Windfoiling and windsurfing gear

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IzAwGd
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Windfoiling and windsurfing gear

what windsurfing/foiling gear works for wingfoiling?

Surprising answers

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Re: Windfoiling and windsurfing gear

At around 1:30 - now they tell us..... Smile

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

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Re: Windfoiling and windsurfing gear

Webguy, ??on finding that video!!! I'm new to this site, relocating from Chicago subs. to Lake Lanier area. I've been off TW for a good 3 years for various reasons. I would say I'm a beginer/early intermediate (?) windsurfer. Just started to get on plane (no feet in straps or consistent hooking in yet) when the 3yr hiatus started. I do want to get into foiling and this video is priceless on the pros n cons of wing vs sail. I want to do both and will probably never master either one, but if it gets me more TOW & fun that's all that really matters. Randy that 1:30 time stamp you mentioned was a huge epiphany to my ears! I've watched so many videos on winging and thought how do I try to transition into it. Well that longer fuse (and board from your existing quiver) lit me up. Solid advice from a solid source. No BS or self indulgent quackery! I'm going try to get out to the regatta this weekend. Would be nice to see all the different kits all in one place. What time does the first event usually kick off? Everything I have is in storage now and will be until we find a house. Good luck to everyone tomorrow! Garry

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Re: Windfoiling and windsurfing gear
IzAwGd wrote:

Webguy, ??on finding that video!!! I'm new to this site, relocating from Chicago subs. to Lake Lanier area. I've been off TW for a good 3 years for various reasons. I would say I'm a beginer/early intermediate (?) windsurfer. Just started to get on plane (no feet in straps or consistent hooking in yet) when the 3yr hiatus started. I do want to get into foiling and this video is priceless on the pros n cons of wing vs sail. I want to do both and will probably never master either one, but if it gets me more TOW & fun that's all that really matters. Randy that 1:30 time stamp you mentioned was a huge epiphany to my ears! I've watched so many videos on winging and thought how do I try to transition into it. Well that longer fuse (and board from your existing quiver) lit me up. Solid advice from a solid source. No BS or self indulgent quackery! I'm going try to get out to the regatta this weekend. Would be nice to see all the different kits all in one place. What time does the first event usually kick off? Everything I have is in storage now and will be until we find a house. Good luck to everyone tomorrow! Garry

Welcome, Gary! Skipper's meeting is at 10:30 so we'll probably be getting off the first races at 11:15-11:30. Foiling of all types tremendously extends your play time here. A cool thing about windfoiling is that requires neither straps nor harness. (For that matter, neither do wings Lol ) I love fin windsurfing too but there is a learning curve to getting into the straps, learning to use the harness etc. It's pretty easy to conquer in a shallow flat water location like OBX but, here with our deep water and gusty winds, it can be challenging and frustrating. A couple of guys pretty much skipped that year of the learning curve and opted to foil instead. So, don't feel like you have to be an expert to foil - it's almost the opposite.

Look forward to seeing you. Oh, and we're just getting into the meat of the windsurfing season here, so when your gear gets unpacked, you'll be good to go (with proper neoprene, of course).

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Re: Windfoiling and windsurfing gear

Hi Everyone
I wanted to add some comments about using your Windfoil board to learn. First, take off all the foot straps, not just the back. I think the straps will get in your way and be a nuisance. They won’t serve any purpose because you’ll never be able to get into that position when Winging. Also, if you’re using a Tuttle Box, you won’t have the ability to slide the mast forward. This will create a lot of swing weight and a lot of board weight forward of the foil mast which, IMO, will make it more difficult to achieve flight on the foil. Not saying it’s not possible for someone, but I think you’ll need a huge front foil, a big Wing, 7m+, and strong winds. Being able to slide the mast forward would solve those issues but I know I lot of you have Tuttle boxes. Lastly, I hear a lot of opinions from very talented people who live in great windy spots!! You have to adjust you’re thinking when you live in a spot where 12-14k is good wind. I think these guys think 12-15k would be considered a lame day. So you have to beef up your gear around here. I get comments all the time like, “ Why would you ever want to use a 7m”. I use the 7m almost 85%, because I wouldn’t be able to comfortably achieve flight without it. Once it gets to about 12k, can switch to the 6m, and if it’s blowing a solid 14k+ and above I can comfortable use the 5m. Don’t buy a 4m for a one Wing quiver on the East Coast. It won’t work!! If I only could own one Wing, it would be a 7m for our area.
I agree with everything they said about the Wingfoil being faster and better upwind. William proves it every time I sail with him. So if you’re a speed junky, I think Windfoiling is where it’s at. But I think gybing is easier and you can actually tack with the Wing as you get better. Hope this helps.
Neil

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Re: Windfoiling and windsurfing gear

Hey Neil,

Always good to hear good practical advice from personal experience, priceless. I just started looking on line for any wing/wind crossover boards. Nash and Fanatic each have one, but they're a bit long for my liking (7' ish). Even though each individual board for its specific use are much shorter. I like the I'd like to have one board that covers each discipline.

