Wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but it was fun.
Wind was square off shore, so I couldn't get onto the waves, but I sis get a couple of nice runs considering you likely would bother riding anything else out there. Too windy to paddle, not windy enough to sail/kite. Super gusty with near drifting lulls, and narrow short gusts.
Anyway, here's a video from the session. Pretty boring and a lot of pumping, but it does show a few things that a lot of people are asking about, Switch pump up and riding, launching and landing (unfortunately I had to launch into a lot of seaweed, but you get the picture).
Also with the Andy and the van on tour up north, all our gear is up with him. So I grabbed my old retrofitted Raptor 116, and made a foil up of broken and spare parts from over 3 generations of Naish foils. Worked a treat 
Anyway, enjoy,
JB, looks fun! Waiting for mine to be delivered.
That's an interesting camera mount. Would enjoy seeing how you have it mounted.
:)
Thats helpful, ta. Out of interest do you move your mast position when you are winging it?
Also are you mainly using the Naish L ? Do the M or XL ever get a look in? Just planning ahead.
As others have said, the debate on here is really helpful. I've not got the time or money to put into learning to Windsurf or Kite from scratch and want to maximise my foil time. Living 10 mins from a big bay where the prevailing wind is cross / on shore means there are a lot of days where I hope where a wing + foil will open up acres more playground and rolling lumps.
Select to expand quoteMwstard said..
Thats helpful, ta. Out of interest do you move your mast position when you are winging it?
Also are you mainly using the Naish L ? Do the M or XL ever get a look in? Just planning ahead.
As others have said, the debate on here is really helpful. I've not got the time or money to put into learning to Windsurf or Kite from scratch and want to maximise my foil time. Living 10 mins from a big bay where the prevailing wind is cross / on shore means there are a lot of days where I hope where a wing + foil will open up acres more playground and rolling lumps.
I am finding I am putting my mast mount a little further forward (particularly in the light stuff), but think as the wind gets stronger I will likely start moving it back a little. Still playing with it, but at the moment, about 0.5 - 1" further forward if available.
This session I am using the Thrust XL with STD (small) Rear/Stabilizer trimmed all the way up.
The cool thing with the Wing, is it is fun everywhere. Bay, Flatwater, foiling, SUP Cruising, Waves, downwinding, upwinding, sailing around!
I actually went back out this afternoon because I mistakingly thought the wind came in more from the south (wrong). But it was again still very fun.
Here's a quick frame grab of me riding switch.
Too much fun!
Ride safe,
JB
Select to expand quotewindwakerider said..
JB, looks fun! Waiting for mine to be delivered.
That's an interesting camera mount. Would enjoy seeing how you have it mounted.
:)
Yes, it is so much fun. I went our again this afternoon. Still crap conditions, but heaps of fun.
Here's a pic of the mount from a different direction. It is basically two female deck mounts (one at the deck grip and one on the nose) then a paddle section with the GoPro FCS mount hot glued into the end of it and a male mount, then a broken piece of a paddle mount hot glued mid shaft to align with the nose mount with a male mount on it. I use electrical tape on everything as a bit of insurance, plus a safety leash as back up. Then the GoPro is just mounted to the pole/shaft with a paddle/pole mount.
Pretty easy to make if you have some GoPro bits laying around.
Works a treat and a good angle.
Ride safe,
JB
Select to expand quoteJB said..windwakerider said..
JB, looks fun! Waiting for mine to be delivered.
That's an interesting camera mount. Would enjoy seeing how you have it mounted.
:)
Yes, it is so much fun. I went our again this afternoon. Still crap conditions, but heaps of fun.
Here's a pic of the mount from a different direction. It is basically two female deck mounts (one at the deck grip and one on the nose) then a paddle section with the GoPro FCS mount hot glued into the end of it and a male mount, then a broken piece of a paddle mount hot glued mid shaft to align with the nose mount with a male mount on it. I use electrical tape on everything as a bit of insurance, plus a safety leash as back up. Then the GoPro is just mounted to the pole/shaft with a paddle/pole mount.
Pretty easy to make if you have some GoPro bits laying around.
Works a treat and a good angle.
Ride safe,
JB
Hi JB & crew
Probably been asked before,
Is there any need for a larger wing say 5- 6mtrs for LWind days.And say larger riders with more volume or ltrs in the board or sup.?
