Force Six
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Older Reviews >
      • 2009 North Vegas Review
      • 2008 Nobile NHP Review
    • 2010 >
      • 2010 Nobile NHP Review
      • 2010 Slingshot RPM Review
      • 2010 Takoon Chrono Review
      • 2010 Takoon Furia Review
      • 2010 Takoon Lux Review
      • 2010 Takoon Pure Review
      • 2010 Xenon La Luz Review
    • 2011 >
      • 2010/2011 Wainman Smoke
      • 2011 Slingshot RPM Review
      • 2011 Slingshot Rally Review
      • 2011 Slingshot Fuel Review
      • 2011 Takoon Chrono Review
      • 2011 Flexifoil Hadlow Pro Kite Review
      • 2011 Xenon Infra Review
      • 2011 Xenon LaLuz Review
      • 2011 Flexifoil Hadlow Board Review
      • 2011 Takoon Reflex Review
      • 2011 Slingshot Turbine
      • 2011 Epic Oxygen Review
    • 2012 >
      • Slingshot Joint Review
      • 2012 Slingshot Misfit Review
      • 2012 Slingshot Darko Review
      • 2012 Cabrinha Switchblade Review
      • 2012 Cabrinha Nomad Review
      • 2012 Flexifoil Hadlow ID Kite Review
      • 2012 Dakine Renegade Harness Review
    • 2013 >
      • 2013 Slingshot Turbine Review
      • 2013 Slingshot RPM Review
      • 2013 Slingshot Fuel Review
      • 2013 Slingshot Rally Review
      • 2013 Flexifoil Force Kite Review
      • 2013 Flexifoil Hadlow Board Review
      • 2013 Slingshot Asylum Review
      • Ocean Rodeo Soul Drysuit Review
    • 2014 >
      • 2014 Flexifoil Hadlow Wakestyle Board Review
      • 2013/2014 Hadlow Pro Kite Review
      • 2014 Flexifoil Shiva Kite Review
      • 2014 Shinn ADHD Wakestyle Board Review
    • 2015 >
      • 2015 Airush Razor AP Kite Review
    • 2016 >
      • 2016 Airush Razor Kite Review
    • 2019 >
      • Airush Ultra II
      • Airush Union V4
      • Airush Vantage V3
    • 2020 >
      • 2020 Shinn ADHD Distortion Board Review
      • 2020 Shinn Slicer Board Review
      • 2020/2021 Airush Lift Kite Review
    • 2021 >
      • 2021 AK Phazer Review
  • Top Video Picks
    • Kitesurfing >
      • All Time Favourites
      • Old Skool
      • Feature Films
      • Stunts
      • Humour
      • Personalities >
        • Aaron Hadlow
      • Bring on the Girls
    • Other
  • Weather (NE)
    • NorthEast Beach Webcams
    • Beadnell Area Weather
    • South Shields Area Weather
    • Redcar Area Weather
    • Newcastle Area Weather
    • Walney Island Weather
    • Allonby Area Weather
    • Gullane Area Weather
  • Wingfoiling
  • Trick progressions
    • S-Bend to S-Bend 3
    • S-Bend to Front Mobe
    • Raley to Blind Judge 3
    • Raley to 313
    • Shifty to Shifty 3 Airpass
    • Backroll to KGB
    • Backroll to Low Back Mobe
    • Backroll to F16 Airpass
  • Bio
  • Links

Impressions of Wingfoiling - Day 1 - Light wind familiarisation

31/10/2020

0 Comments

 
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.
Picture
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.
Picture
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.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

    Archives

    August 2021
    May 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.