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Re: Windfoiling and windsurfing gear
IzAwGd wrote:

Hey Neil,

Always good to hear good practical advice from personal experience, priceless. I just started looking on line for any wing/wind crossover boards. Nash and Fanatic each have one, but they're a bit long for my liking (7' ish). Even though each individual board for its specific use are much shorter. I like the I'd like to have one board that covers each discipline.

If you start getting shorter than 200cm for a windfoil board you start running into some pretty significant compromises, imho. It becomes easy to bury the nose and tacking may be out of the question depending on volume and length. The shortest dual purpose board I'm aware of is the RRD Pocket Rocket (iirc, about 168cm) and from what I've heard and read, while it's good, it's more challenging for the novice windfoiler because the sail and foil are so close together. That short distance means you tend to have more pressure under the front foot which is a novel thing for the novice to deal with as it demands a different stance than traditional fin windsurfing.

The additional challenge is that, in Atlanta, most of us are biased towards light air foiling which means bigger sails even if using a bigger foil. It starts to become hard to use bigger sails on dual purpose boards as they lose length and volume.

Taking a step back, the purpose of the video was more about whether winging could be learned on windfoil gear and specifically windfoil fuselages which are longer. I think as one gets more proficient in either windfoil or winging, the tendency is to want for the gear to be more specialized, especially the fuses and boards. The good news is that in the learning stages, from the guys in the video at least, one can use one set of gear for both purposes. Since the tendency in winging is to start out with something 110+ l. and then graduate smaller, not having a wing specific board at the outset probably isn't the end of the world.

fwiw, my small windfoil board is a convertible - 198x78cm and an alleged 125 l. but I'd put it closer to 110-115.

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Re: Windfoiling and windsurfing gear

I have tried some cross-over boards and have also talked to a few people who started to Wing with them. The consensus was that the cross-over doesn’t do either discipline well. My friend in Cocoa is 220lbs, and can easily knee and start on a 95L Wing Board. He is just starting to hit his gybes so he’s not an expert. So even heavy guys probably would be fine on a 95L - 105L board. The first generations are ok, but the second generations are easier to get flying and handle once flying. So my advise is to scour on-line for someone selling. I am close to upgrading to my fourth board, so there’s a very active used gear market. But things sell quickly. The Fanatic Sky Wing, Naish Carbon Hover, Quattro Drifter, Armstrong Wing Board, Cabrihna, Takoon, etc are all well liked by the people I have Winged with. My advise would be to avoid any type of cross-over. They’re the one shape that is harder to lift off, and not much playfulness when flying. The reason everyone upgrades to smaller boards is it becomes easier to pop up and the maneuverability increases, and the pump is easier and more efficient. So all the way around, things become more fun on the shorter boards. Remember, you just have to feel comfortable kneeling on the board for your start…it can get tippy as you reel in the wing and raise it above your head, to get going. But once moving the board becomes stable. You never stand in the board while retrieving wing….if it’s only 1-4K, yes, difficult to slog back to the beach, but you wouldn’t buy the board to do well in 1-4Knots. I just wave the white flag, drop to my stomach and paddle in like a surfboard when wind dies below 4K. Hope this helps
Neil

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IzAwGd
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Re: Windfoiling and windsurfing gear

Neil,
Sorry I missed your posting til now. The used market is where I purchased all my wind surfing gear. There was plenty available around the Chicago area and Michigan. I've found that the used wings, foils and associated boards are a bit scarce. Availability is probably based on guys getting good enough to make the leap to upgrade to the next level. Since I already have sails I'm thinking I might start with the wind foiling discipline first to save some money. Worst case I have to buy a new board and foil if I can't find anything used. Thanks for the combo board advice. I think I'd rather have a good board for each discipline, than possibly struggle trying to make one board work for both. Raising the question, "Is it my ability or something inherent to the board design?"
Garry

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