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Johnny Heineken Wing Foiling in the San Francisco Bay

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Flyboy
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Re: Johnny Heineken Wing Foiling in the San Francisco Bay

Postby Flyboy » Sat Apr 03, 2021 6:19 am

fluidity wrote:
Sat Apr 03, 2021 5:50 am
I think a race of wingers is a lot friendlier, safer and more compact than a race of kiters or kite foilers. Comparing speeds of the different disciplines is like comparing the speed of growth of plum trees vs apple trees.
True, up to a point. People race all kinds of boats - slow & fast. However, foiling has definitely lowered the wind range for "fast" racing. I don't see that there would be much interest in going back to One Design windsurf racing. I notice a lot of advertising of various foiling dinghies also.

In any case, I don't think it is likely that racing will be the main interest for wing foilers any more than it has been for kite foilers. The big advantage for wing foiling, to my mind, is the relative simplicity of the learning curve & the ease of setting up & using the equipment. It opens the activity up to places where kiting or kite foiling is problematic - like smaller bodies of water, or difficult shorelines. However, I still think foiling using a wing is too technical & challenging to catch on with the average person, so it will remain a niche sport, with an even smaller participation in organized racing.

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Re: Johnny Heineken Wing Foiling in the San Francisco Bay

Postby longwhitecloud » Sat Apr 03, 2021 7:26 am

Flyboy wrote:
Sat Apr 03, 2021 2:10 am
Honestly ... I don't think any form of sailing/racing is going to be exciting to watch for the casual viewer.

Kite foil racing isn't "expensive" - not by the standards of any other sailing activity. The big advantage that kite foiling has over wing foiling & wind foiling is it's possible to have pretty fast, dynamic racing in light winds ... & that is an essential consideration for a weather dependent water sport.
It interests me but it is incredibly boring to watch no doubt. All sailing was under threat of being thrown out of the oympics due to such low viewing figures. That is why world sailing got conned into taking a sport it had previously (in the form of the previous incarnation to World Sailing) said was not 100% not sailing when some kiters were trying to claim world sailing speed records riding in 15 cm of water towed by kites (thanks for nothing).

Participation is where it is at.

The same sh1t show will come to winngsurfing now no doubt.

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Re: Johnny Heineken Wing Foiling in the San Francisco Bay

Postby Flyboy » Sat Apr 03, 2021 5:29 pm

longwhitecloud wrote:
Sat Apr 03, 2021 7:26 am
Flyboy wrote:
Sat Apr 03, 2021 2:10 am
Honestly ... I don't think any form of sailing/racing is going to be exciting to watch for the casual viewer.

Kite foil racing isn't "expensive" - not by the standards of any other sailing activity. The big advantage that kite foiling has over wing foiling & wind foiling is it's possible to have pretty fast, dynamic racing in light winds ... & that is an essential consideration for a weather dependent water sport.
It interests me but it is incredibly boring to watch no doubt. All sailing was under threat of being thrown out of the oympics due to such low viewing figures. That is why world sailing got conned into taking a sport it had previously (in the form of the previous incarnation to World Sailing) said was not 100% not sailing when some kiters were trying to claim world sailing speed records riding in 15 cm of water towed by kites (thanks for nothing).

Participation is where it is at.

The same sh1t show will come to winngsurfing now no doubt.
The thing that is hard to comprehend is why you (apparently) care about this so much?

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Re: Johnny Heineken Wing Foiling in the San Francisco Bay

Postby longwhitecloud » Sun Apr 04, 2021 12:19 am

Flyboy wrote:
Sat Apr 03, 2021 5:29 pm
longwhitecloud wrote:
Sat Apr 03, 2021 7:26 am
Flyboy wrote:
Sat Apr 03, 2021 2:10 am
Honestly ... I don't think any form of sailing/racing is going to be exciting to watch for the casual viewer.

Kite foil racing isn't "expensive" - not by the standards of any other sailing activity. The big advantage that kite foiling has over wing foiling & wind foiling is it's possible to have pretty fast, dynamic racing in light winds ... & that is an essential consideration for a weather dependent water sport.
It interests me but it is incredibly boring to watch no doubt. All sailing was under threat of being thrown out of the oympics due to such low viewing figures. That is why world sailing got conned into taking a sport it had previously (in the form of the previous incarnation to World Sailing) said was not 100% not sailing when some kiters were trying to claim world sailing speed records riding in 15 cm of water towed by kites (thanks for nothing).

Participation is where it is at.

The same sh1t show will come to winngsurfing now no doubt.
The thing that is hard to comprehend is why you (apparently) care about this so much?
It’s good to care. The wind sport industry has always has entities trying to twist these sports into class based sports any way they can for increased profit. By doing this they ostracise a whole group of potential participants and end up killing off the growth of these sports because there are less and less new generation participating any more.

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Re: Johnny Heineken Wing Foiling in the San Francisco Bay

Postby Dontsink » Sun Apr 04, 2021 11:34 am

Whenever i hear that a sport (no matter which one) needs to grow,be promoted etc...i cringe.

If Wingfoiling stayed right as it is right now i would be perfectly happy, i do not need faster foils,or wings,or competitions.

And what i really do not need is a mass of foilers zipping along at 10 to 20kt on every windy beach.Because foils are nasty beasts and sh&t will happen, then knee jerk reaction regulations will kick in.

Sport growth is only good for the industry,look what it did to surfing, kitesurfing (tarifa in summer...bring kevlar armor) or freeride skiing ( by 11:00 in the morning after a snow dump in a resort everything tracked out).


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