Wing foiling for high wind

[nothing2seehere]

So I originally thought that wing foiling might be a low winds sport but it isn't really. I'm wondering if it might be a good high wind sport?

Where I live, when the wind is 30 knots +, kiting starts to become less fun. The water state gets too messy and with no waves you end up with short pitched chop and the gusty winds make boosting less fun for the landings too. It occurred to me that foiling over the chop might be the way to go.

Am I getting it wrong again? Is strong gusty wind a big problem? I appreciate that kit handling will be more of a pain ( I remember having to wedge your windsurf board under your car to stop it flying down the street whilst you changed into a wetsuit back in the day) but am I fooling myself that it might still be fun?

[slingshotucf]

Low winds, high winds, it's fun in all winds. If you're not having fun in the light winds then you're just on the wrong gear. Get a 6 meter wing and a big foil with a board 6' or smaller and you'll have a good time.

[Dave K]

I’m OBX so we get plenty of days 20+ knots. Winging is definitely biased for medium to high wind, and I like it way better than kite foiling for those really gusty 10-25, 15-30 days we often get. I have a 6m Echo that I use with a Moses W1100 that’s great for 10-15, but with 8-12 it’s just not worth it for me to wing with ultra light wind gear. I’ll just grab my Airush Ultra 10m and my 633/Groove Skate and kite foil instead.

It’s actually kinda nice to have some light wind overlap where I’ll have the wing and kite foil gear rigged up at the same time ready to go. Just grab whatever the wind allows or what I’m in the mood for.

20 years of twin tip kiting has worn out my knees so foiling is my main activity now. Winging and kite foiling make an awesome combo.

[ronnie]

2 mile walk. The 4m wing seems ok to over 50 knots - a bit trickier with a foil?

[joekitetime]

So I originally thought that wing foiling might be a low winds sport but it isn't really. I'm wondering if it might be a good high wind sport?

Where I live, when the wind is 30 knots +, kiting starts to become less fun. The water state gets too messy and with no waves you end up with short pitched chop and the gusty winds make boosting less fun for the landings too. It occurred to me that foiling over the chop might be the way to go.

Am I getting it wrong again? Is strong gusty wind a big problem? I appreciate that kit handling will be more of a pain ( I remember having to wedge your windsurf board under your car to stop it flying down the street whilst you changed into a wetsuit back in the day) but am I fooling myself that it might still be fun?

Yes, I think you have it wrong (or, maybe I do!)

I think the foil size has a huge impact, as does wing size. Yesterday I was out on a super slow foil (Moses 873 on 72cm mast w/380 stab) on my 2.8 fone wing, and it was blowing 25kts to 30kts. The swell was big, but weak ebb made for smaller swell. I was relaxed, rode the swell slowly, and stayed dry (I fell just once when I got caught up in sea weed/grass, so I had to jump in the water and clear). With that same foil, on a 10mph day I can foil with my 6m. So the point is only that super huge wings are slow, but I can easily keep on foil on most any river swell and barely use the wing when I don't want to, or use it a lot when I want to.

Conversely, my buddy was out on a mike's lab race foil and 4m ozone and he was absolutely flying, doing circles around me. A total different style of riding. If I was doing 5kts on my setup he was flying 20kts.

He was soaking wet and flying, and I was casually watching and cruising, and bone dry.

Lots of different ways to ride!

[nothing2seehere]

2 mile walk. The 4m wing seems ok to over 50 knots - a bit trickier with a foil?

Now that's something I hadn't considered. Using my surfboard