Hello everyone. Just got my first wing, and before I use it for the first time, I wanted to get some advice on what to do with the wing after a session. So my winging spot is on a beach that I have to cross a forest to get to. It's a 10 minute walk, no way to get there by car. So I get out of the water after a session with a wet wing, have no time to dry it, do I just roll it up with the sand? And if I do, how do I clean the wing when I get home? There is no way I'm walking through a forest with an inflated wing.

In this type of situation I would deflate the leading edge after exiting the water leaving the strut/boom inflated. Use the leash to wrap the loose wing and carry. I would do all this holding the wing and not touch the sand. I always throw the wing in my car like this and hang up to dry horizontally from the handles when I get home.

Here's one suggestion. When you deflate it on the beach make sure you keep the sand away from the valves -- if sand gets into the bladder it could spell trouble (maybe only deflate enough so you can carry it to a grassy or non-sandy spot, wipe off any sand close to the valves and deflate for transportation). Take it home and inflate it just enough so the wing can be stood up and leaned against something like a smooth tree trunk or an outside wall (or maybe in a garage). Hose it off and leave it to dry out of the sun. Make sure it is secure and won't blow around. When it's dry deflate and pack it up.

Foilthegreats suggestion above should also do the trick if you have the room to hang it up, which I don't. Well, I could hang it up inside but there would be consequences.

Looks like you have no choice but to pack it up wet and sandy.. It's no big deal.. Once home reinflate it.. hose it down.. and let it dry before packing it back up again.. Easy.

Deflate the wing in the shallow water. Scrunch it up and hold it under your arm. Stuff it in the bag while avoiding dropping it in the sand. Dry it off at home.

You could carry a larger bag to make it easier to stuff into. I have used an old paraglider stuff sack for bundling stuff when I don't want to pack things.

Do not wash with fresh water. Hang up to dry by handles so the strut bladder stays in place and shake sand off. I use first and last handle so the strut is kept flat. Salt stops mould.

Thank you all for the help! I really appreciate the suggestions. I still see a lot of mixed opinions about rinsing the wing with hose water, is it because of the chlorine?

Dont touch your wing with tap water. Dry, brush off the sand.

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piotrsurf said..
Thank you all for the help! I really appreciate the suggestions. I still see a lot of mixed opinions about rinsing the wing with hose water, is it because of the chlorine?

No, its mold and mildew from FRESH water. Salt water does not do this.

I've always washed my windsurfing sails out with fresh. Dry first before rolling them up. Salt water supposedly rots stitching etc so I almost always rinse with fresh. But as suggested above, don't store wet with fresh water or mould develops. I'd be inclined to think the salt water rot is minimal but I still do it with all my gear anyway.
When packing up my wing after a session, I stuff it in a chaff bag. Get it home, wash and dry it then roll it up in it's original bag.
Gorgo's technique seems like a good one.

I just deflate it, do up the valves to keep sand out, roll it up wet (shanked dry as possible and brushed sand off) and put it in the bag.

Don't think Dacron or threads care if they are wet, salty or sandy... Correct?

Worked fine for windsurfer sails for years.

I don't think wings are going to last for years before they are outdated or stretched.

Fresh water use is different as the sails go get smelly and mouldy.

Biggest wing killers will be sun and twisted bladders.

Very important for new wings (or kites), never roll up a new wing wet and leave in the bag, dark colours will run into the light colours and stain forever. First use fully wet the wing with salt water, easy with a wing, harder with a kite. Allow to fully dry, this sets the inks, roll up as usual. Try and do this the first few uses, after that it doesn't really matter, salt water is sterile and won't hurt the fabric.

To an extent I don't think it matters all that much how you treat your wings as long as you don't do dumb stuff.

Abrasion and dragging around on the ground is the worst by far. Leaving it out in the sun for hours on end is bad.

Less competent and casual users tend to trash their gear. Competent hard users can get years out of equipment without any special treatment. (One paragliding distance world record holder I know had to be forced to discard his favourite paraglider after 800 hours. It was the same colour as the dust on the launch.With one guy we had a glider tearing party with a fluoro coloured glider that had faded almost white.)

