Winging Questions

[OzBungy]

1. It seems that all winging sessions end with a wet dirty wing. Has anybody worked out any methods to deal with the wing at the end of the session?

I'm not a fan of leaving the wing to dry in the wind. In stronger winds the wing bounces around and the fabric or leading edge rubs on the ground. A late finishing session like today there's just not enough time to dry the wing.

So far the only thing that seems to work is to stuff the wet wing in the gear tub and hang it up to dry at home. That's quite easy with a 5m wing, but it's still a step backwards compared to kiting.

One of the supposed benefits of winging is the simpler set up and less gear to deal with. I'm finding it a lot more effort than packing up a nice clean dry kite at the end of a session.

2. What wind strength are people winging in? What sort of board, foil and wing are you using?

Our local wingers don't get anywhere under 20 knots. There's one good winger who can mow the lawn in the high teens. The other just bob around and wave their wings about. They're all using purpose built winging boards and humungous Naish or Axis foils. They can do it, but there's nothing super impressive about their efforts.

I am a beginner winger. I can get going with my crossover SUP/foil board, 5m wing and 1500cm foil in 20-25 knots. Below 20 knots I can pump onto the foil with a push from a wave. I have a dedicated SUP foil board lined up and I'm thinking about getting a GoFoil GL240 or similar. It seems a shitload of money to spend just to go winging in a decent range of winds. I can kite foil in a much greater range of winds with a heap less expense.

[gl]

At present I'm using a large crossover board. It is 138 litres. With my 5-meter ozone wasp and the infinity 99 foil from slingshot I can get up on the foil around 12-13 knots. I can use the same set up comfortably up to a about 20 knots. By going to a smaller foil I lose a lot on the low end.

[gmb13]

1. It seems that all winging sessions end with a wet dirty wing. Has anybody worked out any methods to deal with the wing at the end of the session?

I'm not a fan of leaving the wing to dry in the wind. In stronger winds the wing bounces around and the fabric or leading edge rubs on the ground. A late finishing session like today there's just not enough time to dry the wing.

So far the only thing that seems to work is to stuff the wet wing in the gear tub and hang it up to dry at home. That's quite easy with a 5m wing, but it's still a step backwards compared to kiting.

One of the supposed benefits of winging is the simpler set up and less gear to deal with. I'm finding it a lot more effort than packing up a nice clean dry kite at the end of a session.

2. What wind strength are people winging in? What sort of board, foil and wing are you using?

Our local wingers don't get anywhere under 20 knots. There's one good winger who can mow the lawn in the high teens. The other just bob around and wave their wings about. They're all using purpose built winging boards and humungous Naish or Axis foils. They can do it, but there's nothing super impressive about their efforts.

I am a beginner winger. I can get going with my crossover SUP/foil board, 5m wing and 1500cm foil in 20-25 knots. Below 20 knots I can pump onto the foil with a push from a wave. I have a dedicated SUP foil board lined up and I'm thinking about getting a GoFoil GL240 or similar. It seems a shitload of money to spend just to go winging in a decent range of winds. I can kite foil in a much greater range of winds with a heap less expense.

Hi Oz,

1) Packing away clean: What I do is to deflate the leading edge and roll the tips in as fast as possible, hopefully not touching the sand or dirt. and then put it directly in my van or backseat of my car. I hang it up at home to dry as I clean it with fresh water every session.

2) I wing from 6 knots up to 40 knots, but it have a range of boards, foils and wings to fit those conditions. To get going easily in light winds the boards are really important, and I am not talking size or volume here. There are very few good lightwind shapes available at the moment. SUPfoil boards work ok for Wingfoiling, but some features that make them good Sup boards like Double Concaves in the nose and step tails, actually take a lot of loweend out of the boards making light wind winging difficult.



--
Gunnar

[mike dubs]

I fly from 12-15mph easily with a 6m and I’m new at it.

Good tip I saw on ensis site that I now use, deflate holding Centre strut, let one half wing fold on top of other one and roll from joined wing tips. Mike

[OzBungy]

... SUPfoil boards work ok for Wingfoiling, but some features that make them good Sup boards like Double Concaves in the nose and step tails, ....
Gunnar

The board I am looking at is a downwind SUP foil board from One Ocean Sports. It has chines and a flat bottom with no stepped tail.



It's interesting that the dedicated wing foiling boards from Fanatic have mega-concaves in the nose.



Another question. How are people carrying their board and wing together?

I've seen the over the shoulder carry with shorter boards. My crossover is too long and heavy for that. I've also seen people with handles set into the bottom of the board (which the Fanatic has). I'm hoping a shorter, lighter board can be manhandled any way I like (deck handle, grab the mast, over the shoulder).

[gmb13]

... SUPfoil boards work ok for Wingfoiling, but some features that make them good Sup boards like Double Concaves in the nose and step tails, ....
Gunnar

The board I am looking at is a downwind SUP foil board from One Ocean Sports. It has chines and a flat bottom with no stepped tail.

It's interesting that the dedicated wing foiling boards from Fanatic have mega-concaves in the nose.

Another question. How are people carrying their board and wing together?

I've seen the over the shoulder carry with shorter boards. My crossover is too long and heavy for that. I've also seen people with handles set into the bottom of the board (which the Fanatic has). I'm hoping a shorter, lighter board can be manhandled any way I like (deck handle, grab the mast, over the shoulder).

Not sure why they actually did it, but their marketing states that concaves no longer do what they have done for the last 30 years in board shaping and now do the opposite and instead of sticking to the water, they now help release the board. The reason I put nose concaves in my old Supfoil designs for Indiana was to get the board to track straight. So it will help a beginner who has not figured out to position the wing properly when displacing to go upwind, but it costs you on low wind performance.

If I am carrying a large board with the wing, I carry it by the front wing and resting the tip on my shoulder. See the pic.



--
Gunnar