Light Wind (10-15 knots) Gear

[JakeFarley]

At my location the wind is usually 10-15 knots. I am a beginner with only 8 sessions. I am 92kg and 6'-2" tall. I have a 110l board, 6.4m wing and a 2376 cm2 foil. Yesterday I was out and I was struggling a bit to get up riding on the foil except when the wind gusted close to 15 knots but I could not stay up when the gust dropped. My question is whether with my current gear I am expecting too much for my experience level (lack of pumping technique)? Should I invest in a larger wing such as a 7.5m or 8.0m? Or will I get better with experience and not need a 7.5/8.0m wing? Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[joekitetime]

Hard to say. You could invest in a bigger wing. What I normally suggest to folks at my location is to buy a peak4 kite. When the wind is light, I'd say 6mph absolute lowest up to where I can wing without too much work.

Using a kite with the wing is a great way to practice and is the cheapest way to get on foil without having to work for it.

With the Peak4 kites I can park overhead and pump for a pretty long ways before needing to grab the kite.

That would be one suggestion for light wind.

Getting one of those huge wings is another suggestion as well.

In both instances your technique will improve.

[StellaBlu]

Getting below 12 knots takes a bit of practice and good technique, regardless of equipment. Waiting for puffs of wind to get onto foil is the name of the game in lightwind riding. You would probably get another knot or maybe two of low end out of a 7 or 8m wing. Your board is the right size and your foil is massive. Given that you say you are coming off foil, I think you could probably be better served with a slightly smaller, higher efficiency foil actually (IMO, there are diminishing returns above ~1700 sqcm). Maybe try scooting the mast forward if you haven't already.

All that said, you are new to it, and your efficiency will absolutely improve with your current equipment. Riding in those conditions is tricky regardless of your gear.

[juandesooka]

For me, winging was intended to be about light wind, but I have found it's not as effective or efficient as hoped as a light wind vehicle -- compared to kite foiling. [the unexpected positive is the higher wind is way better than expected] It is doable just quite a bit of work.

You will find with more experience that you get more efficient with pumping and finding and using all the power available. Though it won't ever be "easy" at 10kt ... and somewhere between that and 15kt it magically is. My friend describes powered riding as having a superpower....and not enough power is kryptonite.

And then there's optimal gear....the slingshot wing, which version is it? I've not used them, but I heard not great reviews about v1...sounds like v2 is better. The biggest concern is stiffness of leading edge, as a floppy wing will lose all the power of the pump and make light wind impossible. As an example, my original Gong 7m v1 had less power than the 6m ozone I replaced it with.

I rode SS foil for a while, hate to say it but that foil is gen 1 mid-range, 5 year old technology ... and while a lot of the gear advancements are hype, some of it is legit. The biggie is moving to more mid and high aspect foils is a very different riding style, the take off is more like an airplane glide than a jump up (think jet vs helicopter), and the glide is more efficient to sustain once up. For both wing and foil, see if you can demo or try out other gear locally, if you see someone else having more success than you....you'll know quickly if it works better for you and if you need to spend some $$ to upgrade.

[bragnouff]

Quite likely both...
With experience, you'll get better with your 6.4 and you'll probably take off and sustain flight at about 12kts, and go through lulls, but a bigger wing will always give an advantage when it's close to 10kts.
If those conditions are common for you, and you don't want to wait for that little bit more wind, then it might be a good investment to go for a big wing. Your smaller wing will always feel nicer, but at times it's just not enough. And initially, the more time on the water, the better.

You'll see lighter riders take off earlier than you on smaller wings... but wingfoiling (and physics) is a bitch to large riders. But large riders can use large wings
I've seen some large F-one wings perform quite well in light winds like that.
It also depends if you have a kitefoil-friendly spot allowing you to kitefoil when it's 10kts and only wingfoil from 12-13kts onwards

[JakeFarley]

Thanks to all for your advice. I do plan to upgrade my gear once I get better (I feel I am progressing nicely).

And then there's optimal gear....the slingshot wing, which version is it? I've not used them, but I heard not great reviews about v1...sounds like v2 is better.

I have the Slingshot Slingwing V2. It seems to be fairly rigid. I think my technique needs to improve/advance as yesterday was my best session so far once the wind picked up.

Also, I have the mast forward of the central position in the tracks.

By the way, the location where I am learning has quite a bit of floating weeds and a friend of mine said that will hinder the foil's performance. I am going to stay there until I get a bit better as it is a very safe location to ride. I have other locations nearby that do not have much weeds, but they are not that user friendly.

[Lamilu]

So…after all…
More Wing area or more Foil surface?
A 6 wing with 2400 W1250…or
A 7 wing with 1700 W999 for example.
Which works and feels better?

[dirk8037]

HI,
I would say what you have is quite ok.0
I (90kg) have a 146 Indiana Inflatable, an Curve XLT and an Takoon 5 and 7m, same amount of sessions as you.
When the wind is 10 -15 this is plenty - at least according to the wind meassures I have of my sessions.
When the wind is 10 +/- a bigger front wing might be better, but I have the feeling that there is lots of potential regarding pumping technique and especially physical strength.
I found that you need 2 as much holding power for the 7 as for the 5.
I also think that more span, than my 7 has, would really to get into the way. So you sacrifice pumping agility also at pumping for a bit more static pull.

I found that the water conditions have lot of impact.
One spot is quite flat with little roling wind waves. There puming is easier.
I just have been on an other spot with ca 50cm Windswell even at 12kn. There a bit more pull is nice and makes it much easier since koordination of pumping and roleing surface is quite thing.
But even there I had adapted to the condidions by the end of the session at least in my ballance.

I decided to get a bit better and then test some different front wing sizes/types but stick with the wings til they are done.

From Windsurfing back in the days I know that the low end has increasing investments for very little more fun.
And the subjective insatisfaction with this little bit missing will not go away.
Also that better gear needs always better technique, if you do not have that its wasted money. Especially in aspect of future developements and value loss of what you have

[StellaBlu]

So…after all…
More Wing area or more Foil surface?
A 6 wing with 2400 W1250…or
A 7 wing with 1700 W999 for example.
Which works and feels better?

Definitely the 7m with a smaller foil. I'm not convinced that going for surface area above 1600 or 1700 really gets you any benefit. At some point you can't get any more span and you are just lowering the aspect ratio of the wing and adding drag with the additional surface area. If you can get the smaller foil onto foil you are going to be better off with the higher efficiency.

A 6 and a 7m wing are both big wings - you get more low end with the additional meter but you don't lose much in handling or feel there.

Im 80kg and my big foil is 1440 sqcm now and can get up in ~11 knots with a 7m sail and a big board. I size down to 1095 or 800 once the wind gets to 13-14. Had a 1620 and it had no better low end than the 1440.

[Jyoder]

beginner with only 8 sessions

More practice before more gear, IMO.