Select to expand quoteLeighMajor said..JB said..windwakerider said..
JB, looks fun! Waiting for mine to be delivered.
That's an interesting camera mount. Would enjoy seeing how you have it mounted.
:)
Yes, it is so much fun. I went our again this afternoon. Still crap conditions, but heaps of fun.
Here's a pic of the mount from a different direction. It is basically two female deck mounts (one at the deck grip and one on the nose) then a paddle section with the GoPro FCS mount hot glued into the end of it and a male mount, then a broken piece of a paddle mount hot glued mid shaft to align with the nose mount with a male mount on it. I use electrical tape on everything as a bit of insurance, plus a safety leash as back up. Then the GoPro is just mounted to the pole/shaft with a paddle/pole mount.
Pretty easy to make if you have some GoPro bits laying around.
Works a treat and a good angle.
Ride safe,
JB
Hi JB & crew
Probably been asked before,
Is there any need for a larger wing say 5- 6mtrs for LWind days.And say larger riders with more volume or ltrs in the board or sup.?
Hey Leigh,
I am going to start with "No" to the wing at this point. But I think as "racing" and other variations come along, quite possibly. You can get yourself into spot with a wider wing span as it will hit the water. If you go low aspect to get the area, you loose all top end. so it's a fine balance to get the best bottom end with acceptable top end also. You don't want to be having to change up and down wings every time the wind changes strength. Yes, the best method for getting more bottom end grunt for bigger guys is with bigger foils.I use the XXL/2000 when it's light and it works great (sometimes even the 2450, but it's too slow once you get up and smoking). But majority of the time I am on the XL/1650, it has the best range with the 4m Wing Surfer.
Today was super gusty, and I got caught out by one rogue line. It is so good how easy the wing is to ditch then quickly recover and get going again. I don't really think I was "over powered", but more I had everything cranked on for light wind upwind sailing, and this gust compressed off the point super loaded me. You'll see I feathered the wing first to dump some power then crank it back on before ditching. 5 seconds later up and sailing on.
RIDE SAFE,
JB
Warning - Long video below.
So, my first impressions were that the Wing Surfer wasn't really ideally suited to downwinding. Every session I am getting more and more comfortable and working out the Wing. Today's session felt the best off the wind I've had. Definitely faster than I could have paddled/foiled DW. Linking bumps and overtaking a lot.
There's a few things in this video that I thought might be good to share.
- Taking off toeside
- working out why the leash works better on your wrist.
- ideal angles off the wind.
Today was SW with WSW gusts. 8-15kn. Super gusty.
I hope you enjoy,
Awesome footage JB. Thanks for your efforts. Good enough for me to get one. Can't wait.
Select to expand quoteJB said..LeighMajor said..JB said..windwakerider said..
JB, looks fun! Waiting for mine to be delivered.
That's an interesting camera mount. Would enjoy seeing how you have it mounted.
:)
Yes, it is so much fun. I went our again this afternoon. Still crap conditions, but heaps of fun.
Here's a pic of the mount from a different direction. It is basically two female deck mounts (one at the deck grip and one on the nose) then a paddle section with the GoPro FCS mount hot glued into the end of it and a male mount, then a broken piece of a paddle mount hot glued mid shaft to align with the nose mount with a male mount on it. I use electrical tape on everything as a bit of insurance, plus a safety leash as back up. Then the GoPro is just mounted to the pole/shaft with a paddle/pole mount.
Pretty easy to make if you have some GoPro bits laying around.
Works a treat and a good angle.
Ride safe,
JB
Hi JB & crew
Probably been asked before,
Is there any need for a larger wing say 5- 6mtrs for LWind days.And say larger riders with more volume or ltrs in the board or sup.?
Hey Leigh,
I am going to start with "No" to the wing at this point. But I think as "racing" and other variations come along, quite possibly. You can get yourself into spot with a wider wing span as it will hit the water. If you go low aspect to get the area, you loose all top end. so it's a fine balance to get the best bottom end with acceptable top end also. You don't want to be having to change up and down wings every time the wind changes strength. Yes, the best method for getting more bottom end grunt for bigger guys is with bigger foils.I use the XXL/2000 when it's light and it works great (sometimes even the 2450, but it's too slow once you get up and smoking). But majority of the time I am on the XL/1650, it has the best range with the 4m Wing Surfer.
