The winging journey has been a lot of fun, but for a couple of months now I've been starting to miss the feeling of hooked in blasting across the flat. By now, flat water sub 20knts wing foiling doesn't excite me anymore, though it remains a lot of fun in the waves or with stronger winds in the flat. Anyway, when I saw a v1 rrd foil and the rrd 90l kite formula board with a mast track for 200 euro, I couldn't resist.
yesterday we had +-15kts of side off with no waves at all. The ideal conditions for the type of riding I was looking for. Here's my experience:
- getting to the water and rigging was annoying, the gear is much heavier, more cumbersome and rigging takes longer
- the first 30min I was a complete kook again! My body position was all wrong, I had a hard time getting roll stability because standing on the rail felt so weird,.
- and then it clicked. I found a more locked in position to shoot upwind. Flew through my first ever windfoil gybe,. though going across the wind still doesn't feel comfortable.
- but then it became apparent why winging is more convenient. I wasted 30min to split my two mast halfs because some sand got it. Then I had to walk to my car twice because I was to tired to do it all in once. So I lost a lot of time an got frustrated.
some lessons to be learned but the next days are side off and flat too so looks like some more windfoil sessions are coming up!
I have pretty much the same foil. The roll stability is indeed challenging.
But once under control, it feels so playful like you're standing on a skateboard.
Certainly nice with such a small board.
But at higher speed I find the foil a bit nervous.
Nice to know people are coming back from the dark side.
Well, I'm sticking to the "dark side" too. All I'm saying is that these disciplines could be very complimentary.
Yesterday I had another go and clearly I still have a long way to go because my pump skills are terrible (a 90l 190cm board doesn't help) and gybing remains a challenge. Today I'll set the straps a bit more inboard instead of out on the rail.
i would love to try a smaller stab on that setup. The rrd stab is much thicker then anything I've ridden over the last years and combined with such a long fuse, the set can become twitchy at higher speeds with bigger sails. I also need to adapt how pitch stable the foil is.
Select to expand quoteNicoDC said..
Well, I'm sticking to the "dark side" too. All I'm saying is that these disciplines could be very complimentary.
Yesterday I had another go and clearly I still have a long way to go because my pump skills are terrible (a 90l 190cm board doesn't help) and gybing remains a challenge. Today I'll set the straps a bit more inboard instead of out on the rail.
i would love to try a smaller stab on that setup. The rrd stab is much thicker then anything I've ridden over the last years and combined with such a long fuse, the set can become twitchy at higher speeds with bigger sails. I also need to adapt how pitch stable the foil is.
Very much complimentary indeed. I began windfoiling 2017 and started to compete 2018 winning almost all events. Then eventually tried winging 2020 and got hooked. That lead to rapid decline of windfoiling time. Rigging, getting to the water and back are so much easier with wing and many tricks are also fairly easy to learn.
However I never stopped windfoiling. If it's ultra light or wind is no too gusty and stong enough making small slalom gear pleasure to ride I rather rig sail and enjoy speed and long distance sailing.
I also sail where light winds are predominant so I don't use my winging gear that much (I am still a beginner winger).
I always hear people talking about getting the winging gear ready being much faster than for windfoil. I always take everything apart for both sports and I don't think I am much slower in setting everything up with my windfoiling gear, even though I only use cambered sails. I might be maybe 4-5 mins slower (if that). I have even compared myself to other wingers rigging and we basically hit the water at the same time.
Rigging time surely depends on routine and location. I need to walk quite a bit and manage sand getting everywhere + don't have a routine. Winging takes me 6 screws and 2min of pumping + I have a routine.
Currently my bottom ene winging is much lower than windfoiling. A 6m wing, mid length board and 940 foil gets me going in 8knt puffs and keeps me going in much less, though it's really physical. Not a fair competition give my windfoil kit but still, both are equal proper light wind options if you're proficient.
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..
Ahhhh 
here comes the 'tape your mast joint' thread......... 
Yep. One windsurfer to another, or windfoiler to another: I NEVER EVER SKIP TAPING MY MAST JOINT ! (Except when foiling on inland lakes with not a grain of sand in sight. Tof dat je opnieuw windfoiled. Sinds deze winter lukken bijnaal mijn gijpen op de foil en ik zit stilaan meer en meer aan wingen te denken voor de redenen die je aangeeft, maar dan denk ik: wie gaat er dan nog windfoilen???
Select to expand quoteTomDW said..Mark _australia said..
Ahhhh here comes the 'tape your mast joint' thread.........
Yep. One windsurfer to another, or windfoiler to another: I NEVER EVER SKIP TAPING MY MAST JOINT ! (Except when foiling on inland lakes with not a grain of sand in sight. Tof dat je opnieuw windfoiled. Sinds deze winter lukken bijnaal mijn gijpen op de foil en ik zit stilaan meer en meer aan wingen te denken voor de redenen die je aangeeft, maar dan denk ik: wie gaat er dan nog windfoilen???
The straight forward advantages of wingfoiling are that it's much more convenient and that you can do so much in one session with one bit of kit (wave ride, freestyle, downwind, freeride, freerace,.). Over time, you can also get going in light winds with a small rig (5or 6m and 1000cm2 foil).
However, there's a thrill to windfoiling that makes it worth it in the right conditions.
how these two fit together depends on your riding preferences and conditions. To put it in windsurfing terms, for me it's a bit like combining slalom and freewave.
tomorrow we have 15kts side on, which to me is peak for wave winging