I keep records of my gear usage (going back 30 years with paragliders and 17 years with kites and now wings. I didn't track windsurf hours but I did live across the road from the beach and went almost every rideable day). My wings are up to about 60 hours each. With kites I had older ones that were trashed at 300 hours. I have a newer cheap kite that has 300 hours and is going strong.

I rarely wash kites or wings. I usually get them out of the bag, rig, go out and ride non-stop, come in, pack up go home. I rinse wetsuits, leashes, kite bar and lines, etc. I am pretty careful to dry everything properly. I have a drying rack made of 50mm plastic pipe hanging from my garage roof. I made a prototype about 25 years ago and it's still hanging there, being used every day.

For paragliding and kites the real problem with washing is the mechanical wear and tear of dragging a huge sheet of nylon around to do the washing. It shouldn't be so bad for wings because they're so small.

I like to wipe the dacron parts with a chamois cloth. They're the parts usually in contact with the ground and they get dirty. It gets the dirt off and makes them a little dryer.

It's true that salt water inhibits mould growth, but a wet salty wing will get very stinky. I am sceptical about the risk of fresh water washing. I did that for 20 years windsurfing, and a fair bit in the early days of kiting. A couple of paragliders ended up in the sea and washing is essential in that case. I never experienced any mould or visible degradation of the fabric. I buy good stuff then use it to death. The only thing I can remember wearing out prematurely was an early Naish kite where the mylar delaminated.

If you get the wing totally dry and store it somewhere dry and well aired you're not going to get any mould growth. You should be using your wings at every chance so there shouldn't be time for mould to grow.

I suspect longevity will not be all that great with wings. Wings spend a heap more time in contact with the water and in the impact zone after getting pitched off the lip. Generally approaching 300 hours there is a desire to get something newer and more up to date.

I get about 300 hours on the water each year. Depending on the number of the mixes of wings and/or kites or sails it can take 3-5 years to get 300 hours on a single wing.

My wings rarely fully dry in winter here, I have no inside hanging space and it has been a wet winter. I packed up a wing, that had been left out in the rain, wet and got a bit of mould/mildew on it after several days in the car wrapped up. I just forgot to air it out.

Wings get way wetter and sandier than kites. Sand is the killer for seams and bladders rather than salt.

Much has been said here & in other discussions on the forum about avoiding fresh water if you can.

I have to roll up in a sandy environment as well.
I just reinflate at home & dry, then gently pat off any remaining sand...
A damp cloth helps to remove any dirt...

Windsurfing sails are not made from the same material right ?

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eppo said..
Windsurfing sails are not made from the same material right ?

Yep, they are shiny plastic and do not hold as much water.

Dacron (leading edge and boom chambers)is polyester&resin.
Ripstop (canopy) is nylon&resin.

This is from North sails website:

www.google.com/amp/s/www.northsails.com/sailing/en/2019/12/fibers-fabrics-a-sailors-guide-to-finding-the-right-materials/amp

Nylon is widely used for spinnakers and asymmetric spinnakers (Gennakers) because it is low cost, is lightweight for its strength, and exhibits good UV stability. Nylon is quite stretchy (a big part of why it has very good strength), which is not a liability in downwind sails where some sail stretch is desirable. One warning about nylon to bear in mind: while nylon is a rugged material, it is very susceptible to damage from exposure to chlorine. Never use bleach when washing or rinsing nylon sails, and never soak a nylon sail in a swimming pool.

Surely if you keep strut pumped up you can then just hang vertically off the handle. Its mainly the strut bladder coming away right then twisting. Will find out insuppose its what i did after yesterdays session. Lol.

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eppo said..
Surely if you keep strut pumped up you can then just hang vertically off the handle. Its mainly the strut bladder coming away right then twisting. Will find out insuppose its what i did after yesterdays session. Lol.

I've done exactly that many many times.
No issues at all.

oh goody. Cheers.