Today was super gusty, and I got caught out by one rogue line. It is so good how easy the wing is to ditch then quickly recover and get going again. I don't really think I was "over powered", but more I had everything cranked on for light wind upwind sailing, and this gust compressed off the point super loaded me. You'll see I feathered the wing first to dump some power then crank it back on before ditching. 5 seconds later up and sailing on.
RIDE SAFE,
JBSelect to expand quoteJB said..LeighMajor said..JB said..windwakerider said..
JB, looks fun! Waiting for mine to be delivered.
That's an interesting camera mount. Would enjoy seeing how you have it mounted.
:)
Yes, it is so much fun. I went our again this afternoon. Still crap conditions, but heaps of fun.
Here's a pic of the mount from a different direction. It is basically two female deck mounts (one at the deck grip and one on the nose) then a paddle section with the GoPro FCS mount hot glued into the end of it and a male mount, then a broken piece of a paddle mount hot glued mid shaft to align with the nose mount with a male mount on it. I use electrical tape on everything as a bit of insurance, plus a safety leash as back up. Then the GoPro is just mounted to the pole/shaft with a paddle/pole mount.
Pretty easy to make if you have some GoPro bits laying around.
Works a treat and a good angle.
Ride safe,
JB
Hi JB & crew
Probably been asked before,
Is there any need for a larger wing say 5- 6mtrs for LWind days.And say larger riders with more volume or ltrs in the board or sup.?
Hey Leigh,
I am going to start with "No" to the wing at this point. But I think as "racing" and other variations come along, quite possibly. You can get yourself into spot with a wider wing span as it will hit the water. If you go low aspect to get the area, you loose all top end. so it's a fine balance to get the best bottom end with acceptable top end also. You don't want to be having to change up and down wings every time the wind changes strength. Yes, the best method for getting more bottom end grunt for bigger guys is with bigger foils.I use the XXL/2000 when it's light and it works great (sometimes even the 2450, but it's too slow once you get up and smoking). But majority of the time I am on the XL/1650, it has the best range with the 4m Wing Surfer.
Today was super gusty, and I got caught out by one rogue line. It is so good how easy the wing is to ditch then quickly recover and get going again. I don't really think I was "over powered", but more I had everything cranked on for light wind upwind sailing, and this gust compressed off the point super loaded me. You'll see I feathered the wing first to dump some power then crank it back on before ditching. 5 seconds later up and sailing on.
RIDE SAFE,
JB
Hey JB
Thanks for your feedback regards bigger wing for lighter wind or larger riders.
As you mentioned larger area wing are not needed for just cruising around.
Slightly larger foil for say extra body weight.
Great still frames of ditching then regaining the wing.
Expert balance.
I would have been in the water after the first compression.
Looking forward to my wing.??
Ok, there's more.
Here's my quick session from yesterday again taking on the weekend races on Pittwater. Crappy wind again (I can't wait for for Summer or even decent winter wind), 8-15kn max. But getting better angles again up and down wind. The Elliot 7's were doing short coarse racing up off Longnose Point, and it was cool to see I could hold and even make ground on them on the beat. Down wind I got smoked in the lulls as I kept coming off the foil. DW you definitely need more wind than Up. Minimum 12kn up is best, I think I am able to continue once up through lighter, but you have to pump quite a bit. A good 12-15kn would be epic!
Anyway, more info.
This is the full session. I did some reaching at first off Sandy point as the wind was light and I wasn't even sure I was going to get going. But ended up being quite good on the beat.
Here's the view from the shore where I launched. Light as!
I don't know why Seabreeze continually flips your pics, really annoying with no editing ability to rotate. But here's a broader view of Pittwater.
This is just the DW leg.
And this is just the Upwind leg.
Ride safe,
JB
Finally had a go on the Duotone Foil Wing . First part of the video was me on my first attempt out in the ocean ( not recommended) 5m Wing , 6-8 JP & NP XL wing . Second part of video Guy from SurfFX 4m Wing 6-0 Sunova & Axis 1020 Wing , third part of video Guy again riding my set up.
As JB mentioned above winter in Aus is really sh!t wind for wind sports , it's gutsy , shifty and drops a lot. Just makes it hard to learn. You really do need a consistent solid 15 Knots to learn , more is better . Plus use a slightly larger board . Just getting to your feet and getting going is the hardest part. Trying to learn in less wind is just so taxing on you , you'll want burn the wing in just 30 mins. Holding it up and keeping the bottom tip out of the water without a decent breeze is hell. If you don't you run over it and it goes under your board , incredibly frustrating. 4m less a problem but Guy was the only one who could get up on the 4m we all needed the 5m.
