Wondering how many average punters have tried wing surfing without the foil?
Kai and Zane at Jaws is well beyond the average punters, but this SPG clip is interesting. Obviously you are going to need 20-30 knots to make it viable.

I personally don't see the point. I both kitesurf and wingfoil. And they are both awesome in there own right. But the fact that you would need twice the wind over kitesurfing and I feel it would just be more to manage than a kite being on the water rather than up on foil. I would also imagine that it would be really hard to point up wind. Being on a foil with a wing solves all these issues. Happy to give it a go and be proven wrong.

I think it's a pretty cool idea , opens up the shallow water & reef areas for wing surfing . Also very clever board to cover prone & wing foil plus wing surfing definitely has it's merits and I'm sure it will catch on BUT you do need plenty of wind. I wont be rushing out to buy or build a specific board but definitely keeping an eye on the progression.

Nuh, not for me, it would be super hard work holding ground or going upwind.


I'll stick with a kite if I want to use a surfboard.

Great idea!
Forget the high wind planning red herring, you only need enough wind to get out (no paddling!) and you can catch much smaller waves.
A lot saver than kiting and less gear than windsurfing.

I've got an idea, why not just attach the wing to the board with a mast and maybe use a boom to connect to the mast, that way you could ride some great waves, you wouldn't need so much wind and you could even use the boom/mast for leverage to really help bottom turn and cut back on the wave, that would be great, I can't believe this hasn't been invented yet...

Yeah but that's a specific board & sail setup , this board you can still prone and wing foil on existing gear.

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Dcharlton said..
I've got an idea, why not just attach the wing to the board with a mast and maybe use a boom to connect to the mast, that way you could ride some great waves, you wouldn't need so much wind and you could even use the boom/mast for leverage to really help bottom turn and cut back on the wave, that would be great, I can't believe this hasn't been invented yet...

Or how about this crazy idea... you could ditch all the wind stuff, and just ride waves.

Eh, that would never catch on...

So much easier to sail or pump out. Who would want to paddle a board?

I quite like the idea of going out in insane winds with a wing and a surfboard. You get to play in conditions where a kite malfunction could be fatal, and a sea state where a foil is too cumbersome.

I want to see how they get going. I tried doing a windsurf-style water start with a surfboard and ended up just sliding along. A jump start attempt destroyed a couple of fins on the bottom.

At the moment we have sorted out wing foiling in nuking conditions by launching in a boat harbour and sneaking out into the mayhem. That works ok. We have to keep a good safety buffer so that we don't end up trapped in the shore break.

I like the idea of plodding out on on a mellow day and surfing in, then could just use a SUP.

I think in maxed conditions it's going to wreck your wing vey quickly, baggy as a baggy thing.

Everyone has seen Kai's and Zane's antics at Jaws, foiling in nuking conditions has the potential to bust stuff. I snapped a mast wave sailing in the 90's, pretty sure plenty of others have too.
Never put the time into Kiting and like winging for ease of use. If it ever blows hard enough around here, I will give it a crack on my 7'4" hypernut.

I'm happy to see the term wingsurfing used correctly anyway. Naish says wingsurf when they mean wingFOIL and it drives me crazy. The foil is what makes it so magical.
it would be interesting to try wingsurfing but I think compared to wing foiling it wouldn't really light my fire.

Radair, I don't know if you ever saw that girl that winged on her SUP at The Pond. Looked so miserable! So draggy! Wind gust hits, and the board doesn't accelerate.

But it sure looks fun when Kai and Nathan Van Vuuren are doing it. Looks like it's gotta be windy enough so it's not so draggy. Probably would be best to do as a downwinder so we don't have to fight that thing upwind.

Titouan's version with a twin tip board:

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www.instagram.com/p/CQnJQzarHPt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Works pretty well. I like bigger boards around 80lts and just enough wind to get planing downwind. Works well from knee to mast high, going left and right. main limiting factor in the progression is the wide span of the wing getting in the way of bottom turns.

It has done wonders for improving my wave foiling. really helps understand how to better move the sail and read the wave.

Nice! Surprised that it works so well with the bigger board. Is staying upwind an issue?

Not at all. I don't plane upwind but point higher than a windsurfer. Probably want a harness for sessions over 30min.

Good call on the harness.

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FoilAddict said..
www.instagram.com/p/CQnJQzarHPt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Works pretty well. I like bigger boards around 80lts and just enough wind to get planing downwind. Works well from knee to mast high, going left and right. main limiting factor in the progression is the wide span of the wing getting in the way of bottom turns.

It has done wonders for improving my wave foiling. really helps understand how to better move the sail and read the wave.

That looks so good! What's the board dimensions and style, might try it with an old 85L windsurf wave board gathering dust.

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BigSeppo said..
Radair, I don't know if you ever saw that girl that winged on her SUP at The Pond. Looked so miserable! So draggy! Wind gust hits, and the board doesn't accelerate.

But it sure looks fun when Kai and Nathan Van Vuuren are doing it. Looks like it's gotta be windy enough so it's not so draggy. Probably would be best to do as a downwinder so we don't have to fight that thing upwind.

I might have seen her. I have seen people wingSUPing but always figured it was a learning gateway to foiling. It does look fun in video clips if the wind is nuking and your board is small enough not to be too clunky.