Hello all,
I've was into kiteboarding for a couple of years, but recently started my foiling adventures. Been riding behind the boat for a couple of months. Riding pretty comfortably. I was going to transition to kite foiling but all my kites are stuffed so thought I'd give winging a go. I already have a 90 litre starboard that we were using behind the boat. But I now need a wing and have no idea what to look for. I'm in Perth so 15-25knots is the range. I'm 100kg, and fairly fit/strong (not sure if that matters). Any advice on what wing I should get? How many Metres? Any features really worth looking at? Or should I buy something used/super cheap while early stages?
P.S once I have the wing, I plan on using my Mrs SUP to get used to riding with the wing before riding the foilboard
This is a tough one.
There's a few things that concern me about you wanting to learn given the gear you describe.
It's good that you have foiling experience behind your boat. Also good that you have kiting experience so picking up the wing skills should be a bit faster than your average person.
BUUUUT ... you're 100 kg and intending to learn on a 90 LItre board? I'd be VERY wary about your expectations here. I've not heard of anyone learning on a sinker board with much success. Not saying you can't try, but don't expect a quick learning curve. I'd strongly consider borrowing a friends board before you go too far with this.
As for wings, I've found he big factor isn't area but wingspan. If you have a wide wing you have a much greater chance of catching the wingtips and having difficulty controlling the wing. FWIW, I'm 175 cm tall and like a wing with a span of 310cm or less. I know of lots of others of similar height who use bigger wings with success, but I've also seen plenty who 'bite off more than they can chew' and end up struggling with too big a wing. I'd strongly suggest hiring a wing or trying out a mates wing before you buy.
As a windsurfer, booms are great. Solid handles are really good too. Soft handles are not my preference.
Yeah as martyj4 mentioned the board may be a tough board to start on and if you could borrow a bigger board just for a few sessions I think it could help ALOT right at the start.
On the wing size and since you are 100kg maybe a good 6m would be sweet. Winging is definitely a sport where being overpowered is much better than being underpowered and even more so when learning. If you do not want to spend a fortune then we do these which are actually as good as pretty much any other wing on the market but we just sell directly these days so are quite a bit cheaper and free world wide shipping www.oneoceansportsaustralia.com/wind-wings-shop/p/one-v2-wind-wings-online-soon Hard handles nice and stiff with heaps of power.
But these days there are heaps of good wings on the market new and used, just be careful if buying used that's its not to bagged out.
