How to Wing Foil in strong winds 

Thanks! You’re words of advice and encouragement are greatly appreciated. After about 200 sessions of winging I have, at long last, been able to jibe in both directions. It finally clicked!! At the age of 71 it has been a path of both humiliation and exultation. I was a good wind surfer and wind surf foiler but it did not translate quickly into being a good winger. But now it has. So as you often say, don’t give up! I’m hoping for 2 more decades of flow ; )

The comments about winging being more about “flow” and that the community is a big part of staying positive and advancing truly resonated with me. Great episode 🤙🏽

As a Hood River windsurfer and a regular at the hatch.... these big days are epic....I am now winging and Ken's age. I see my hatch point regulars who added wingingwindsurf foiling to their skills switch to windsurfing on the big days. There is speed, carving down swell, big boosting and loops. But we are also seeing likewise with wingers. Especially mid summer during the down wind events. I am happy for the energy boost this sport has created in Hood River even though, we again, have to think about a parking spot! Thank-you Damien for your videos! I tell everyone I learned on youtube. Watch Damien Leroy! Now I am using your videos to learn jibing. Shout out to Gwen, Kelly, and Harry too! Thank-you all for the teaching and go for it attitude. If you ever need a place to stay in HR...let me know..we have extra beds

Love the mindset sesh at the end! ❤️we started as a community of just us two, self-taught but watching your vids daily 😆 As a zero experience ageless, I initially found flow by not fighting it, but stubborn-ing it out. 1000x fails? That’s ok, laugh it off and try again. The successes are priceless. We’ve been the subject of observation and probably much entertainment in our bay by onlookers - but that has also grown our community to 6 because we get so excited to share the stoke of this sport if someone asks to try, no question we will help them try! That wee string on the wings’ leading edge to attach your leash? Yeah. Stopped using that after I had one snap and wing took off leaving me adrift. Wind was only about 20kn too. I attach leash to the neutral handle now.

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing your wisdom Kenny Lucas.

Thanks Mr Lucas. I love the community.

3rd session out wing foiling today. Ex windsurfer of 10 years. Im 18 years old at 75 kgs. Purchased a wing about 1 week ago and the first two sessions was learning in light 10 knot winds. 3rd session was out in around 15 knots and it went to 35 knots in a matter of an hour. 5m wing 90 litre board and 1280 foil. Man it proves that throwing people in the deep end really teaches them how to wing. Now im confident at foiling and was out gunning the ktie surfers as well as holding down my wing perfectly. Quiet suprising. Next session is gonna be learning how to jibe. SO hopefully by 5 sessions in I can be fully winging inclusive of the jibe

Great Video With Good Tips And Advice!!! Thnx!!!

winging is fantastic

Thank you so much. I did only about 50 sessions so far. I will stick to my current gear set up for a while!! 😎

In the video It looked like Kenny was going to get wacked by a windsurfer. I enjoyed the video. I wing in the SF Bay. We get strong winds as well. Good topic. My problem is using my 6.0 Duo in 25:mph winds. It wants to get stuck in the water, making it hard to get back foiling. I may have a great session in lighter winds, the wind picks up and then I am getting pummeled.

Thank you so much!! Greetings from a North Spain foiler.

This is helpful info. I’m currently learning in Hood River, and all the other “intro to winging” videos talk about getting a bigger wing to make it easier to get on foil for the first time. I don’t think that advice necessarily holds true in Hood River. I’m finding I need to size down, and I’m not even going out on the big days yet. The wind is strong and consistent, but that chop makes it tough in the first few sessions. Would strong chop change the standard recommendations about ideal beginner boards?

Hello, thank you very much for creating so much inspiration. In my area we have plenty of wind and lakes with rocky shores and also enough waves to be a lake. How to enter with side off wind to the deep zone without getting knocked out by water and scratching all the Foil?

Way to go Ken, old guys rule....

On such winds and current I would only downwind foil

When he said "over 40" does he mean mph? kph? knots?

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even in a strong wind, this looks so boring