Long time surf supper/surfer looking to get into wingfoiling. Finally decided to go for it.
As the post says, what's it feel like? Doing it compared to other craft. Sup, surfing etc etc.
I find the sup not as exciting but always satisfied with the waves.
shortboard more exciting and funner but also way, way more frustrating.
what's foiling like in comparison?
Don,t do it.
Walk away.
It will be a new addiction, as expensive as coke and probably even harder to get off.You can go very often so besides it will hit your savings, it will ruin your private live as well, because you can,t make appointments or you will miss a session.
Besides that: riding style in the waves: Longboard, minimal alike with crossovers to wavesailing.
Can't compare it to any board with a fin and that's both a pro and con.
It feels like you're flying over the water - which technically is what you're doing - and it's absolutely peaceful in light wind conditions, so silent because the board is not touching the water.
It's just magic although you might miss the direct feel of the board in the water compared to the sports you mentioned. If you ever thought wing foiling looks silly, I'd agree, but it does feel amazing. Give it a go and a soon as you're on the foil come back here and describe the feeling. It's not an easy journey so be ready to have a few painful crashes but it'll be worth it.
When your on the right gear and your on foil the whole time it's amazing but if your underpowered and not on foil you'll invent new swears and scream your voice out.
Like surfing or windsurfing on air, what I love as a surfer is you dont wait (except if you have to actually wait for the wind, lol) for sets, once the wind is blowing you are GO all the time! A one hour session is 60 minutes of blasting, much easier physically too, so as I get older winging is overall more fun for me, that said I still love to go surfing, highly recommended
I think that there are three things that really have made me addicted to wingfoil:
1. The flying feeling. Being on foil is still stupid fun. And one thing that has surprised me is how much you actually feel the foil. Sure, you are not directly connected to the water, but you are really riding that foil. This takes a bit of time to get to from the initial humiliation and just trying to fly without stabbing yourself to death (oh, well, maybe not that dramatic but still...). When you've experienced that foiling feel it is super addictive. The way you can disconnect the power source, in my case the wing, is so cool and opens up an incredible range of options. This is the main reason for why I moved from windfoil, with windsurfing gear to, wingfoil, never looked back.
2. Time on water. My time on water through wingfoling has easily gone up by a factor of x3 or even x4. I might actually hit around 100 sessions this year. This is comparing with windsurfing and surfing here in Sweden with some travelling in Europe (not this year though). Conditions and local spots close to home that I previously completely dismissed are now fully explored and appreciated. It works in an incredibly wide range of conditions, from open ocean to local lakes. Gusty 5 to 12 knot winds on the local inshore spot? Great fun!
3. The options. Foiling really opens up a completely new range of options for fun on water. Personally, I will most likely include parawing soon and also start exploring DW more. Dock starts I have tried a little bit and will most likely also add that next year.
And one more benefit. It is actually fairly easy to take with you, set up and go. You can launch almost anywhere and can get a long way with one foil, one board and two wings. The difficulty is to restrain yourself to that... 
Imagine catching a 2 mile long wave, or a snowboarding run on powder for 30 mins at a time. (Don't pay any attention to the thousands of $s leaving your bank account, just keep imagining those long rides!)
Agree with all the above sentiments. Suits older surfers with less work and family commitments. Add in an e_foil assist and there is not a day when you can't get on the water and have fun. Totally addictive. Surf on the good days, foil the rest.
Gibbo, what are you wanting to get out of foiling? Not saying don't do it, but depending on what you're looking for, it might take some time to get the skills you want to be able to do it.
I've also come from a sup/windsurf background and found foiling RELATIVELY easy to pick up the basics. Harder stuff is riding toeside and transitions. This took me a lot of time and dedication to get on top of.
If you want to play in gentle waves and not do much manouvering, then you can get that reasonably quickly - depending on your level of skill, capability and enthusiasm. If you lack any of those things, the challenge will take a bit more time.
You mention you enjoy SUP but it's not as exciting as the short board. I think you'll find foiling will be a bit like the sup- enjoyable on the waves, but maybe not as exciting as a short board. If you desire tight turns on the foil (to be more like the shortboard), you'll need to step up in your skillset. This will take time.
It's a rewarding experience but challenging.
