As a novice windfoiler with a couple of years experience, I've been intrigued by glowing recommendations from friends regarding foiling. I happen to live on a saltwater river that typically gets about 8-10 knots of seabreeze on summer afternoons.
Is that enough wind to start winging? I'm wondering what experienced wingers consider to be the threshold on the lower limit of the wind range.
More background: I'm 60 years old, started windsurfing in 1975 (advanced but by no means an expert), and weigh 75 kg. I have several Slingshot foils: i76, i99, and a Phantasm 930. I understand that I would likely need to buy different fuselages for the foils in order to wingfoil.
I'm intrigued by the relative simplicity of winging vs windfoiling, but if my standard conditions aren't enough for winging, I'm happy to continue to develop my windfoiling skills.
Any suggestions are welcome.
It's enough when you have some skills, but you want a bit more to learn. i99 and your current fuselages will be fine to start with.
If you're just doing it on the flat in 8-10kts, and you currently are flying around windfoiling in these light winds then you're not going to gain a huge amount from winging, other than ease of transport/setting up and that it's a bit easier than windfoiling. Your conditions are enough to wing, but the real fun comes from swell/waves or the flat in a bit more wind.
I wing all summer in those conditions and I think it would be incredibly difficult to learn in super light wind.
Once you get the hang of pumping you will be fine but for learning you want mid-teens at least.
If you are set on trying to learn in light wind you need a big board >100L and a big wing 7m etc. Once you know how to pump you will downsize rapidly, for example I only use a 75L board and 5m wing in 8knots.
In 8-10kts I'd rather be windfoiling. I don't however have a really light wind board and foil, but I do have a 7m wing which honestly doesn't gain much.
8 to 10 knots flat water is fine for me with a 7m Duotone Slick.
Came to winging from windfoiling and still windfoil occasionally. Although as my wing ability improved I found that I could foil earlier with the 7m wing than a 7.5m sail.
57 years young, 94kg and usually in light winds an HS1850 foil. I have a larger foil CF2400 which would compare to your i76 and i99. But I find that the more efficient HS1850 is actually better in light wind. I learned to wing on the i84.
Yes, when you get better it's possible to pump on with smaller wings, I can go to 8 knots with my 6m but damn it's hard work, good for cardio I guess but I am too lazy to do that all day. So the 7m gets a lot of use in the summer.
Wing or Windfoil, for me the big difference is handling the kit off the water, rigging, Wing is much easier and also if the wind drops to nothing out on the water the wing board is easier to swim home than the windfoil kit.
Hi Jack, Winging in your conditions is do'able but you're going to need the right gear for it..
In the modern winging world where very one is going smaller, smaller, smaller and beating their chest about it I went bigger.. I'm loving my new big board and also the world of light wind winging.. I'm 65 and 100kgs.. My board is the big 140L Hover which is 6'6"x 33".. My foil is the big HA2140 and my wing is the huge 7.5m MK4 WingSurfer..
8-10 can be a blast winging but I would recommend using a downwind SUP style board. Long and narrow. A big sail and wide span front wing will help you get on foil and sail through the lulls.
The Armstrong and KT downwind shapes are on the more stable side. The longest Kalama e3 boards are also awesome and you may be able to pick one up for a good price with the barracudas coming soon.
Select to expand quoteFoilAddict said..
8-10 can be a blast winging but I would recommend using a downwind SUP style board. Long and narrow. A big sail and wide span front wing will help you get on foil and sail through the lulls.
The Armstrong and KT downwind shapes are on the more stable side. The longest Kalama e3 boards are also awesome and you may be able to pick one up for a good price with the barracudas coming soon.
Good point FoilAddict and I'd love to get myself one of those new long and narrow SUP DW style boards and I can see myself getting one in the future but the only issue I see with them is in very light winds you often get lulls of next to nothing (and without any waves like in DW conditions) and you even get total wind dropouts.. For when that happens I'd rather be on a wider board and something with even more volume.. People with better foiling skills that can pump and stay on the foil through lulls and gybe through lulls without dropping off foil will love these boards but this is a big ask for your normal person that's still learning..
The narrow boards are much more comfortable to sit on and wait for the breeze to return.
I doubt we'll see any wing board wider than 25" in the future. Either short and narrow for high wind or long and narrower for light wind.
Select to expand quoteGrantmac said..
The narrow boards are much more comfortable to sit on and wait for the breeze to return.
I doubt we'll see any wing board wider than 25" in the future. Either short and narrow for high wind or long and narrower for light wind.
Totally agree. There is a point of diminishing return (when it comes to stability) and definitely a performance handicap when going over ~25".
Select to expand quoteFoilAddict said..
8-10 can be a blast winging but I would recommend using a downwind SUP style board. Long and narrow. A big sail and wide span front wing will help you get on foil and sail through the lulls.
The Armstrong and KT downwind shapes are on the more stable side. The longest Kalama e3 boards are also awesome and you may be able to pick one up for a good price with the barracudas coming soon.
Among all downwind sup you tried for lightwind winging, which bottom shape is the most efficient to release the water? (assuming the same dimensions). Is the canoe shape optimal, or something like the barracuda with flat front and V tail more efficient?
