Naish Wingsurfer

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

Interesting interview with Ken Winner discussing the Duotone project. Talks about the design process, how much force you have to counter from the wing (10-20 kg), wind ranges, etc. Says he can get on the foil at 8kt with his 5 m. Then again, he's a bit above us mortals in skill I would say.

https://www.duotonesports.com/foil-wing/foil-wing-designer-interview-with-ken-winner/

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

The founder and CEO of F-One shows us how to do it. He makes it look easy.

A lot of wind, though.

--- The Arrogant Jerk: Crabby and irritable since 1998.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

I think the other guy's problem was that he was using only a 3.5 m wing and it looked like his board was just too small to float very well. And it was probably his first try......

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer
Randy wrote:

I think the other guy's problem was that he was using only a 3.5 m wing and it looked like his board was just too small to float very well. And it was probably his first try......

So, equivalent to the first session of the average 90 kg American? Biggrin

Watch the Juju boys. The sport is only three months old and they are better than you and me will ever be. Sad
(tbf, they are both amazing foilsup and windfoilers)

--- The Arrogant Jerk: Crabby and irritable since 1998.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but I can't get over how stupid people look doing the wing-surfing thing. Even the the really good sailors look dorky.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer
nitro wrote:

Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but I can't get over how stupid people look doing the wing-surfing thing. Even the the really good sailors look dorky.

Some of us are going to look that way no matter what we are sailing, riding, flying or whatever. We have nothing to lose.... Lol

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

I'm considering the bottom pic for my new profile picture... Biggrin

I, for one, look forward to the foil monkeys pumping those things like mad. Gives me something to watch while I sip my umbrella drink in the shade.

--- The Arrogant Jerk: Crabby and irritable since 1998.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

Look at the bright side of wingsurfing. You could go directly to wingsurfing now and entirely skip the whole "converting to kitesurfing" (or "converting to windfoiling") step. Could save a lot of time and money.

What I find quite amazing is that all of these companies all had this same inspiration at about the same time, and are all charging about the same amount. Wonder how long it will be till the first Wingsurfing specific board is introduced.......

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

Well, maybe wing-surfing is the windsurfing industries attempt to help all of us old windsurfing dorks look cooler. Seriously, after watching wing-surfers for more than 1 minute, I'm thinking get a harness on these guys so they can put their hands down once in a while.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer
nitro wrote:

Well, maybe wing-surfing is the windsurfing industries attempt to help all of us old windsurfing dorks look cooler. Seriously, after watching wing-surfers for more than 1 minute, I'm thinking get a harness on these guys so they can put their hands down once in a while.

In all seriousness, I think it's meant to bridge the SUP and kite worlds more than SUP+windsurfing. The wings only took off when SUPs got foils and could get going at very low speeds. Where the wings seem to work best is in surf, swell and downwinding. My guess is that wings will be a niche product because of the foil skill that it requires and demands a pretty fit and lightweight rider and/or a lot of wind. I don't imagine we'll see the lake SUP crowd dropping $700 on a wing. If there's a cheap $300 version at Costco, maybe.

If you already kite or windsurf, you aren't doing it for a performance advantage but something different or for a specific condition (downwinding swell). Kitefoiing and windfoiling, OTOH, took off because there were conditions that were pretty common where the foil performed better than the slappy counterpart.

Nonetheless, it's fun to watch the development and see where this goes. I've been wrong before so if Van Pugh is invaded by a fleet of these, I won't be surprised.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

The thing I have always wondered about is when are downwinding when you get done, how do you get back to where you started. Say I go from Van Pugh to Tidwell on an easterly, will Lyft give me a ride back to my car?*

*Come to think of it, I did pick my wife up at the airport last night 130 AM. Might be a good time to see if she would do some downwind retrieval driving.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer
Randy wrote:

The thing I have always wondered about is when are downwinding when you get done, how do you get back to where you started. Say I go from Van Pugh to Tidwell on an easterly, will Lyft give me a ride back to my car?*

*Come to think of it, I did pick my wife up at the airport last night 130 AM. Might be a good time to see if she would do some downwind retrieval driving.

Pretty much what she did. Find some sap to pick you up and bring you home. Biggrin

Problem on Lanier is that it takes about as long to go around, as it does to drive down to the airport. Google has the Tidwell to VP commute at 41 minutes. https://goo.gl/maps/2Z8zGfKCe1KdLdRV7

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

I guess when Kai Lenny does a downwinder between two islands in Hawaii he has a helicopter to pick him and take him home.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

How my kids would do it. And it's not that horribly expensive. Hard part is remembering to take your phone. If you got a couple of people to do it, you could split a big SUV and throw the stuff in the back.

Edit: I just looked up the price for a black SUV: $123. Looks like I'd be walking back. Sad

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Marek
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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

I thought it was kind of dorky too.

But the more I see it here in the Gorge the more interesting it looks. There are several men and women getting out in quite strong winds (when I was on a 3.4 on a regular windsurfing setup) and they do very well going downwind and upwind! with pretty good speed and are able to catch the swell pretty well too. I'm not read to jump on the band wagon yet, but it's interesting. I think there will be another evolution of the sail-wing to make it more managable and less of an "umbrella in the wind" look. Randy, keep working on it, maybe you'll finde the right concept.

On another note, what is also starting to show up are electric powered surf foilboards, they attach a rope to it and pull a regular non powered surf-foil from the event site to the Hatcherry (about 1.5 miles) and get the guy being towed in onto the swell. It's starting to be a "what will they think of next" show here.

Marek

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

Here's another way to go. Just use your regular kite on short lines.

8m 2 m lines

Airush even designed a kite for this.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

Latest to jump into the pool: Gong. French sup/surf/kite foil company. 3/5/7m wings

https://www.gong-galaxy.com/en/product/gong-wing-yellow-green/

One of the guys inexplicably likes to do the "Crane" Karate Kid-style. This one's for Nitro. Biggrin

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

Gong seems to be the only brand that is selling big (7m) wings.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

Now Manta foil is finally in the air. Looks about like the Gong show version, but 4.2 M.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Naish Wingsurfer

Balz on a Duotone. I've dubbed this the propeller jibe

source: https://vimeo.com/356022060

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