Just watched your first tip and it never occurred to me to practice all the moves on the beach first. When I think back to 20 years ago when i first learned to kitesurf, I did practice with the kite on the beach and in fields before I went on the water. I have only had a few sessions with my wing and that has only been on the sea on my SUP, so I will now be out in the local park and on the beach on windy days getting some handling practice. Thanks for the tip(s).
Hi Mark, happy to chip in some tips for your progression. These tips are hard learned during my years wing foiling. Me and Diane made many mistakes 2020 when we started. I thought I would share some good ideas to cut the learning curve. In the end if you have the “right” gear, meaning the right size, and put in the hours you will be a winger! Sooner than later. Keep it up! Cheers. Stay safe! 😎
Fred You nailed it again! What a great basket of golden nuggets of advice you are giving us. I too wish I had heard these sound and honest tips from an open source like yourself when I started; it would have saved me at least a year in my progression and lowered my frustration due to unrealistic expectation. Robby Naish’s daughter’segment highlights perfectly a point about incremental steps and the inclusion of this discipline not-just-for-big boys. Everyone can do it regardless of body strength and or gender. You are absolutely right recommending the stable platform of a wind Sup or windsurf with a daggerboard and this is where schools and beach rental shops could concentrate their efforts and gear up to propose more affordable entry level group tuitions along with windsup boards and Wings rental. In essence these two bits of equipment together are fun to ride and they prepare the riders to develop the basics set of skills one needs before attempting to fly with a foil board. At the beginner level, I would go as far as replacing all windsurfing lessons by WingSUP lessons because there is no danger to hurt oneself ( no mast and boom to land on someone’s head) and because without the mast, a beginner can develop unimpeded natural balance and understanding of wind direction, leeway, drift, board movement etc… Thank you so much for sharing the knowledge and the love for the sport.🤙👏😎
Hi Frederic, thank you very much for commenting. My aspiration for this video is exactly what you post here. To learn better, safer and faster. Things we all need to know when we start out! Hopefully this video will inspire and help many riders to get going from now on and many years to come. Long live Wing Foil! Stay loyal to the foil! Cheers.
Thanks a lot for all these tips, I will consider all of them as I am a beginner wingfoiler although coming from kitesurfing. Super good job and a very nice channel!
Outstanding! Really nicely done and clearly shows us what we need to do. I (and others) were definitely limited by our very sore knees in the beginning. 3 years ago I bought a wing to try with my SUP but our very light winds (midwest inland lakes) made it a frustrating experience. Gave in and bought a Lift efoil and learned to foil the past 2 seasons. Now ready to learn the wing and can't wait to be able to foil in the light winds that stink being board on water. :)
Just found your video. Excellent tips. I'm a Kite Foiler already so have a bit of experience on the foil. I promised myself that once I learn foot switches on foil, I get to try Winging. My first swap was this past spring and I'm currently at a 40% success rate. Once I hit 80%, I'm going to start on the Wing, so probably later this summer or fall. I've already bought my first board, it's an F-One Rocket V2, 6' 120L. I'm at 95Kg, so this might be a tad small, but it should work. I've also picked up a 6m Strike to learn with. Our wind here in the Florida panhandle is usually not very robust so I should have many days on the beach with just enough wind to practice control. Thanks again for some well thought out tips.
Thank you Jim.When I started three years ago, you couldn’t find much about wing foiling so I started sharing and now som 70 videos later it just is a part of what i do. It is great fun, and I am happy if you can pick up something useful from this video, or another of my videos. That’s the reason I do them. Let me know when you will be getting in the water with your wing foil gear! Stay safe!
Excellent tips! You could mention safety things like not going out in offshore winds (as a beginner), how to self-rescue, and what conditions to look for.
@@wingfoil_mallorca Yes you video was already packed with information. Perhaps safety would make a good topic for a future video? Cheers and Merry Christmas from Texas!
