I've tried most watersports from kiting to to kite foiling to windsurfing and windfoiling, and also SUP and SUP foil, so I've got plenty of bases for comparison, but also a wide pool of experience to draw from in terms of learning to ropes of wingfoiling. I was pretty keen to try something new and give wingfoiling a go, so just wanted to get out there despite the poor forecast.
For my first session, the wind was incredibly light - probably varying between 2-10mph. The location I was at, coupled with the light winds gave very flat water, and despite being well under what is generally recommended for your first session wing foiling I wanted to get used to the kit and get to understand it a bit better.
My kit was as follows: A Sup board which a friend had sawn the nose and tail off, inserted a foil box and liberally patched up with carbon fibre, a 1600cm^2 AK surf foil, and a 6m Shinn Resurector wing.
Putting the kite together was easy enough; I carried it separately to the waters edge and then attached both leashes and struggled somewhat to get it all into the water at the same time. It took a bit of a while to get the technique for this right, but provided the wing is downwind of the board and the mast is vertical out of the water until you get deep enough it works out pretty easy when you have the knack of it.
For my first session, the wind was incredibly light - probably varying between 2-10mph. The location I was at, coupled with the light winds gave very flat water, and despite being well under what is generally recommended for your first session wing foiling I wanted to get used to the kit and get to understand it a bit better.
My kit was as follows: A Sup board which a friend had sawn the nose and tail off, inserted a foil box and liberally patched up with carbon fibre, a 1600cm^2 AK surf foil, and a 6m Shinn Resurector wing.
Putting the kite together was easy enough; I carried it separately to the waters edge and then attached both leashes and struggled somewhat to get it all into the water at the same time. It took a bit of a while to get the technique for this right, but provided the wing is downwind of the board and the mast is vertical out of the water until you get deep enough it works out pretty easy when you have the knack of it.
With the foil down in the water its pretty easy to get on the board, and its actually pretty straightforward to stand bolt upright on it, just allowing the wing to flap downwind. The proper technique is to flip the wing over so that its in the riding position, get both hands on the handles, and use the pull of the wing to pull you from kneeling, to front foot down, to fully standing up. The wing gives you quite a bit of stability to pull against and its actually pretty easy as long as there's a bit of wind to pull against.
The light winds gave me plenty of time to just try things out - getting the feel for holding the various handles and working out what works best. Holding the frontmost handles keeps the wing pretty depowered, and as you move back you get progressively more powered. The Resurector wing I have can be almost held single handedly on the 3rd handle, and it balances quite nicely there with moderate power. I generally opt for the 1st and 4th handles to pootle upwind, or the 2nd and 5th for when I want to bring the power on.
It was pretty straight forward to ride around on the surface in the light winds - point the wing in the direction of travel, sheet in and go. As the wind was quite light sometimes the wing would stall or fall to the water, and it took me a while to work out how to counter this - by rotating the wing so it points upward more it flies up and recovers, and you can make progress even when it seems like its too light for the wing to fly properly.
The light winds gave me plenty of time to just try things out - getting the feel for holding the various handles and working out what works best. Holding the frontmost handles keeps the wing pretty depowered, and as you move back you get progressively more powered. The Resurector wing I have can be almost held single handedly on the 3rd handle, and it balances quite nicely there with moderate power. I generally opt for the 1st and 4th handles to pootle upwind, or the 2nd and 5th for when I want to bring the power on.
It was pretty straight forward to ride around on the surface in the light winds - point the wing in the direction of travel, sheet in and go. As the wind was quite light sometimes the wing would stall or fall to the water, and it took me a while to work out how to counter this - by rotating the wing so it points upward more it flies up and recovers, and you can make progress even when it seems like its too light for the wing to fly properly.
Light wind turns were very easy, and actually very satisfying, by moving the wing toward the back of the board it steers upwind, with moving it forward doing the opposite. A gybe can be initiated by progressively moving the wing forward, then as the board progressively bears round, rotating the wing to point upward, then forward in the other direction. The hand change is pretty straightforward, especially if you've tried it on land before hand; you can replace one hand with the other on the same handle quite easily, or pick another one entirely.
On very nice thing about wingfoiling compared to windsurfing, is that you have full control over where the wing goes - you can bring it very far forward or back to spin the board fast, as it isn't tethered to the board in any way. It generally has a very satisfying feeling of being in full control and unencumbered.
By the end of my first session, I'd ridden all over the bay with great ease, but never felt like I had enough wind to get fully going, I tried pumping and got going a little faster, but my technique wasn't there yet. I was very keen to get a bit more wind and try again next time.
On very nice thing about wingfoiling compared to windsurfing, is that you have full control over where the wing goes - you can bring it very far forward or back to spin the board fast, as it isn't tethered to the board in any way. It generally has a very satisfying feeling of being in full control and unencumbered.
By the end of my first session, I'd ridden all over the bay with great ease, but never felt like I had enough wind to get fully going, I tried pumping and got going a little faster, but my technique wasn't there yet. I was very keen to get a bit more wind and try again next time.
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