Wingsurfing, an easier way ...

[RickI]

For best winging performance you need to use a hydrofoil. Many people need to commit a good deal of time and effort to mastering wingfoiling. At the same time, there is an easier, quicker way to get up winging in good conditions. You might wing in minutes instead of what may be weeks or longer with a hydrofoil. Some might consider doing this while working on hydrofoiling and for others, doing this in lieu of wingfoiling with the tradeoffs that go with it. Here are some photos of a session last weekend off Bahia Honda in the Florida Keys.


Laura is about to launch in some nice side onshore wind around 20 mph with minimal waves in the shallows. She is using a 5 m Cabrinha Mantis wing with an Imagine Surf BULA. The BULA has a ton of stability and flotation plus midboard and aft skeg's to aid tracking under sail. Plus it has a pin mount for windsurfing if you would like to do that as well.









A look at the skegs with some wide angle camera distortion.







So, put your time in with the hydrofoil and/or go this route. If the wind was a bit lighter I was going to have my pre-teen kids give it a go with the 5 m Mantis. The BULA is a family board after all.

More at: https://imaginesurf.com/product/bula/
https://www.cabrinha.com/collections/wings




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[Peter_Frank]

True, it is a further development of the SUP which many use, especially those with a family - as everyone can try to wing(surf) without risk.

Wingfoil is next level, but still quite some distance away for newbees.

Peter

[RickI]

Mom has already played around with a hydrofoil a bit but seems more at ease on the BULA SUP. I think both kids will enjoy winging on the BULA and may or may not move on to a hydrofoil in time. It is good to have options and the very short curve for learning to wing on the BULA compared to putting the time in on a hydrofoil is motivating. Whether you use it for a stepping stone to higher performance gear or stay with it for casual charging around on the water is up to the rider to choose.

True, it is a further development of the SUP which many use, especially those with a family - as everyone can try to wing(surf) without risk.

Wingfoil is next level, but still quite some distance away for newbees.

Peter

[bragnouff]

(...)doing this in lieu of wingfoiling with the tradeoffs that go with it(...)

Those tradeoffs being that for anyone with a background in kiting or windsurfing, riding on a SUP in slow-mo is boring a.f. Once you've got used to riding at planing speeds, going back to crawling would be tough. Of course some of that is offset by the pleasure of riding in idyllic warm turquoise waters, and/or riding with the family. Same could be said for paddleboarding on the flat, unless you're in a stunning location, or doing it with a bunch of friends as a social activity, the appeal of it is pretty limited, and that appeal is also offset by the hassles of putting a monster board on the roof racks.

But great for newcomers, trading the paddle for a wing is one step towards more fun, or towards some little slow-mo fun once it's too windy to paddle.

[RickI]

Some people will never successfully get up and planning for an extended period get on a hydrofoil. And if it’s a choice between that and Winging, they probably won’t ride with a wing. That is a loss both to them and to wing manufacturers. You may or may not recall in the days of Windsurfing where People would ghost along for hours in lighter winds. That may be all they had available or they might’ve even used it for transport down the coast. It’s not all about speed and short boards although that was a huge draw without a doubt.

When I interviewed Bruno Legaignoux for a magazine article years back he told me his concept was to make Kiting very widely available to the public. This obviously would come with a great deal more profit along with popularity. He was concerned about the real estate required for conventional Kite set ups, difficulty of operation and so worked on something with a lot smaller footprint and ease of operation. It never took off for whatever reasons. You can target a subset of the population with branding and marketing. That is common and it’s also good but you can also unduly deny yourself market share. It’s something to think over, for the folks in the industry anyway.

[bragnouff]

I'm sure you're right, Rick, and people in the industry have completely different motives than us simple riders. I was mostly pointing that here on kiteforum, we're already hooked to the joys of power, speed and glide, and anything less would be a very hard sell. We've relocated to decent places in the world, to the coast at least, freed ourselves from the shackles of a 9 to 5 to feed our addictions, and as such I expect that pitching the SUP winging activity here on kiteforum would not receive the most attention.

At the end of the day, I don't think there is a sport anywhere that would provide high levels of joy and excitement without a decent investment into it (be it time and/or money). But at the same time, many people in wider population would be happy enough to just get wet and spend a couple hours on a SUP 3 times a year, even if fun factor is only a 2/10, they wouldn't know any better, nor would they care. That'd work well for rentals, but I cannot imagine anyone developing a lifelong addiction to SUP winging. Some would buy the gear, the way so many people bought sailboards in the 70s, and unfortunately, it will eventually end up sitting unused in a garage, then in a landfill, because the fun to effort ratio isn't that great.

[Herman]

Personally I could not muster the motivation to look out the all the gear for an old school windsurf long board freestyle session but if I ever get round to getting a wing and SUP, I am pretty sure the ease of rigging/use would tempt me on a nice light wind sunny day. Not sure you could rail ride, but most other things would be doable? It would be a good work out and better than sunbathing? Maybe good exercise could be a small selling point to some? Interestingly, there does not seem to be much available on the secondhand market around here.

[gl]

When I saw Rickl's pictures I thought immediately how much fun that looked. I wing foil, kite foil and SUP. For me just being on the water doing just about anything is fun. I enjoy the windy exciting days a lot but that does diminish the simpler joys of just being out there cruising on a nice day. Those pictures reminded me of that now that it is warming up here. As a result, I purchased a Slingshot SUP Winder to put an old SUP for the very light wind days when I do not feel like traveling to my kite foiling spot. It will not be exciting but I am sure for me it will still be fun and just one more way to enjoy being on the water, thanks for posting Rickl.