I'd like to know why all of a sudden too. As a foil-obsessive, I follow the online forums more than most. The first mentions of these wings were maybe a year ago, from Naish and Slingshot.

Both said they'd been tinkering with them for years, deciding if they wanted to pursue it. Slingshot had the more believable story to me, with Tony L talking about it and (if I remember right) video of their attempts in the Gorge.

So, I expect they decided to market it and all of a sudden the gold rush was on, as you describe. But it may well be that Naish and others were also playing around concurrently, and suddenly prototypes became sales models.

It isn't new....there were handheld wings in the 70s. But the killer app now is the foil, as it now requires much less wind power to get going, the handheld wing can now be effective even if less efficient.

Scott Mckercher shredding WA......

https://vimeo.com/412932772

Not sure why I can't get the video to play below.

[Vimeo]http://vimeo.com/412932772[/Vimeo]

Past world champ kite racer Johnny Heineken seems to like winging and makes it look so smooth and easy!
https://m.facebook.com/groups/794418164 ... 7803303090

Check out that footwork and the backwinded 360. Let's see some of that at NN this year, ULR!

This is the goal for me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9UP9SnI-pG/

75% surf foiling, wing gets you into position and allows you to throw an unhooked air to re-entry every now and then.

No chance a surf foiler, surfer, supper, windsurfer or kiter is doing more with onshore/side-on wind.

smartang wrote:No chance a surf foiler, surfer, supper, windsurfer or kiter is doing more with onshore/side-on wind.

If you watch the guys using tiny-tiny kites (<3m) to foil proper waves they are doing exactly this. The kite is so small the wave overpowers it and they can drag the kite wherever they want including nearly straight upwind. That said, waves here don't have as much ommmpphh so they will be a bit more limited.

And they seamlessly transition between unhooked airs and riding in both directions without having to loop the crap out of the 3m kite in far less than ideal side-on conditions? Having to focus on keeping the kite moving takes away from the freedom of it all. And there's just something about that wide grip stretched out floaty air. The way it was meant to be.

I definitely observed no looping the crap out of it except to water start. Now that I think of it I don't understand how that is possible! I got snaked on so many waves on Maui this January from foilers coming out of no where with nice statically positioned tiny kites though.

smartang wrote:This is the goal for me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9UP9SnI-pG/

75% surf foiling, wing gets you into position and allows you to throw an unhooked air to re-entry every now and then.

No chance a surf foiler, surfer, supper, windsurfer or kiter is doing more with onshore/side-on wind.

Looks somewhat exciting, but still lacking impact. Like those hard lip hits of surfing or windsurfing, and hard landings of windsurfing.

winddude wrote:
Looks somewhat exciting, but still lacking impact. Like those hard lip hits of surfing or windsurfing, and hard landings of windsurfing.

It's a foil thing ... apples and oranges, hockey and baseball. Same waves but two very different ways of interacting with them. Which one is "better" depends on personal tastes. Just like art, food, or sex.

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.

juandesooka wrote: 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...

Yes.

winddude wrote:
Looks somewhat exciting, but still lacking impact. Like those hard lip hits of surfing or windsurfing, and hard landings of windsurfing.

Were we watching the same video Winddude?? Landing those aerials on a FOIL in proper WAVES!? I'm so impressed! And the combination of tight foiling turns and effortless dropping the wing to simply surf then repowering is magic. This has been the most entertaining discussion for a long time

more force 4 wrote:

winddude wrote:
Looks somewhat exciting, but still lacking impact. Like those hard lip hits of surfing or windsurfing, and hard landings of windsurfing.

Were we watching the same video Winddude?? Landing those aerials on a FOIL in proper WAVES!? I'm so impressed! And the combination of tight foiling turns and effortless dropping the wing to simply surf then repowering is magic. This has been the most entertaining discussion for a long time

Didn't say it wasn't impressive, just lacks the aggressiveness of hard hits you get from an aggressive surfing or windsurfing style. Similar to the way I would have a preference for hockey to soccer, or Messier over Gretzky.

juandesooka wrote: 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.

winddude wrote:

juandesooka wrote: 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.