But once the wind is up and you build up speed it comes up pretty easy , yes a more skilled rider with a bit of windsurfing back ground will thump & pump it up in less breeze but that takes time for a newbie. As far as tacking up wind and coming home straight Downwind, yeah good luck with that , yes totally possible but again another higher skill set.
I've only had a couple of cracks at it over a couple of days , it is fun but taxing to learn . Start in a river or lake and try and get wind against tide and do it with a few mates you burn up the energy pretty fast and need to recharge. The smaller 4m is easier to manage but much harder to start in the lighter breeze compared to the 5m . It's harder than it looks but you do pick it up pretty fast and again my best advice wait for a solid 15knot breeze to learn. 
Pretty well nailed it there Piros my thoughts exactly. The 4m will be better over here as we get more wind.
Killing it Piros and Guybe,
It will get easier and easier the more you do it. I am not going in much lighter winds on a 1650 foil. The upwind / Downwind thing is interesting and definitely something that comes with practice. Going upwind is easy in comparison to DW. But once you get it, you can pull some decent angles and speeds off the wind. As you'll see above, my tracks upwind and downwind. This was in very light winds.
When I rod the Duotone and Naish back to back I found the Naish to be more powerful (4m vs 4m), mainly because you can get more punch out of your pump. The Luff Strut on the Naish allows the wing to go full depth of the profile instantly and feels sharp and punchy where as the with battens you kind of lose a bit of your pump with the batten soaking up the power before it gets to the full profile (feeling a little spongy) (this is with the boom all the way in/minimum to get more power). The lightwind is also a little easier on the Naish being almost half a kilo lighter so it flies its own weight easier and in less wind plus being physically lighter to hold. (Disclaimer, I am biassed to Naish - Obviously 
). Please do not take this paragraph as a brand slagging, just a once off honest feel first try after I had been riding the Naish Wing for about 10 times, so there's likely a lot of getting used to also there.
Agree on trying to get some decent wind. It will help. I don't think it needs to be windy windy, but 12kn is great with a 1650 foil. 15kn you'll be smoking. It's more the annoying winter lulls that will get to you. Once you're comfortable you'll learn to just foil pump through the lulls and can pretty much wing through most gaps.
So much fun!!! Hooked 100% and we haven't even scratched the surface IMHO.
Ride Safe,
JB
Cool.
Learning kite foil, you need lots of kite power at start and them progressively less as you learn economies. I suspect the same thing will happen here.
Same for downwind. Those learning days kite foiling it was easier to dig in and go hard upwind. But downwind felt like a loss of control with no kite to lean against. Actually same back when learning to windsurf..
. I found upwind easier.
Will be interesting to watch the progression. And then to try it with my gong!
juandesooka said:- Cool.
Learning kite foil, you need lots of kite power at start and them progressively less as you learn economies. I suspect the same thing will happen here. Same for downwind. Those learning days kite foiling it was easier to dig in and go hard upwind. But downwind felt like a loss of control with no kite to lean against. Actually same back when learning to windsurf..
. I found upwind easier. Will be interesting to watch the progression. And then to try it with my gong!
Yes that is exactly the case , I originally took up kite foiling in winter and all those early kitemares came rushing back on the weekend with memories of trying to drag my arse out of the hole with the foil pulling to the side and flying downwind in front of the kite and inverting it behind my head.
Select to expand quoteJB said..
Ok, there's more.
Here's my quick session from yesterday again taking on the weekend races on Pittwater. Crappy wind again (I can't wait for for Summer or even decent winter wind), 8-15kn max. But getting better angles again up and down wind. The Elliot 7's were doing short coarse racing up off Longnose Point, and it was cool to see I could hold and even make ground on them on the beat. Down wind I got smoked in the lulls as I kept coming off the foil. DW you definitely need more wind than Up. Minimum 12kn up is best, I think I am able to continue once up through lighter, but you have to pump quite a bit. A good 12-15kn would be epic!
Anyway, more info.
This is the full session. I did some reaching at first off Sandy point as the wind was light and I wasn't even sure I was going to get going. But ended up being quite good on the beat.
Here's the view from the shore where I launched. Light as!