Thank you. These advice are hard learned and will help you a lot. Don’t make the mistakes I did and you will progress quickly! A few key points. Own your material. Have the right sized material. Practice several times a week and you will be a wing cooler pretty quickly! 😃
Hi Fred, Thank you very much for the tips, they're excellent!!. You're the first one I hear to take into consideration the person's height when choosing a wing size, which it's very logical but this is never mentioned on any wing reviews or tutorials. I'm rather short at 1.61m and 77kg. Also here in Florida, USA winds are rather low, below 8kts most of the year and picks up during the winter time. Due to the low winds in my area I'm thinking I should get a 6m or 7m, but I'm not sure if these sizes will be too big for me when holding the wing to ride. Thank you.
Hey, thank you!! Wow, that is strange. As I always consider a persons height and weight in recommending a wing. There is a lot of frustration if your wingtips always get stuck in the water. For your 77kg and 1.61 a smaller wing is recommended. A 5 would be great, but a 5 needs 12 knots or more. If you choose a 6 you are down and looking at riding in 9-10 knots. A 7 will go even lower. However, the bigger you go, the more technical the handling of the wing will be. A big wing is heavier and harder to pump and handle when jibing. I strongly suggest you try a 6 and a 7 before purchase. Good luck and come back to let me know how things go. Cheers!
Thanks for the great info! I am going to get into this sport and would appreciate your reccomend for the wing and foil best for my situation. I am 5"8 160lb. Lifetime of surfing experience. No wind experience. I think I will learn fast so probly an intermediate type of set up right?
Hi, yes, your background will definitely be an advantage. However start a few sessions borrowing a big board so you float well to get a grip on handling the wing and how to jibe, go upwind and so on. If you directly start with smaller gear it will take a lot getting used to initially. Well, it depends if you ride in a place with good, strong wind or not is what I mean.
Hi, great video. I am looking to buy my first package but am struggling with too much information. I am 77 years old, a lifelong hang glider pilot, good at sup, and still strong enough to do dinghy sailing twice a week in Cyprus. I am 178 cm tall and weigh 65 kilos. I sail in winds of 8 to 18 knots. What size gear for easy learning….cheers
Hi Michael, I don’t know what conditions you have. But normally you want big gear. For several reasons. You want a big board to be stable on the water so you can learn how to manoeuvre a SUP board or a large foil board with the wing when you start on water. Probably about 30-40l above your weight. If you go too small you won’t get anywhere, it will be too hard. Wing, you want 5m2 or maybe even a 6m2. If you live in a place with good strong winds 15 knots and up, you may go with a smaller wing than 6m2. The large material compensates for the lack of skills in the beginning. Foil, a big one here as well. 2400-2500cm2. If you start big you can quicker get the hang of it and then when you feel like the gear is too big you sell it and get a little smaller gear. So you will step down several steps in size of material until you reach a point where you have material you can master but yet small enough to be fun and easy to ride. And hours and hours. The more times per week you can do it the faster you learn. The shortcut is the big gear. The rest is to get your brain to understand how things work in this fantastic fun sport. If I could…you can! 💪💪
Well if I had 5K to just keep downsizing boards I’d consider starting where you suggest, but I wanted to go from 1 starter before I drop down. I have short board windsurfing experience so I went with what would float me. In my case it’s about 120 liters. I got the 130L Starboard Takeoff and while it’s twitchy, I got it up on the foil on my second session - I can use it on my lake and down the shore. Have a 6 and a 4.5 wing so I should be covered between 10 and 25 knots which is all I sail in anyway… I’m thinking my first upgrade next year will be the foil, I have a 2200 70cm setup… and then a smaller board maybe, but I’ll have to see how I do with the Take off in the bay to see how annoying the wide board is in waves. Good tips, new sub
Great stuff Rob. Yes, there are different roads to learning. The road to downsize over some years wasn’t as expensive as you would think. As we could sell the boards at a decent price. A lot of people learning all the time. But last year it is clear the market have changed. A lot more people are into the sport, but many buy new stuff, however expensive that is. For me, without any wind sport experience, there was quite a learning curve. You have an advantage here. So we all learn differently, and need more or less time to get comfortable on the boards before we can go down in size. When I started learning on my 125l board I was ok to learn on that big board. But I also tried Diane’s 92l board, no way I could have started on that one without a long period of just learning to stand on the board. But then some 4 months later, I was fine on the smaller board. Thanks to the time on the larger one. So, go small and suffer a lot or go big and get going directly is how it was for us. And we fought through all of it. Mind you we had a lot of fun along the way. This is wing foil, it’s da** fun sport. ;-)
I have found one thing for switching hands that is shown in your video but I didn’t hear you mention is the wing leash attached to the waist. I can’t tell you how much I have had problems with switching hands when the leash was attached to one wrist or the other. It just became caught too much on one or another forearm and non intuitive.