Shake off as much water as you can. Use a towel and dry the wing while knocking off the sand. Roll and stuff into bag. Get a larger bag if necessary.

Just buy the black North Nova wing. No worries about stains. plus it's one helluva wing!

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mcrt said..
.... it is very susceptible to damage from exposure to chlorine. Never use bleach when washing or rinsing nylon sails, and never soak a nylon sail in a swimming pool.

I think it's a bit of a stretch to compare bleach and swimming pool water to tap water in a civilised country. The amount of residual chlorine in tap water would be very low.

A better argument for not washing wings is that it's a pain in the bum and can be avoided if you're a bit thoughtful about how you do stuff.

BTW I rarely pack my wing after a session. I usually deflate the leading edge so the wing doesn't blow away or flap about, get changed, then release the strut clip and stuff the wing in the back of the car. This leaves a fair amount of air in the bladders to avoid them displacing or twisting. From the car it goes onto the drying rack then I head inside for afternoon tea.

It's not a good habit to leave the strut clipped for a long time. The rubber hoses can weld themselves closed. Newer systems are using plastic hose. I don't know if that has the same problem. Sliding the clamp out of the way and massaging the hose frees up the stuck bit.

More BTW. Also be careful securing your wing to the lee side of a shrub at the end of a session. Things in the wind generate rotor turbulence where the wind gets pushed up by the bushes then rolls over like a wave crashing. You end up with an upwind flow that will suck your wing into the shrub. At best you get dirt and scratches on your wing. At worst you get tears from twigs and sticks.

The same can happen if the wing is attached to the foil in the lee of a bush. It's scary to see the wing fling itself at the foil.

Tree trunks and posts and things are less susceptible to rotor turbulence. Deflating the leading edge but leaving the strut inflated reduces movement of the wing.

I have a shopping bag for storing leashes and helmet and stuff. I've used that filled with sand as an anchor for the wing. People are unlikely to steal a bag worth only a few cents left in the packing area. It makes the end of session a lot more relaxing if you stroll to the packing area, put stuff down, hook the wing to the sand bag. Relax. It makes random beaches more usable for winging because there's no concerns about stuff blowing away.

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Steven F said..
I just deflate it, do up the valves to keep sand out, roll it up wet (shanked dry as possible and brushed sand off) and put it in the bag.

Don't think Dacron or threads care if they are wet, salty or sandy... Correct?

Worked fine for windsurfer sails for years.

I don't think wings are going to last for years before they are outdated or stretched.

Fresh water use is different as the sails go get smelly and mouldy.

Biggest wing killers will be sun and twisted bladders.

I can't really find any information about how to prevent twisted bladders. What are the ways to stop that? Sounds sad (and scary) having your wing go BOOM during inflating.

Sorry Gorgo,i was kinda nodding as i read your post...and then i had to go and Google it.

"The EPA allows a higher level of chlorine in tap water (4 parts per million/ppm) than the recommended chlorine levels for public swimming pools (1-3 ppm)."

Being landlocked sucks :)

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mcrt said..
Sorry Gorgo,i was kinda nodding as i read your post...and then i had to go and Google it.

"The EPA allows a higher level of chlorine in tap water (4 parts per million/ppm) than the recommended chlorine levels for public swimming pools (1-3 ppm)."

Being landlocked sucks :)

Holy crap! And we're all drinking that stuff...?!

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piotrsurf said..

Steven F said..
I just deflate it, do up the valves to keep sand out, roll it up wet (shanked dry as possible and brushed sand off) and put it in the bag.

Don't think Dacron or threads care if they are wet, salty or sandy... Correct?

Worked fine for windsurfer sails for years.

I don't think wings are going to last for years before they are outdated or stretched.

Fresh water use is different as the sails go get smelly and mouldy.

Biggest wing killers will be sun and twisted bladders.

I can't really find any information about how to prevent twisted bladders. What are the ways to stop that? Sounds sad (and scary) having your wing go BOOM during inflating.

Had one go boom after hanging it from front handle. Strut bladder moved down the strut and blew up. Shake the strut as you pump up is the only solution.