Wing Foiling on a negative volume

Hi Filow!

I am 60kg and started with a 90L board, then went to a 49L board - which once I got the hang of, I could use in 10kn of wind.. Now I use a 33L in anything over 12kn (with a 5m wing), so you do lose some wind range as you go lower but not as much as you might think if you are a smaller rider like yourself... There is some definite technique to learn though! I found wave pumping and maneuvers all easier on the smaller board as I can use my bodyweight better to control the board.. Also depends what foil you use as well though!
good luck!

Ah cool, yea I run Armstrong 1050, 1200 & 1550. Have started using the small wings way more :) Hard to go back once you get used to them! If you are willing to do a little more floating around waiting for gusts - and practice your standing up in breeze to get good at it, I don't think you would regret a small board - Except for when its 8-10kn wind. I am looking for a BW board as well (around 58-60L) as a light wind board.

Technique: I straddle the board like sitting on a surfboard, and then get the wing sorted - my lower wind limit is basically that I need enough lift in the wing to pop up to my knees and have a little forward motion, then up again to standing and I'm off. The sinking the board in the straps takes a whole lot more wind to work for me.. I used the same method for both 49L & 33L - but the 49L I could sort of get on to my knees and just sit there before getting going, whereas on the 33L the knees have no stability and its about popping up onto my feet asap.

Best thing is to try it in heaps of wind - where you can use the wing to help 'lift' you up onto your knees and then up to standing - Depends what wing you have too, as I have recently tried a few different ones and noticed that some have more vertical lift than others.

The 1050 is definitely quite a bit faster as it's a lot thinner in profile & it is the HS version, so its slightly higher aspect than the 1200.. Does need more wind again though, just higher take off speeds, but once up its easy to keep going.

Yep, 49L (-10BW) board sits low when kneeling but doesn't sink, and yep, my foils have some positive buoyancy too..

Definitely recommend going out to try with enough wind to make it easy when you are learning or else it's pretty painful!

Surely loosing floatation takes away one of the major pluses of this Wingding thing? Or is it just me? One board to foil Sup, downwind and wingding. Being able to go out in straight offshore winds knowing you can paddle back in? Having a rest miles out to sea?

Hey Jedibrad, once you try the lower volume its very hard to go back to foiling what feels like a bus! :) and the -10L boards are still very paddleable, even the 33L I use is paddleable - although yes, definitely not as fun getting home when the wind dies.. Great surf paddle training :)

To hear first hand of surfer weight, wind range, board volume, wing size, foil sizes and finally starting methods for the board sizes and wind ranges has been fantastic. I wish i had info like this a few months ago so thank you to Willow75 as your weight is close to mine. Wishing good karma to you for sharing your experience.

For SUP foilers this info isn't so critical but for us prone foilers looking for the minimal practical equipment and suitable techniques to wing foil, with the minimal equipment, this is gold.

Starting techniques for below sup size equipment isn't discussed enough so thanks.

I think Alan's start method maybe the future for small volume boards but will be trying Willow75's method also. I am interested in anyone's experience in this area.

So Someone can confirm that with Weight -10L with a big foil like a 2400 you don't loose too much of low wing range.

I have relatively low wind in the summer in my area around 10-12 knot.

Would agree with Bigtone667 that it feels like the shorter/smaller boards actually get you up quicker - easier to put pressure on the foil to take off rather than just using hull speed to take off like on a big board.. sort of popping up rather than build up to fly.. But does take some practice and knowing how to pump wing & board!