That is the key idea that appeals to me about winging. There are people who say so what? To them, I say there is nothing here for you, move on. But to me (and many others), the beauty of foiling without being pulled is that it means you can ride a wave with a foil without being pulled= true foil surfing. At this point, people will interject with how well their kite drifts......yada, yada, yada. Again, if you are happy foiling in waves with your kite, have fun.....there is nothing here for you.

As far as winging being a passing fad, I think you are wrong but time will tell.

I started with the same attitude that jumptheshark has. But I tried wingfoiling during lockdown when all of the kite launches were closed, but one windsurf launch was still open. After some initial frustration, it's been much more fun once I've gotten the hang of it. It has its pluses and minuses compared to kitefoiling. What I do not understand is slowboat's point of view, which is essentially the same as the view of everyone who's gone to smaller and smaller kites with as little pull and as much drift as possible. "Foiling without being pulled". Yeah, the wing can be "foiling without being pulled", but you're either being pulled or you're being pushed and I don't see why some people think being pushed is so much better. I grew up surfing and have been sailing for many years, and they're different, sure, but riding the power of the ocean (which, to be clear, is all wind-generated anyway) versus riding the power of the sky (wind power directly) doesn't strike me as one being particularly "better" than the other. They're both pretty amazing, but a lot of people on here seem to want "pure" wave power. Which makes me wonder why they bothered to get a kite (or wing) at all. A plain old surfboard is cheaper and simpler.

Not meaning to be critical, I just have never understood why so many people on a kite forum seem to the think the ideal kite would be no kite at all.