Wingfoiling Progression

[grantmac]

People with Armstrong boards are reporting a lot of damage. I'll take durability.

Likewise F-one wings might do some things well but where the wing meets the hands IMHO is the critical thing.

I've looked for reports of Armstrong boards getting "a lot of damage". Can't seem to find any. Any links?

Otis Childers on NW wingfoiling seems to be putting a bunch of holes in his:
https://m.facebook.com/groups/261798468 ... p_activity

I rather like having an $800 bouncy board, I can just care about keeping the foil away from the wing rather than worry about the board.

[juandesooka]

x3 on the bottom handle....once you have a board with it, you know...SO much easier

[smartang]

One more preference, not a dealbreaker, but it's just seems to save me time over other wingers is chinook mast track style boxes with big square slot toward the tail of the board. You can leave your nuts and bolts in the mast at all times and just slide them in. 4 quick shots with the clutched makita and done.

Seen on the new JP with xl tracks.

https://jp-australia.com/p/foil-boards/ ... r-f/#pid=2

As far as where the hand meets the wing goes. a: you're supposed to be luffing and riding swell; b: the top freestyle guys are on soft handles; c: why do you want it to feel familiar to windsurfing? Shouldn't you be looking for new feelings and challenges. Maybe that's just me.

[juandesooka]

and then I guess the other direction is these new nuts with a screw to hold them in place permanent.
https://www.mackiteboarding.com/stringf ... rack-nuts/

Boom...I've only tried one once, have to say it felt really good, allowed for micro hand adjustments and made gybing way easier, as you can kinda lean on the boom during the turn. I think maybe the 2 mini booms for front and back hands may have some possibilities.

I find the handle grabbing can be awkward in between luffed wave riding and powering back up. Kicking out of a wave to toeside, powering up briefly, then top turning into the wave behind is a critical combo with multiple grabs....if you miss the handle once, that's the end of it, wave lost. The y-handles on ozone help with this a bit, as if you miss the handle, I find you end up grabbing the Y and can sometimes save it. But all in all, feels like there's an alternative waiting to be implemented that is going to make this way easier.

Another problem pending a solution: in my limited attempts to water start a sinker, there's a super awkward moment in between leaning on the leading edge in the water as your tripod and lifting the wing overhead to get some wind and forward momentum....there's a crucial 2 seconds when you let go of front strap and grab the top inside strap. That is where I fell off over and over and over (and over). I was thinking a short boom sticking out a foot from top strap to above leading edge would give a middle step, you could grab and have a consistent positive connection....avoid the in-between moment where you have to let go while switching handles. I have done that once, in duct taping a selfie stick above leading edge for an interesting gopro mount (which worked btw). If I ever try to sinker start again, I'll give it a go, see if it helps. <patent>

[grantmac]

Do you think with enough practice a sinker will be easier to deal with in chop? How much more wind do you think it takes?
At least one video I saw the person had the board on it's side while they had the wing in their hands flying then used the wing to get on top of the board.

I definitely noticed the same thing attempting to gybe with my makeshift boom vs. handles even though I'm still at the phase where I swim every transition.

[winddoctor]

This might be an obvious tip for many out there, but the last two sessions I was playing with this "slingshot" or self whip-in technique for getting into swell and drifting at top speed for longer periods of time:

Rather than bearing off gradually and then flagging the wing out and relying solely on the energy of the swell, try going as fast as possible in a straight line, choosing the swell you're going to ride early and then aggressively bearing away hard using the wing as leverage like a windsurfing rig into a short, downwind carve into the wave. Drop the wing by your side quickly as you get more front foot pressure (you're really accelerating so need to get on the front foot), and you'll be flying down the face with more options for turning or even passing the backside of the swell ahead. This is where the magic is and the snowboardy/carvy feeling at speed is amazing . The combo of initially pulling a couple of Gs into the carve and then releasing that energy into accelerating weightlessly and silently down the face feels...goooooooood.