Hi, yes, I agree. Happy to hear your progress. I had the same experience. Did not like having the leash in my wrist. Also when the leash arm is at the back it goes over the front handle which is a bit annoying. Since I switched to a waist attached leach, so many things fell into place. Where do you ride?
Great video thank you. Can I ask some advice. I am a fit 55 year old weighing about 95kg and 6ft tall. I have no experience at all so a complete beginner. What wing/board/foil would you recommend for me please ? Thanks Graham
Hi Graham, I don’t know where you live and what conditions you have. But normally you want big gear. For several reasons. You want a big board to be stable on the water so you can learn how to manoeuvre a SUP board or a large foil board with the wing when you start on water. Probably about 130-140l. If you go too small you won’t get anywhere, it will be too hard. Wing, you want 6m2 or maybe even a 7m2. If you live in a place with good strong winds 15 knots and up, you may go with a smaller wing than 7m2. The large material compensates for the lack of skills in the beginning. Foil, a big one here as well. 2400-2500cm2. If you start big you can quicker get the hang of it and then when you feel like the gear is too big you sell it and get a little smaller gear. So you will step down several steps in size of material until you reach a point where you have material you can master but yet small enough to be fun and easy to ride. And hours and hours. The more times per week you can do it the faster you learn. The shortcut is the big gear. The rest is to get your brain to understand how things work in this fantastic fun sport. If I could…you can! 💪💪
@@wingfoil_mallorca hi Fredric. No. Nothing to add. Really impressed how you started from zero! I got the duotone fins as well for my wife who just started. They work great not to lose too much height with the sup at the very beginning. Nice top 10! Totally agree with your tips and wish I had them 2 years ago. I mainly ride at a local lake in southern Bavaria/Germany. Then Lake Garda/Italy and wherever I can on holidays. Got some nice videos from Sardegna and Greece. But Mallorca off season would be great! Have fun, man. And a nice Christmas time!
Hey, the leash for the wing is many times included with the wing. But if that is not the case, a flexing leash like the Ensis has is one of the best I have tried. I personally put it on my waist belt, and I have the board leash in the back. To have my arms free from the leash. That is more freedom for movement that way. Regarding helmet. Yes, I would strongly recommend wearing a helmet when you ride. Not like many think it is mainly to protect you from the foil. It will, but it is quite rare to happen. More often it is to protect you from the board after you’ve hit the water that the helmet is really important for. To stay safe is the main thing! Tänk efter före! 😊
Don't you think the center fin makes it harder to direct the board upwind when you just got up on your knees, have the wing in hands and are about to start going, while the board is still pointing downwind?
Hi, that is a good question. Pure logic says yes. You do have some resistance coming bac on course. The same resistance you are using to keep you on course. You want to be quick up on your feet and keep the board upwind. You want also to have some extra press on the windward side of the board, to get the edge of the board to dig in the water to help you stay on course. The extra fin will help you fall off a lot less. It is a bit of practice to get used to it, but they help. Diane and I we managed without the extra fin and it was alright, but it took us longer time to learn to keep the board going upwind. Are you learning now?
@@wingfoil_mallorca Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I did learn last year and I keep recommending beginners not to use that center fin, assuming that it would make it a lot harder to direct the board into the wind. Admittedly, I have never used such a fin myself and your explanation of the benefits sounds quite reasonable.
Thanks for the good tips! I'm just trying to learn wingfoiling too. However, some of your equipment related tips are impossible to implement here, since I'm living in Albania and here are neither surf shops nor wingfoiling schools. I have exactly one set of equipment - a 5'10 STX inflatable board (I guess a bit short for beginners) with a 2000 Slingshot foil (70 cm mast) and 5 sqm wing. So far I'm not making much progress... 😊
Hey Holger, nice to hear you are riding in Albania. I suppose if you need gear you need to travel…that makes it difficult. But hey, work with what you’ve got. It’s good stuff to learn on. Maybe on the harder end for a complete beginner with no wind or kite background. Just make sure you have enough wind and you will get up in foil, that is a promise. Maybe you need 15 knots or a little more to get going. What are the wind conditions where you live? You ride in the Mediterranean, right?
