Windgenuity said..
This will make a hell of a lot more sense as more people get to try the Wing-Surfer.

Very important not to get confused thinking that the Wing-Surfer is hear to replace all wind sports!! It is NOT!

As Colas said earlier, we all used to get away with one size sometimes two. Windsurfer One Design is still one size, and probably the largest windsurfing class in the world still (and it's having a resurgence too with the LT). When I started Kiteboarding back in the super early days, I only had one size. It took ages for them to make 2. The reason ranges get expanded is the need for greater performance, more speed, higher jumps and so on.

Generally the first evolution of most things is middle of the road, easy to use, stable and fun! Then we want more.

With everything as you increase one side of the performance spectrum you sacrifice something on the other. There is not magical anything out there that just does everything!

Naish' direction (at the moment) with the Wing-Surfer is to stay middle of the road, keep it limited to fun and accessible. This is also what Naish has done with its Windfoiling line. Sometimes people just want to have fun and not worry about jumping higher that Bob, for going faster than Benny.

Now, something to think about! The Wings have been around for decades (4+), but never really taken off!! Why??? In my opinion foiling, and more to the point Surf foiling has opened the window. The wings have been around and regularly used on the snow and ice because of the low drag/friction. This allows us to get more performance out of a smaller wing which makes it manageable.

Enter Surf Foiling! Big ass wings and designs that have not ever been seen before (yes foiling has been around for decades and more too, but not like this, and not as accessible as this). What a great time to dust off those old Water Wing designs companies tried to develope some 40 years ago.

Yes the Wing-surfer works and is fun on a SUP, but you're likely not going to get planning, go fast or get any serious air, but it's fun and great for the general cruising person that just wants to float along and enjoy the day.

Foiling is where the Wings will show their real potential, but even then, there will be limitations to those that try to up the performance as any wider in the wing span will be incredibly hard to use - This eliminates higher aspect designs (normally the first place to go to get more bang for your buck).

One size fits all. Well it does! Because you can easily dump power by flying the wing high, the bottom en is good, but you still beed 12kn approx. so it's not like Wind or Kite Foiling where you're going incredibly early. When the gusts come on the Wing-Surfer's Luff Strut design allows the profile to flatten off (something the others do not have), this means you can sheet out without ridiculous amounts of flapping of back powering because of fu length battens and the like, this is why some brands need to have more sizes, because like with a fully battened sail, they don't like being flagged, the battens flap back and forth and result in the sail being uncomfortable and near impossible to use. The Wing-Surfer does not do this, it sits still and behaves it self. Yes in 40kn, it would not be fun, holding a hanky in 40kn is hard work. No-one going out in 40kn is looking for a nice cruizy time. This was not the point of noting this above, but merely the fact that it has been done (which honestly surprised me).

Anyway, super stoked to see Naish have launched the official Wing-Surfer Website wing-surfer.com which has heaps of info, pics and video to check out.

It will be good to see all the great content going up as the wings start delivering around the globe.

Yes, you're going to be jealous if you haven't put your name on one, they are heaps of fun.

No, you're not going to go out and sell all your wind gear because of the Wing.

Yes, you'll likely have more fun days on the water each year because of the Wing-Surfer's addition to your wind quiver.

No, you probably won't be more desirable to the opposite sex because you have a wing (except the added days on the water and prolonged sessions because you're having so much fun will result in you getting fitter and more buff).

If you're not interested, thats fine. But don't bag it until you've really tried it. But place it in expectations that it's not designed for. And accept it as a pretty cool thing that is going to give a lot of people out there more giggles each year (if not yourself).

Keep stoked,

Ride safe,

JB

Youngbreezy said..
www.instagram.com/p/BxsEv3jHd7M/?igshid=19n7v7u9xbhfx

This is a little snippet of what I am talking about!! Need to see video!

DavidJohn said..
There's a great picture of Robby Naish getting air with the Wing-Surfer and foil-board on his Facebook site.

Windgenuity said..
A short click from WIngsurfer News Facebook feed of Robby Naish winging in some strong winds. Pretty cool. One size for all conditions.



Enjoy,

Ride safe,

JB

HBsups said..
I'm pretty excited about this.
I don't have a kite, windsurfer or yacht - I'm keen to do something with wind on the water, but am a long way from getting over the inertia of cost and gear hassle with a completely new sport (given family commitments, otherwise....). So for me, the wing surfer looks like a great, simple option to make something of those days when it is too windy to SUP.

However, I don't have a foil either so I'm interested to see more of wing-sup action on standard SUPs. I suspect we won't see so much of that on videos (as is going to look less cool on Instagram), but presumably punters like me with only SUPs is where the market must be....?

JB - what's the thinking on the best kind of SUP for wing-surfing. Is the Nalu type of board? How do you think it would go on a surfsup like the 8.10 Speeed vs a tourer like my 2011 12.6 glide?
Looking forward to following the progression and can't wait to demo!

Oh yeah - and cheers to Naish and all those other companies who are putting the time effort and money into coming up with new toys. Sure there is a profit motive, but its still fantastic to see it all happen!

Cheers HB

baldy123 said..
Slingshot wings landing in Oz this July. Already ordered mine. Cheers Josh.
Some interesting design aspects - Inflatable trailing edge & vision window.
Available in 4.2m so essentially the same as Naish.
I'm a Slingshot kite fan, so im assuming these new wings are built the same and surf tough.

slingshotaustralia.com.au/collections/slingwing/products/2020-slingshot-slingwing

Get involved..

gibo said..




Here is a pic of the Slingwing from IG.
Some interesting design differences across Naish, Slingshot, signature and duotones

Fishdude said..
The handles on the Slingwing appear to only run down part of the way down the strut. All the others seem to go almost end to end. The option to reach further back on the strut could be handy at times. The Signature wing video at 1:17 even has a guy cruising just holding the wing in low wind with one hand near the tail end of the strut. The Naish video above also shows the rear handles being used. I wonder if Slingwing will have way to extend their handles further back?

mikesids said..
Question for JB or anyone else who has used a wing.

What is the routine for getting in and out of the water with a wingsurfer and a SUP foil board ? ( not a little light board, a regular 7 footer, with a big foil wing). In particular with say an onshore / cross onshore breeze and some waves to contend with. I am looking at using the wing for riding swell on 15-25 kts days , so there is going to be some white water to contend with.

My question essentially is - given that you need two hands to carry the foil board ( one for the board handle and one for the fuselage), how do you also carry the wingsurfer ? Seems like you need a third hand , unless the wing flies stably overhead by itself on a leash ?

Thanks in advance