I've now accepted that I need this in my life and have begun planning to raise funds once I've paid for a new Smik Hipster LE

I'd be looking at a board for foiling only - with a wing and also for stand up paddling on very small / unbroken waves and downwinding. I'm a former windsurfer with a fair bit of experience but totally new to foiling so my plan was to get a wing first and to become comfortable on a standard SUP before introducing a foil. Would it be easier to then learn foiling with a wing rather than SUP surfing small waves? Has anyone else been through this learning experience? It seems most people are already proficient on foils before adding the wing.

Also, looking at the Gong options for boards and foils, would I get away with starting with a Zuma? and would I be best with 105L or 130L (I'm around 80kg with a wetsuit on) or would I need to begin with the Mob (105L or 120L) bearing in mind that I only want to foil with this?
For the foil, I'm looking at their Allvator 65XL.

It would be really interesting to see a test of all the wings side by side. I'm not personally interested in the Duotone or any others with a boom. The Slingwing with the inflatable trailing edge looks interesting and really stable but I'm thinking simplicity and lightness are going to be the most important factors for myself.

Any guidance would be gratefully accepted as always!

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ChrisP3 said..
Would it be easier to then learn foiling with a wing rather than SUP surfing small waves?
[...]
Also, looking at the Gong options for boards and foils, would I get away with starting with a Zuma? and would I be best with 105L or 130L (I'm around 80kg with a wetsuit on) or would I need to begin with the Mob (105L or 120L) bearing in mind that I only want to foil with this?
For the foil, I'm looking at their Allvator 65XL.

It will be definitively easier to learn to foil with a wing rather than in the waves, because with a wing you can repeat the movements a lot. In the surf, first you cannot go into very small waves since you need depth for the foil, and you need to be comfortable paddling a 6' SUP, you will need specific waves (gently rolling) and you will get a lot less actual foil practice time than with a wing.

I guess it will be faster to learn surf foiling once proficient with wing foiling.

In the Gong line, the Zuma will be best for foiling only, the 105l should be OK, if you are already stable on a 105l SUP. You need to be stable enough to lift the wing on your knees, and then standing up, while being bounced around by the chop. and The only drawback is that the straps inserts are not symmetrical (designed to be ridden only on one side), so if you plan to use straps and ride both sides it would be better to wait for Wing-specific boards or plan to add strap inserts.

I never tried the wings yet, and I am a Gong ambassador, but by looking at all the wings, I must say that apart the Gong Wings of course, the only ones that attract me are the F-One with their nice coherent design totally geared towards simplicity and light weight.

That's really helpful, thanks Colas.

Really interesting to hear plans for wing specific boards. Any idea if these are going to be a Zuma with different footstrap placement options? If so, I wonder if the 130L version might be worth me considering, I'm thinking the extra volume and stability might be worth the performance loss since it's only 3'' longer and less than 1 kg heavier than the 105L version or is there more to it?

The Gong wings are certainly in the short list and I think the 5m option is very tempting.

I have the Gong 5m and am really enjoying learning to use it on a non foil sup. I, like you Chris plan to become proficient with the wing b4 learning to use the wing with a foil sup. I tested the Duotone 4m and far prefer the Gong. Unlike you though my wind knowledge is Zero. The thing which I'm struggling a bit with is staying upwind, I am improving and have ordered a bigger wind surf Fin for my sup to help. Get one soon they are great fun and I'm loving learning..
Ian

I am finding shipping costs for Gong have increased.
A board bag for shipping will cost ?80 Plus GST.
Much cheaper to buy a bag locally .

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warwickl said..
I am finding shipping costs for Gong have increased.
A board bag for shipping will cost ?80 Plus GST.
Much cheaper to buy a bag locally .

does the Gong wing come with an air pump?

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JEG said..

warwickl said..
I am finding shipping costs for Gong have increased.
A board bag for shipping will cost ?80 Plus GST.
Much cheaper to buy a bag locally .

does the Gong wing come with an air pump?

80 euro that should be for Gong shipping .

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JEG said..
does the Gong wing come with an air pump?

No, you can see what is included in the "Equipments" tab on their web page: e.g: https://www.gong-galaxy.com/en/product/gong-wing-yellow-green/




Included equipments
- High quality Wing bag, with thick foam padding and large U shaped opening for no-hassle packing.
- Rapid bladder repair kit.
- 2 x fiberglass struts.

Struggled to get any flight trying to foil in the surf...only gave it a handful of goes though but lost interest. Got myself a 5m Duotone and almost instantly started getting flight time... in spurts but already on my second attempt I'm getting more and more.

Thanks IanInca and Abdillam , sounds like I'm on the right track then. What are the dimensions of the board you're using in the video Abdillam? Looks like great fun. Also, does the Gong XL foil sound like the right option for me?

Cheers!

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ChrisP3 said..
Any idea if these are going to be a Zuma with different footstrap placement options?

Definitively yes, but I have no idea of when. Patrice has been testing prototypes all summer, but I don't know if he feels ready for production. The wing boards prototypes seem to have rounder nose & tails than the Zuma.

ChrisP3 I guess it is better to take a board too big than too small, especially if you have no sailing or foiling experience.

XL or XXL foil wing should be OK. The XXL will allow you to tackle lighter winds, so I guess it depends on where you sail.

Abdilliam, are you saying having tried foiling in surf you are finding it alot easier with the wing?

Tried sup foiling but I think never being a surfer I struggled in waves... I tend to do slot of 14 footer downwinders and never got into surfing. I'm now just playing around on port Phillip bay... no swell, but starting to get slot of flight time.

Board I'm using is 7'4 x 31 x 4 1/4... big and floaty. I can see though as I get better a smaller board will be more fun. I just need to stay up on the foil longer

I am 105kg and have just stepped down from a 150 litre board to 125 litre board for wing dinging only.

The 125 is too small for me to SUP foil. But I have no issues standing on it with a wing.

You should be fine on board around 125.