[Tsawwassen]

After my first wing session on Friday I can't wait to get back out! Super stoked! I was wondering if I should get a smaller fuselage? Does it help when pumping? I have a 1100 Moses wing, 95 Mast and a 900mm fuselage. Should I wait until I get a smaller board? I'm using my 7'4" hypernut for now.

[Tsawwassen]

This might be an obvious tip for many out there, but the last two sessions I was playing with this "slingshot" or self whip-in technique for getting into swell and drifting at top speed for longer periods of time:

That sounds fun!! Thanks for the tip! Not sure I'm ready for that but I'll try!

[juandesooka]

Do you think with enough practice a sinker will be easier to deal with in chop? How much more wind do you think it takes?
At least one video I saw the person had the board on it's side while they had the wing in their hands flying then used the wing to get on top of the board.

I definitely noticed the same thing attempting to gybe with my makeshift boom vs. handles even though I'm still at the phase where I swim every transition.

The only video I've seen of that kind of waterstart (maybe a "windsurfing style water start"?) was Allan Cadiz. I tried it for about 30 seconds once, couldn't make heads or tails of it...my feet above surface on board in straps, wing on surface, me getting dunked under it unable to get any wind in the wing to get lift. Maybe with practice? Or maybe for someone already windsurf capable? I gave up immediately.

The real sinker start makes more sense to my brain....board is submerged below, you with water level chest deep. Pump the wing to get forward momentum and out you pop up on foil. That's my plan to work on this spring with the thermals. But only when lit! And it has to be windy too

Winddoc: sounds RAD. Hard to visualize exactly, but I think I know what you mean....for me it's full speed acceleration going left (upwind), drop into wave, then a bottom turn while at same time luffing wing, down the line right with speed. That gets the juices flowing.

[more force 4]

Grant is that start like a windsurfing waterstart or from how you describe its maybe more similar to a surfboard start with a kite? Sounds ridiculously hard for us mortals either way.

[grantmac]

https://youtu.be/g0etT71d6AM

[juandesooka]

Here's the Cadiz video I mentioned....he shows both sinker start and windsurf start.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIP0-wEQiP8&t=195s

[winddoctor]

https://youtu.be/g0etT71d6AM

I like the ease of that start. Footstraps look like an advantage there.

[winddoctor]

After my first wing session on Friday I can't wait to get back out! Super stoked! I was wondering if I should get a smaller fuselage? Does it help when pumping? I have a 1100 Moses wing, 95 Mast and a 900mm fuselage. Should I wait until I get a smaller board? I'm using my 7'4" hypernut for now.

IMHO you should be able to use the 90cm fuse but will eventually want to go shorter for winging. You'll find the longer fuse stable but not as lively in maneuvers, which is not such a bad thing at first. Many of us are using @ a 60 cm fuse for winging as it helps turning and is good for pumping. The Hypernut is a great board for learning. I learned on a friend's 7.8 HNut and thought it was a lot of fun. Very quickly anything over 7' will feel pretty barge like once you get the basics. Even my 6.4 feels a bit big now for winging but works perfectly for SUP foiling at my weight (200-ish).

[Tsawwassen]

After my first wing session on Friday I can't wait to get back out! Super stoked! I was wondering if I should get a smaller fuselage? Does it help when pumping? I have a 1100 Moses wing, 95 Mast and a 900mm fuselage. Should I wait until I get a smaller board? I'm using my 7'4" hypernut for now.

IMHO you should be able to use the 90cm fuse but will eventually want to go shorter for winging. You'll find the longer fuse stable but not as lively in maneuvers, which is not such a bad thing at first. Many of us are using @ a 60 cm fuse for winging as it helps turning and is good for pumping. The Hypernut is a great board for learning. I learned on a friend's 7.8 HNut and thought it was a lot of fun. Very quickly anything over 7' will feel pretty barge like once you get the basics. Even my 6.4 feels a bit big now for winging but works perfectly for SUP foiling at my weight (200-ish).

Thanks Chris!