@@wingfoil_mallorca Thanks for your reply! Wind conditions should become good now, with thermic winds starting. I had two sessions with above 15 knots and the surf and waves were a bit too much for me. I'll try next weekend again with winds up to 12 kn forecast, to try to learn a bit board control without trying to foil. Cheers
Yes, it is a balance between wind and choppy. From 12 knots you can learn. You are right, you have to get the balance on the board first. Check my video “Balance…it’s all bout balance” to get som advice. Then it is hits and hours to practice. When you have the balance you can start to work on getting up on foil. You should be fine where you are and the material you use. Keep at it! Good luck! 🤞💪
Hello Hans, that is a good question. The summer is great because you have the thermic wind every day with 10-15 knots. Between end of May to September. In the winter, October through March you have stronger wind due to storms passing. But between the storms it could be quite calm. When would you be thinking of coming to Mallorca?
Great video and info. I am interested in learning. I am proficient as a Windsurfer, Surfer, and SUP. I have gotten some not so good recommendations in the past on boards and and sail sizes, as I weigh more than most windsports guys. 115 Kg. What size board, wing and foil would you recommend (6m wing sounds small)? I plan to wing in light wind 8-15 knots, after that I windsurf.
Hey Gust hunter! Good question, you already understand that you need bigger gear. And in low wind the gear is even more important. As is the technique. But as the technique will come with time and practice. The gear will play a very important part learning. Regarding wing size, it’s hard to recommend size without knowing if you are tall enough to manage a 7 or 8m wing? But those sizes are what we are talking about. However a big wing like that weighs more and are harder to manage. This will have to be taken in consideration. Regarding board, 30-50L above your weight is a good start. 140-150L to make it steady in the beginning. You can start with a SUP board or a windsurf board also as alternatives to the foil board. The important thing is to have a steady board to be able to stand up and learn to handle the wing. You can, with good results, practice on land first. A foil, as big as they come for starters. 2400cm2 or similar. Best conditions to practice with is wind from 12 knots and up. That way you have enough wind to get some decent speed. Then it’s just practice and practice. You will be great, just understand that wing foil is different, but your knowledge from windsurf will help you a great deal. Let me know how it goes! Good luck!
@@wingfoil_mallorca Thanks so much for your time and response. I had no clue height is part of the equation on wing size that a person can use! Great videos!
Thank you Gust hunter. Yes, to be able to handle it, and pump to get up on foil, without getting the wing tips stuck in the water. Then your height is an important parameter. What are you thinking of doing as next step?
in my place wind is between 8-13kt...i m 76 kg 1.80tall with windsurfing experience.....my difficulty is choosing the wing because i will go for a 110 later board and a foil between 1800-2000..what do you think???5,3-5.5??
Hi Kostas, in the beginning you benefit from bigger material to compensate for lack of skills and technique. I would say you would do great with a 5,5 or even a 6M. You need 11-12 knots, at least, when you are learning to ride. To have a productive session. Good luck! Where do you ride?
@@wingfoil_mallorca mostly in Greece,Nafplion and when in Australia ,Torqay Victoria...i m just a little confused about the size of the wing because the 6m would be large and maybe hitting the water most of the times, thats why i mentioned the 5,5 ...summertime in Greece in my area we have thermal winds but most of the time 3-4bft....thanks for your reply ....enjoy Christmas ..
Nice places! A smaller wing is possible to pump better, but have less area. A big wing has more area but is heavier and more complicated to pump. For learning I’d say a bigger wing helps. When you have experience you can go smaller as you are more efficient with your pumping of the wing and you could also pump the board at the same time. I’m 185 and I’m fine with my Vayu 6, but I’d be happy to have a smaller wing. But it depends on the strength of the wind. A 5,5 is probably ok in 10-11 knots. A 6 in 9-10. Your choice, as always, can you try a 5,5 or a 6, then you will know what works best for you! Happy holidays!
