Hi everyone

Wanted to share my experience, hoping it might help others decide...

I'm 49 yrs old, 90kg. Have been SUP surfing for 6 years, foiling for 4 months. Done about 30 foil sessions on waves. I'm OK... I can foil where I want, frontside and backside and ride as long as my legs will take me. Still learning to pump, and I sure can't connect up waves.

Also, about 20+ years ago, I was a point-and-shoot windsurfer. Could water start, and go fast as hell in the straps. Jibe? Not a chance ;-) Just reorganise the rig and thrash at it again!

I gotta say, as I can already foil, I found wing foiling pretty simple. I did a session on a windy beach - not in the water - just to understand the wing. How to handle it. I then did a quick 45 minute lesson on a lake on a big windsurf board. Found it simple to stay upwind, but it was a big board to help me out. Then I went for it... took my Fanatic SKY foil 125ltrs out in 15 knts. Used Naish 5.3 wing and my Maliko 200 foil. Fumbled for a moment. Got wet. Then got up. Stayed close the wind and beat out wrong foot forward. Turned around... now regular stance... and the moment I got a gust I got onto the foil and went all the way into the shore. PRETTY DAMN COOL. I was pretty apprehensive going in, but it was easier than I imagined. And the foil acts as a dagger board, so you can track upwind quite well even if you are not planing.

If you can foil, and you understand windsurfing and how the WIND fundamentally works, IMHO getting going is not hard. You can have fun super fast! Getting good will take time, of course, but getting going is pretty easy. The trick is to really focus on the board, keep your stance central and the foil under control. Controlled foiling needs to be second nature, or there is just too much to think about.

ANOTHER TIP - get your wing into a parking lot with a skateboard. That is a really useful thing to do. Duck Tape up the ends to prevent any scuffing on the tarmac. But you can learn how to jibe, tack, even pump the wing. I've done that as well, and its pretty fun to learn so that you don't even need to think about your hands when on the water.

Hope that helped anyone who was wondering whether to take the plunge. It's super fun.

Stay safe out there!

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StampnSteer said..
...The trick is to really focus on the board, keep your stance central and the foil under control...

This... Was a lesson that I quickly learned too. Don't even try to get going if you're not totally balanced over the foil otherwise when it starts to lift you've no hope of keeping it controlled.

Nice write up! There is a lot to think about when you first get going but as you've found, muscle memory soon kicks in. Wing on!

That's interesting to read. I realise for me this is a massive challenge. I'm 47 and I'm only coming from a sup surf background and no foil or windsurf experience. I have had the wing with the sup (no foil) for a while and feel comfortable with the 5m wing. I will give a little update on a complete novice foiler learning to foil wing.

Going to try it this year.
Played on land several times, flipping the wing handwork, luffing, and finding power.
Should be doable quickly, but I'm 71.
Windsurfing 37 years, expert.
Surfing 25 years, expert until I turned 40.
Kitesurf one year, around 70 days. Ended up using 35 feet lines on 2 of my bigger kites.
Windfoil one season, around 75 days.
Snowboarded 300+ days.
Skiing don't count.
Downhill skateboarded every hill in SF.
But how many wind n water sports can you do?

Going to try it this year.
Played on land several times, flipping the wing handwork, luffing, and finding power.
Should be doable quickly, but I'm 71.
Windsurfing 37 years, expert.
Surfing 25 years, expert until I turned 40.
Kitesurf one year, around 70 days. Ended up using 35 feet lines on 2 of my bigger kites.
Windfoil one season, around 75 days.
Snowboarded 300+ days.
Skiing don't count.
Downhill skateboarded every hill in SF.
But how many wind n water sports can you do?

And why can't I just post ONCE on this cellphone?

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LeeD said..
Going to try it this year.
Played on land several times, flipping the wing handwork, luffing, and finding power.
Should be doable quickly, but I'm 71.
Windsurfing 37 years, expert.
Surfing 25 years, expert until I turned 40.
Kitesurf one year, around 70 days. Ended up using 35 feet lines on 2 of my bigger kites.
Windfoil one season, around 75 days.
Snowboarded 300+ days.
Skiing don't count.
Downhill skateboarded every hill in SF.
But how many wind n water sports can you do?

