open question: what would Red Bull do with a foil event?
They have a knack for running the best version of a sports competition (and then quickly pulling the plug, thanks for getting my hopes up), I wondered what their take on foiling would be?
They are currently running a WingSphere thing which looks like a wing air/wave riding thing (lame), but I could imagine them doing it with Nikolas and Kai Lenny going head to head with strapped backflips or something. Would be pretty one-dimensional from our perspective, and ACL destroying, but that was the best I could come up with that I could imagine them running.
What would be the best version of a Red Bull foil event?
My opinion indeed. winging air+waves is likely the best candidate for red bull but it’s windsurfing v2 in my eyes, and hard to see it grabbing attention
My point is that Red Bull puts some interesting events together, a wing contest is not one of them
(My reservations extend further when you consider that any crash in front of a wave will invariably destroy the wing and that no consumer can possibly go anywhere near waves like that without it being a massive expense, on equipment that is already a few $k a pop (pun intended) I winged a bit in waves, all the wings absolutely shredded. Unattainable for consumers not because it’s hard but because the gear is not actually, despite what the videos show, usable for that environment… )
To be clear, I think winging is fun, and by far the best windsport in existence for the average joe person to adopt given the versatility, ease, etc.
What Cash did in SA is way more impressive if you know the spots where he did those slab airs, it’s beyond wild, not to mention wildly inaccessible. I didn’t persevere at winging because they kept popping, I am/was good at other things, such is life, I’m comfortable in my skin, and holding opinions
My point is not that winging in itself is lame or not dangerous or not impressive, or not technically challenging, it’s that as a competition/spectacle it’s not interesting to a larger audience. Not the freestyle, not the racing, not even at a stretch the wave riding. Maybe this Wave Sphere event proves me wrong.
The reason for the thread: foiling is novel (when it doesn’t look like kite/windsurfing), and I wonder what Red Bull could or will do to exploit that for viral clips. Pump foiling on a skyscraper?
funny this both quite the type of thing they’d do, and is the one thing I wish people would stop trying. It’s clearly a bad fit, and to come off foil in a barrel with a foil gives me the creeps…!
AI reply since I don’t see the association either
If you don’t like AI, skip this comment lol
Red Bull doesn’t care if the masses “get” wingfoiling; they just want the “Holy Sh*t” factor.
It’s cheaper for them to own a niche, death-defying event than to buy a Super Bowl ad. They get insane footage of humans “flying” over mountains of water to keep their brand looking “extreme,” while secretly targeting the high-income demographic (like you) who actually buys the gear.
Basically: come for the wipeouts, stay for the brand association.
I’m sure the sufers that see any foiling discipline in the line up says the same thing you do. “Foiling is lame and gay”. Guys or gals that can wing, SUP DW, PW, SUP Foil surf, Prone are better to watch. Versus the one discipline foiler. Honestly, who can watch any foil video for more than 5 minutes? As a PW, Winger, Prone foiler, Sup foil, DW…i can’t even watch any foiling video for more than 60 seconds. I tried to watch the M2O race last year and i just couldn’t, quite honestly if a foiler gets bored watching it. Imagine an outsider. So thats why i think winging gets more exposure from Red Bull, becuase they can lauch 30 ft airs which gets the wow factor from audiences.