I don't know why Seabreeze continually flips your pics, really annoying with no editing ability to rotate. But here's a broader view of Pittwater.
This is just the DW leg.
And this is just the Upwind leg.
Ride safe,
JB
Just in regards to your photos rotating when uploading.
I found if I slightly edit each photo by say adjusting the angle of the shot in my photos then go back to uploading seems to stop the rotation.
HHope that helps.
Great footage of Piros and Guy
Just for all the non kiters or windsurfers looking at wind foiling for the first time , this is a typical wind chart in winter . The wind gets very inconsistent which makes it hard to learn . So just be patient if the wind drops while you are out just take a break and what for it to pick back up. Once you are up and foiling you don't need much to keep going you just need the stronger breeze to start.
Select to expand quotePiros said..
Finally had a go on the Duotone Foil Wing . First part of the video was me on my first attempt out in the ocean ( not recommended) 5m Wing , 6-8 JP & NP XL wing . Second part of video Guy from SurfFX 4m Wing 6-0 Sunova & Axis 1020 Wing , third part of video Guy again riding my set up.
As JB mentioned above winter in Aus is really sh!t wind for wind sports , it's gutsy , shifty and drops a lot. Just makes it hard to learn. You really do need a consistent solid 15 Knots to learn , more is better . Plus use a slightly larger board . Just getting to your feet and getting going is the hardest part. Trying to learn in less wind is just so taxing on you , you'll want burn the wing in just 30 mins. Holding it up and keeping the bottom tip out of the water without a decent breeze is hell. If you don't you run over it and it goes under your board , incredibly frustrating. 4m less a problem but Guy was the only one who could get up on the 4m we all needed the 5m.
But once the wind is up and you build up speed it comes up pretty easy , yes a more skilled rider with a bit of windsurfing back ground will thump & pump it up in less breeze but that takes time for a newbie. As far as tacking up wind and coming home straight Downwind, yeah good luck with that , yes totally possible but again another higher skill set.
I've only had a couple of cracks at it over a couple of days , it is fun but taxing to learn . Start in a river or lake and try and get wind against tide and do it with a few mates you burn up the energy pretty fast and need to recharge. The smaller 4m is easier to manage but much harder to start in the lighter breeze compared to the 5m . It's harder than it looks but you do pick it up pretty fast and again my best advice wait for a solid 15knot breeze to learn.
Nice SPLAT! Piros. Just joking. Thanks for giving your honest experience using the wings. I read elsewhere that it wasn't easy starting off. But when you get the hang of it, it's awesome. Well done on getting it going.
I'll be starting off on a nice stable paddleboard first to get used to the wing. Then trying the foilboard & hopefully in my first session. Haaa! Dreaming again.
Yeah nice splat Hopefully day 3 and I'll string it all together . Here is a pretty cool Video of Alex Augrea (Mr GoFoil) day 4 on the Duotone wing and killing it.
Special note:- The Wind is cranking solid 20+knots with a flood tide going against the wind.
www.facebook.com/Gofoils/videos/2230709740310858/
Select to expand quotePiros said..
Yeah nice splat Hopefully day 3 and I'll string it all together . Here is a prettt cool Video of Alex Augrea (Mr GoFoil) day 4 on the Duotone wing and killing it.
www.facebook.com/Gofoils/videos/2230709740310858/
Nice vid. That's how I will use it
Select to expand quotePiros said..
Yeah nice splat Hopefully day 3 and I'll string it all together . Here is a pretty cool Video of Alex Augrea (Mr GoFoil) day 4 on the Duotone wing and killing it.
Special note:- The Wind is cranking solid 20+knots with a flood tide going against the wind.
www.facebook.com/Gofoils/videos/2230709740310858/
yup, this would be nice once you figure out the foil and wing combo. I like how alex make it flow and smooth on the water. The hood is a nice water playground and wish I live nearby as the salt starting to peel/rash my smooth and thick skin 
I have the GF 200 & I'm looking forward to this experience oneday.
F-One has grabbed the title S-wing....so people doing it are swingers. Here is a photo that captures my imagination for what might be doable with this.
Select to expand quoteseanhogan said.. was wondering where to post this pic ! that kid is insane !
Pretty awsome
Can't wait to get my slingy....
Here's my latest video on the Duotone 4m (day 4) pretty lit but so much fun. Starting to get used to riding switch.
