Wingfoiling

[winddude]

Maybe the best way is to refuse to choose. No self-limiting, vive la difference, chase down all the possibilities and take all the fun on offer. He or she with the most toys and the biggest smiles wins.

Until you look at your credit card bill, than the crippling debt sets in, the low interest rates won't last forever.

People who want to live the good life find a way to make it happen. And people who want to make excuses or complain also find ample opportunity to do so. Carpe diem.

If I had that much disposable income for all the toys and time to chase all the local wind non-stop I would go live somewhere where it's always on and warm. gorge, brazil, gran canaria, tarifa, or just travel hitting up all the spots.

[juandesooka]

If you want to foil on the cheap...$2 scrap alum for fuselage, plywood covered in fibreglass for wing, $100 used mast and plate. 4 holes drilled in your board, glue in graphite golf club shaft inserts, seal with fibreglass.

Now you have a foil for under $200. Get a thrift shop kayak paddle , lop off top, hockey tape a handle, now you have a sup paddle for $20 Now learn to use it by doing it.

Want a wing? Get a free old kite and resew it. Lots of people online posting diy plans.

If you WANT to do something, you find a way. There are kids in Papua New Guinea body surfing on garbage that washed up on their beach. Making sails out of plastic bags. Smiles as wide as the sky.

[UnusuallyLargeRobin]

OK, it's not quite at JuandeSooka's dirt cheap diy price... but I'm selling my Naish Wing-Surfer on the forum right now
http://bigwavedave.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9791

[TonyT1000]

Upgrading to the S25?

[UnusuallyLargeRobin]

Yes, I've got a 5.3 so looking to get smaller S25 3.6m for better high end wind coverage.

[downwind dave]

sorry about my ignorance but, if you're buying a 3.6 wing does that mean there's just no point in windsurfing anymore? also, do you need an equivalent small board and foil ?

[UnusuallyLargeRobin]

sorry about my ignorance but, if you're buying a 3.6 wing does that mean there's just no point in windsurfing anymore? also, do you need an equivalent small board and foil ?

I got wingfoil disease! It's possible that I may not windsurf for some time. Don't necessarily need a smaller board and foil to go with the small wing, but I've got my eye on some more candy!

[JL]

This just in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPHWjI7uXYY

[AJSpencer]

I haven't (successfully) windfoiled OR wingfoiled YET, but I would guess that if you like speed then windsurfing/windfoiling will never be replaced. But I think the wing would provide sufficient speed for most, so maybe it will replace for some.

I estimate (once I'm good at each) I'll be mostly windfoiling 5-15, winGfoiling 15-20, windsurfing 20+, with some overlap in each category. Once you're good, windfoiling looks easier on the body than windsurfing, so maybe the 20+ could still be windfoiling depending on what your objectives are.

I think jumps, wave riding, to me anyways, looks more fun with a fin, being able to slash and make tight turns. Looks kind of awkward with a foil, not to mention wear and tear coming down with all that force on the foil, especially from the side.

So, for me, I think there's a spot for each of them, and I predict the wings will be around for a long time.

[juandesooka]

Agreed AJ. Good plan. My plan of attack in past couple years has been to bring my kitefoil, surfboard, and twintip to the beach. I rig a kite appropriate to the one I am most keen on using that day, but then with such variable winds around here, I will often switch off and use the other boards too in that session. Mixes it up, keep things fresh. Plus I avoid re-rigging kites.

Wingfoil is similar perhaps. I can see switching off as conditions change. If you had a multi purpose board like hypernut 4 in 1, you potentially switch off and still be using the same board. Though messing with screws while the wind is blowing doesn't work well for me. :-)

As for speed, wingfoil tends to require much larger foil than you'd likely want to use for windfoil or kitefoil. It has more lift and is slower, but the advantage is you can slow down and actually surf the wave, whereas kitefoiling at least, the smaller wings mean you need to go faster to stay on foil, you tend to be going faster than the waves, so you end up riding amongst the wave but not really surfing them. Which is super fun! Just different.

For me, wingfoil is all about wave riding, that's the killer app. For most other conditions, windsurf or kite may be an as good or better option.

[more force 4]

As for speed, wingfoil tends to require much larger foil than you'd likely want to use for windfoil or kitefoil. It has more lift and is slower, but the advantage is you can slow down and actually surf the wave,.

JDS, I was surprised on one of the Alan Cadiz videos that he seems to be keeping up with the kiters, foil kiters, and windsurfers on his wingfoil. Even though he's clearly got a big wing. I guess being a world-class waterman with skills must help some.

JL "this just out" didn't I already link that? LOL. Maybe I just thought I had. [edit: I guess I hadn't] Anyway, its very interesting for getting perspective on learning.

[JL]

MF4: You posted part #2 of wave foiling & a link to part #1. I joined the group & posted the most recent downwind training video.

[juandesooka]

JDS, I was surprised on one of the Alan Cadiz videos that he seems to be keeping up with the kiters, foil kiters, and windsurfers on his wingfoil. Even though he's clearly got a big wing. I guess being a world-class waterman with skills must help some.

Last weekend, Tweezer was going roughly twice as fast as us on his windfoil. My Maliko200 is roughly 2000cm2 in area and an inch thick profile. His foil looked like a samurai sword in comparison, half the thickness, half the chord, well under half the surface area, and super high aspect.

In kitefoils, people have been moving from high aspect race foils to friendlier slower low aspect surf foils. But in the surf/sup foil world, it's the opposite, the move is from beginner-friendly big snow shovels to faster thinner sleek foils. Somewhere in that continuum is your happy place with acceptable ease-of-use, versatility, speed, and wave-riding performance. Same applies to wingfoils.

This is the best resource on the internet, if you are trying to compare between brands and models of foils:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp8Q#gid=0

Someone added a tab for Wings too, but it's now 6 months out of date and obsolete ... Slingshot V2, Duotone Echo, 3 new product lines for Gong, numerous new brands, etc. Things are changing pretty quick. The good news for consumers is that the initial poor performing models are already getting phased out (bad news for early adopters, though value-conscious newbs will soon see lots more used deals as people upgrade).

[tempy]

Alan Cadiz has really got it going on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIP0-wEQiP8

[TonyT1000]

He makes that water start technique with a 30L board look easy. Holy crap.