In praise of foiling

I am one of the, so turned out, many defeated wonna-be foilers of the San Francisco Bay Are, and for a while I thought that I was not missing that much. Foilers were struggling a lot. Crashing (violently), slogging, debating what and how to rig, looking often like out of control broncos, forget about jibing. I understood the appeal of the new but I thought that I was not missing much by giving it up.

Then, two things happened.

First, windfoil disappeared. Literally. By 2021 nobody windfoiled any longer. All windfoilers went back to windsurf or moved to wingfoil.

Second, a windsurfing buddy of mine persisted and kept foiling. And suddenly, after two years, things really clicked. He goes around like he is at a picnic, jibes beautifully, never slogs. All conditions, down to my 3.7, all the way passed where my 7.5 is not enough. He is slower than my Slalom board, but where I basically never have a session without some slogging and bounce around our horrible chop, he always serenely goes. Two boards, a Starboard race and a JP 120, in our conditions he uses three sails. 3.9, 5.0 and 7.0. And so clearly, yes, foiling is in some ways beter than windsurfing. Range and comfort (although the painful crashes are still there.)

But the question is: why it all but disappeared where I live? Is it because of the strong winds and difficult conditions? The access ticket (it took my friend a two years investment to master, and he sails all the time). Is it happening in other places? And is it a coincidence that the only two people who I still see on windfoil are both 100Kg? (I am 70 Kg).

When windfoiling started, we didn't know what worked and how, equipment, specially foil were small and race baised, so it was difficult road, most developments again was course race, slalom oriented. So wind foil missed it opportunity to appeal to larger group. While wing foil right away went after freeride, easy use market, plus smaller gear that fits in the trunk of the car. Even now, i have to custom build my board and foil, because freeride / wave offerings are limited for windfoil. people like two things, easy and new, and wing foil fits that description. For some of us who stayed with windfoil freeride/wave side it is getting better every day and amazing fun, but gear wise not easy, and a literally doing my own R&D

I followed the windfoil tech for a few years to see how it developed, as I knew it would take some time to work out. Our local kite boarders where the first I saw of foilers (other than the Moth and Wasp class of sailboat foils). The slingshot video's of using small sails/boards with larger wing (i76) is what really peaked my interest. Then when they introduced the foil track system for the mechanical interface, I went all in on the gear. First couple moths was brutal getting things sorted out, but one year later, couldn't be happier. I' more of a "set it and forget it" rider. Other than sail outhaul, downhaul, everything else doesn't move. 3 sails to cover 12 -30 knots (3.6,4.5,5.2). I would say wingers are 1/2 of the foilers, with equal windfoil and kitefoilers making up the balance. The wingers except for one guy stay close to home and don't venture far from the launch point. Our winds can be highly variable. My board volume (114L). is just big enough for me (140lbs) to slog 1/2 hour home if I have to. Kiters and wingers have to float around waiting for the next wind line, or swim/paddle home. My SS 114 can double as a wing board, but not sure how my old beat up shoulders would handle it. Looks like a lot of "overhead" work.

I windfoil because I think it rocks!
It leverages what I learned on all those days I skipped high school to go windsurfing
It improves on the shortcomings of shortboard windsurfing that made me stop years ago.
I am the only one for hundreds of miles of me, there are barely any slappers left.
There are zero shops or schools within hundreds of miles.
I had to teach myself and filter through all the BS marketing and hold over mentalities from high wind windsurfing to figure out what works for me.
Frankly, it is kinda fun and liberating not having to compare myself to the guy riding next me, although I do and I learn from lining up with the winger and kites. Fortunately, those other riders have welcomed me into the tribe and foiling gives us common ground.
Olympic coverage will help create awareness but that is not free ride gear.
As for the amount and size of the gear, I want the float and length to get back in when the wind dies so those tiny wing boards do not interest me. My daily kit is one board, one mast, one boom, two sails and two front wings. No biggie!
I am almost done caring that nobody else gets it. But not totally, the next board in my quiver will be something I can teach beginners how to windsurf on to keep the flame alive.
You know most of us here are mature adults, we should have learned by now to not care what others think! Let's dance to beat of own drummer.
Duzzi, you gonna keep trying?

I still windsurf when its over 18-20 (unless im racing foils), and i also race slalom windsurf gear, but i love my race foil gear like nothing else. Its extended my sailing season to 12 months of the year, and theres nothing like the feeling of flying along 5 feet off the water doing angles and speed upwind that i could not do on anything else. Winging is very popular here but its not for me. By the way Duzzi, i only weigh 75 kgs myself and i use sails up to 9m race foil sails so you can do it too if you want to.

Hey duzzi,
Similar thing happened here in Tas. Quite a few of us got into windfoiling 3+ years ago from windsurfing. Since then many have moved on to winging. Not many staying with windfoiling. Those that have, generally windfoil in flatter conditions.
About a year ago I got encouraged to have a go on the wing after thinking I didn't need another element of this sport to indulge in. Learning curve seemed really easy with all the background skills I had. For me windfoiling was always difficult if the wind was gusting through a wide range. I would have difficulty keeping the foil planted in gusts and often found it somewhat of a chore. My skill capacity would be to blame. Plus I could never flying gybe - foot switching just seemed too hard with the board overcompensating for my weight changes.
Winging I found to be much better for control - def feels slower. I can get going in similar wind strengths for either foil activity. I have got gybes down pat with some of the easier foils I use and waveriding feels more intuitive with the ability to park the wing and mess around surfing the board. Windfoiling just didn't seem that easy to wavesail.
I think prone foiling and sup foiling will also [POTENTIALLY] stem from winging for me as they feel like they are natural transitions, where parking the windfoiling rig while waveriding is not something that comes easy.
To be fair though, the windfoilers are doing amazing stuff. It's more popular to wing, but I think it's because it's a little bit easier to learn and has more openings to other foiling activities once you improve. But some of the windfoiling surf vids are just outstanding.
Selfishly I think I'm just soooo bloody fortunate that foiling is here now (I'm into my 50's looking forwards to 2 more decades of this), and I say each to their own. I love seeing everyone out there having fun regardless of what discipline you're into.

I am curious to know what foiling gear Duzzi tried to learn on.

Gwarn,
I think what you do is amazing! You have mad skills and you choose to live and travel where it is windy. Brilliant!
If you were to create the ideal situation to set the hook for someone like Duzzi and help them progress, would you turn them loose on the kit in that picture? Or in that much wind?

For windsurfers, getting into windfoiling seems straightforward - just get a foil. In contrast, winging would require also getting a wing and a wingboard, which more than doubles the expense.

But for kiters, getting into winging is easier and cheaper. Buy one wing instead of a sail, mast, boom, mast foot, and extension. Instead of learning to rig, just pump up the wing. Since kiters drastically outnumber windsurfers, that alone means there will be many more wingers than windfoilers. At some spots in the US that I've seen, most of the wingers indeed came from kiting.

Which leaves the question about windfoilers switching to winging. Locally, two of the best windsurfers switched from windfoiling to 100% winging. A third very enthusiastic windsurfer only started windfoiling to learn how to handle a foil so that she could switch to winging later. She picked up windfoiling much quicker than winging, but persisted through many session (her biggest problem turned out to be getting the gear tuned for her light weight). Another windfoiler is in the process of switching. Then there are two windfoilers who have not switched - one of them, who picked up windfoiling quickly, is not even considering it, and the other one tried a few times, but has not yet had a good wing session (which is probably also a gear issue).

That's a small sample, but may well reflect a general trend: some windfoilers will stick to the sail, but many will sooner or later switch to wings.