Young Warwick is 73 and cruising around on his wing. Age will not be a limitation.
You know how to windsurf and windfoil ...... you are just losing the mast.

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bigtone667 said..

LeeD said..
Going to try it this year.
Played on land several times, flipping the wing handwork, luffing, and finding power.
Should be doable quickly, but I'm 71.
Windsurfing 37 years, expert.
Surfing 25 years, expert until I turned 40.
Kitesurf one year, around 70 days. Ended up using 35 feet lines on 2 of my bigger kites.
Windfoil one season, around 75 days.
Snowboarded 300+ days.
Skiing don't count.
Downhill skateboarded every hill in SF.
But how many wind n water sports can you do?

Young Warwick is 73 and cruising around on his wing. Age will not be a limitation.
You know how to windsurf and windfoil ...... you are just losing the mast.

Totally agree - you can do it! Not having a mast attached to a board makes it SO MUCH EASIER. you can totally fluff your moves, and just recover. Way easier that windsurfing ;-)

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LeeD said..
Going to try it this year.
Played on land several times, flipping the wing handwork, luffing, and finding power.
Should be doable quickly, but I'm 71.
Windsurfing 37 years, expert.
Surfing 25 years, expert until I turned 40.
Kitesurf one year, around 70 days. Ended up using 35 feet lines on 2 of my bigger kites.
Windfoil one season, around 75 days.
Snowboarded 300+ days.
Skiing don't count.
Downhill skateboarded every hill in SF.
But how many wind n water sports can you do?

Trust me, you'll find it pretty straightforward. And fun. #Guaranteed ;-)

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IanInca said..
That's interesting to read. I realise for me this is a massive challenge. I'm 47 and I'm only coming from a sup surf background and no foil or windsurf experience. I have had the wing with the sup (no foil) for a while and feel comfortable with the 5m wing. I will give a little update on a complete novice foiler learning to foil wing.

Hi - I'd advise you to get your foil out behind a boat or a jetski. Literally 2hrs behind a boat will save you 10x more hours of messing about in the surf. You will learn quick, but the experience of foiling is not like anything you have done before. I learning to foil at the same time as learning the wing seems bloody hard! Have fun.

Well, I don't really find windfoiling fun, but it does work in breezes of 7-17 mph.
Several locals are hooked, and ease of transport [to Puerto Rico], makes it a consideration.

attaboy stampnsteer. I have similar background, a little more foiling and kiting added in. I just progressed to staying upwind (woooo). I've found the learning curve a little steeper than expected, mostly due to attempting it in too-light or too-gusty wind. Nice steady wind, it's easy-as. Underpowered, it sucks! The other early error was trying to go too small a board too quick. Turns out standy on a tippy sup foil in 2' wind waves is a challenge on its own, much less trying to balance holding up a wing.

So, my recommendation for noobs: err on side of "too windy", err on side of "too big a board", at least for starting out.

Oh and definitely wear a board leash...turns out your board will float away quicker than you can swim even in a light breeze and you can't body drag a wing like a kite.

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juandesooka said..
attaboy stampnsteer. I have similar background, a little more foiling and kiting added in. I just progressed to staying upwind (woooo). I've found the learning curve a little steeper than expected, mostly due to attempting it in too-light or too-gusty wind. Nice steady wind, it's easy-as. Underpowered, it sucks! The other early error was trying to go too small a board too quick. Turns out standy on a tippy sup foil in 2' wind waves is a challenge on its own, much less trying to balance holding up a wing.

So, my recommendation for noobs: err on side of "too windy", err on side of "too big a board", at least for starting out.

Oh and definitely wear a board leash...turns out your board will float away quicker than you can swim even in a light breeze and you can't body drag a wing like a kite.

HA! Yes... light wind is bloody hard. You want 15knts steady. Learn on a lake... less bump. Oh... and yes, always wear a leash. I've seen videos of dopes just regular SUPing on 11ft boards on windy days... fall off... and not be able to catch their board as it drifts down wind. Easy to drown. LEASH UP, BUTTERCUP!

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dejavu said..

What he said....