Wing 3 set, which sizes?

[fluidity]

Thanks all for your information! It was helpful.

Probably I will give my 5.2 to my GF and she can buy another 3.5, so her set will be 5.2-3.5
And I will go for 3,4,6

(To go for 3, 4, 5, 7 is tempting but I'm afraid when I really get the hang of it I will not use the 7 enough. I remember when I started windsurfing xxxx decades ago, only used the biggest sails until 4 weeks after buying. Maybe I should learn from earlier experiences and listen to the above comments.)

Now to choose the right brand from the 60+. I like Ensis a lot but they are on the upper price range. And in general Wings are quite vulnerable when used in rougher conditions. Getting trough a hefty shore break is a pain and my Wing got some hospital time after my first 2 sea sessions. The quality of the Wing doesn't matter the foil always wins, so probably i will invest in the bottom price range like Takoon which also has good reviews.

If your GF is lighter than you then you will always be on a bigger wing except when one of you has progressed a bit and has the technique to start in lighter conditions.
Ensis is plenty powerful so that size will have more light wind range as your technique improves. But I think you will both enjoy a lot moving to smaller more nimble wings as your techniques improve. Also keep in mind that the more area of a wing, the more drag it has, so like a big foil, it reduces your top speed. PPC are getting really good reviews but apparently they are a little bigger in size than what they claim when compared to other wings of the same printed sizes. A PPC 2.8 & 3.8 would fill out your smaller sizes pretty well I think. You might find your GF gets more use of a 2.8 size than you once her skills come up as well and that a 3.8 is always hitting a sweet spot for one of you.

[happywizz]

Thanks all for your information! It was helpful.

Probably I will give my 5.2 to my GF and she can buy another 3.5, so her set will be 5.2-3.5
And I will go for 3,4,6

(To go for 3, 4, 5, 7 is tempting but I'm afraid when I really get the hang of it I will not use the 7 enough. I remember when I started windsurfing xxxx decades ago, only used the biggest sails until 4 weeks after buying. Maybe I should learn from earlier experiences and listen to the above comments.)

Now to choose the right brand from the 60+. I like Ensis a lot but they are on the upper price range. And in general Wings are quite vulnerable when used in rougher conditions. Getting trough a hefty shore break is a pain and my Wing got some hospital time after my first 2 sea sessions. The quality of the Wing doesn't matter the foil always wins, so probably i will invest in the bottom price range like Takoon which also has good reviews.

If your GF is lighter than you then you will always be on a bigger wing except when one of you has progressed a bit and has the technique to start in lighter conditions.
Ensis is plenty powerful so that size will have more light wind range as your technique improves. But I think you will both enjoy a lot moving to smaller more nimble wings as your techniques improve. Also keep in mind that the more area of a wing, the more drag it has, so like a big foil, it reduces your top speed. PPC are getting really good reviews but apparently they are a little bigger in size than what they claim when compared to other wings of the same printed sizes. A PPC 2.8 & 3.8 would fill out your smaller sizes pretty well I think. You might find your GF gets more use of a 2.8 size than you once her skills come up as well and that a 3.8 is always hitting a sweet spot for one of you.

Really good point!! But we live in different places, so not always winging together. She is starting to learn, so eventually she wants to have a complete set (board,foil and wing) for herself. I'm not sure but I think its a trend, women in general want to be more independent, even with water fun toys.

[Peter_Frank]

I use Switch wings. They're very cheap and very good. They don't do a 3m but the 4m and 6m are very good. They only come in one colour. I would prefer a black leading edge but it's hard to complain at the price.

You want to make sure you get the free shipping. When shipping to Australia I order things one at a time so it comes in under the tax free limit.

https://switchkites.com/products/drift-surf-wing

If I were you I would hold off buying too many wings at once. The thing about foiling is that you learn stuff and think you know what's going on, then learn more and realise that earlier thing was wrong. A 4m and 6m will cover most conditions you're likely to encounter. I am not yet convinced that small wings give you all that much more strong wind range. I suspect they're more made for light weight riders in moderate winds.

What you should consider is getting a much bigger foil, say 1900-2100cm. You'll find it much easier to get going in lighter winds and you'll get much more glide on flat water and smaller waves. You can use a big foil with a small wing in strong winds to ride wind chop. The key to perfecting gybes and foot swaps is to use the glide of the wing. A bigger wing and a push from a wave helps a lot with that.

To an extent, unless you have decent ocean swells, the wave riding aspect of wing foiling is massively overrated. I've never seen anybody glide for more than 5-10 seconds on wind chop. Wind chop can be great if there's a heap of wind and a long fetch to push up larger waves.

So I guess you don't like to ride 5-10 seconds on wind swell?

I find it fascinating

Peter

[Peter_Frank]

Agree with others, above 5 m2 you can go in bigger steps, as 6 or 7 or 8 are really big anyways, and a different kind, not giving the (for some) expected extra low end, and pumping the wing doesnt have as much effect as with say a 5 m2, but still more power yes, they just become very big and clumsy to handle.

Whereas smaller, you dont want 2 m2 gaps. Possible yes, but not good.
I tried with 4-6 m2, didnt work, so got 4-5-6 now.
4-5-7 would also work I think.

And of course smaller wings than 4 when windy.

Peter

[adriatic]

I've never seen anybody glide for more than 5-10 seconds on wind chop.

Gotta be really in synch with the windswell Speed for it to work. It may take some trial and error to nail the right foil for a given condition...for really gutless, slow wind rollers one should start looking for a relatively HA planform for good glide, but with a beefed up profile for lower speeds and great lift, paired with a small stab (and not too long mast and fuse) for pumping. Of course it's more complicated than that, but it's a start.

[OzBungy]

I am very much coming from the point of view of advising a newbie and a competent but not expert wing foiler.

The hype around wing foiling is buy one, jump on, ride in 8 knots, rip ankle high waves. It just doesn't happen. It can happen with the right gear and technique and conditions and some luck. You have to put in the time to build the skills and pick the conditions. None of it comes for free as is implied by the marketing.

I keep an eye on the other riders at our local spot. The rippers are riding high aspect wings and smallish boards and carving and tacking around all over the place. Even so, a glide usually lasts 5-10 seconds before they pull the wing up and power on. That can change when the waves get a bit steeper.

More common is the average riders who pull onto a wavelet, sort of stand there with the wing behind them, then power up and ride away, or more often fall off.

The most experienced guy uses wings with a boom and parks his hand in the middle with the wing adding a little power to move between the swells. I do the same but hold the wing overhead on fingertips and feather it to get a tweak to cross a gap.

On our bay N winds come cross offshore with minimal fetch. S and W winds have 60-100km of fetch to build up a bit of size. The waves peak and run then crumble. If you ride straight you run into the back of the crumbling swell in front. If you cut across the swell you're on crumbles. You either drop back to the following swell or power across to another wave.

The point of this for the OP is develop your skills and gear fairly slowly. Nothing comes for free. You have to work it out and find out what works for you in the conditions you ride in.