Yesterday I used a harness to windwing foil and frequently felt I was back in the past when I windsurfed.
This has led me to think- do windfoilers really need a mast or just an inflatable leading edge?

North sails now have BOTH!

New North race sails are very interesting!

Well I did expect much more constructive discussion

Select to expand quote

warwickl said..
Well I did expect much more constructive discussion

Yes, a mast can be handy especially in light air - my arms are more relaxed and free of all the cords. The other thing the mast does wonderfully is give us a "third leg" making it easy to move our feet about so we aren't as inclined to spend half the day sailing around in switch stance.

And Berowne's post was pretty funny as the new North sails do have an inflatable bladder in the leading edge.

Select to expand quote

Paducah said..

warwickl said..
Well I did expect much more constructive discussion

Yes, a mast can be handy especially in light air - my arms are more relaxed and free of all the cords. The other thing the mast does wonderfully is give us a "third leg" making it easy to move our feet about so we aren't as inclined to spend half the day sailing around in switch stance.

And Berowne's post was pretty funny as the new North sails do have an inflatable bladder in the leading edge.

Great point about the third leg

I spend more time than I would like slogging, waiting for the next wind line. The mast does most the work supporting everything. Harness also takes some of the load slogging through waves. Wingers are on their knees, and kites are floating neck deep. If things get really bad, I can pump my way home instead of paddling/swimming. If I had access to consistent winds, I might consider winging.

Select to expand quote

WsurfAustin said..
I spend more time than I would like slogging, waiting for the next wind line. The mast does most the work supporting everything. Harness also takes some of the load slogging through waves. Wingers are on their knees, and kites are floating neck deep. If things get really bad, I can pump my way home instead of paddling/swimming. If I had access to consistent winds, I might consider winging.

This is only because many Wingers have pushed it too far on board volume. With many advance Wingers pushing down into 30 liter range... If a Winger were to stick to volume similar to Windfoil - or even a bit less... they have NO problem schlogging ,any more than a Windfoiler.

2023 is the year that speed 40kts will be reached on a custom foil regardless of the water environment. It will open various location to do this also. Weed and tide would become irrelevant to foiling speed.