Thank you for the nice video! Would you recommend that I need to lesen the taxi (non planing) tack as well before trying to fly, or is the taxi jibe enough?
Hi matija, thank you. No reason to spend more time on the water taxing than you have already. As soon as you have stability and can manage the wing and the board in a jibe, you are ready to work on getting up on foil. Depending on the size of your gear and your weight you might need more wind. Normally anyone would like to have 12-13 knots or rather 15 to practice getting up on foil. You meed plenty of time practicing getting up and staying up. In the beginning you only need to get up a little bit because the higher you go the less stable it will be. Just practice that until you can get up on foil every time it’s windy. Then you slowly start to practice the jibe….and then you will be smiling with your whole face as you cruise above water. You have so much fun ahead of you. Good luck. Where do you ride?
@@wingfoil_mallorca thank you for your nice answer! I am riding in northern Germany on the north sea. Three times on the water until now, once at 20kn, once at 25-30kn and once at 12kn wind speed with 120l board and 5.3m wing. 12kn were not enough for me to fly, probably not the right pumping technique. 25-30kn was "a bit" rough, but still I think that this increased the learning curve by much, because no pumping was required at all. Had a lot of fun and was already flying for a few seconds without a catapult xD. I still have to find a spot without chop/waves though to really work on the basics... Windsurfing background for me.
Haha, yeah. A bit thought first experience. But if you made it through and still want to ride more, you are in for a fun journey. Well done! Now when winter is approaching there are new challenges. Go in the water as often as you can. But it will be too cold all winter. Then do on land training to be strong when the spring arrives. Keep up the good work!
Hello, There are a few places around the island to learn. I personally dont have a school, but i can put you in contact with some if you tell me when you are planing to be here and where you are staying on the island. Cheers!
You seem to be nice guy and a good instructor/adviser, thx for your vids! I`m having my 1st lesson in wavy onshore conditions, unfortunately (kiteboarding skills)... One day on the beach to get used to the wing and next day on the water with perfect beginner gear. any suggestions to pass the shorebreak and swim out apart from start on flat water with sideshore? And how come you live on Mallorca, you sound american. Aloah, Zippo
Hey, thank you. Nice to hear that you are learning wing foil. And you plan to learn in a good way. Cool. Regarding shore break. You can only get in if the waves aren’t too strong. If you can get out to foil depth you will have to get going between the sets. This is not easy at all when learning just to get up standing on the board. The board will be swept away by the waves and it can be a frustrating experience. If possible, find another location with less breaking waves. What anyone learning needs is easy conditions, to learn the best way. And 12-15 knots also makes learning a lot easier. Too low wind is just tiresome to balance and to hold the wing up. You need some wind to be able to navigate and learn. It’s like learning to drive. You need to start in a big parking area and go slowly, not on the highway first time out. I’m Swedish actually and moved here 2014 to have a change of life. Leave the ratrace of home-office-home. Groundhog Day! And to live where the climate is nice to you! 😃 where do you live?
@@wingfoil_mallorca 538 / 5.000 Thanks for the quick and thorough answer. I bought the beginner's set for 990€! and couldn't try it out yet, I'm from cold Germany thats why. Made a bad unboxing video, see ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-B5wZ7ZjJGM8.html Fly the day after tomorrow to Fuerteventura at Flag Beach for unfortunately only 8 days to try it out, hardcore beginner location. Unfortunately, Soma Bay was sold out. Can Pastilla seems like a good option, Mallorca is the stronghold of the Germans, maybe I'll visit you one day. Your English is great by the way. When I see the way you live makes me wonder whether I could change things, too. I saw U R a musician (guitars in the bachground), so was I in former days, looks as if we have things in common. Thx for all your worthy tips. Stay cool🤙
No revelations here & that is an improper use of the word fakie.... Fakie is when your weak foot is in front (also known as switch stance). Toe down is the exact opposite, when a rider chooses to maintain their stronger stance and not switch (i.e. not fakie)
@@wingfoil_mallorca Try 30 seconds, max. Might seem unfair, but other clips are a click away, so 'give away' something good really quickly, and viewers will likely stick around.
