Wings are too expensive, near disposable, super fragile and the performance degrades rather quickly. Not sure how people square this, other than they enjoy winging more than I do…
Winging also feels too similar to windsurfing or kiting in the essence. It expands the feel but not materially different (for me). Easier safer more fun etc etc but the essence is the same - you’re “wave riding”, but you’re also “sail/wing/kite nursing”, more of the latter than the former. You’re getting “lots of waves”, but they all kinda mediocre. Interestingly this is the same with prone I find. When trad-surfboarding you can remember a good wave for days, prone foiling the moments are more quickly lost.
I’ve put a lot of time (documented here) into adding winging to the quiver of options, and it remains my last choice, but I still end up doing it a fair bit. It is fun, in the same way that a cable park is fun, but it doesn’t do it for me. 45min and I get bored, need to start “drills” to get a few hours in to make owning the gear justified.
The wing gets in the way too much, which is super irritating. If this clip of Adam Bennets winging with the wing flapping around like a bloody windsock doesn’t look like it’s getting in the way to you then we have a difference of opinion That straight arm above head handbag wing flap is the epitome of winging in waves for me.
The other stuff is obviously extremely condition dependent for the personal equation. .
Prone is great, but like surfing it’s hard to go beyond intermediate and crowds are bad and lots of foilers is going to be terrible.
DW is it’s own adventure explore thing with associated hassle, not a cheap thrill, once intermediate the issue becomes driving far enough to do a run, 1hr in car for 15min on foil is terrible maths. This will be the end for most. I can imagine fast trains and foil drives might actually be an unlock here (obviously not relevant to the US).
Foil drives, meh you’ll condense all your fun into too short a period and your chimp brain will move you onto the next cheap thrill too soon. Jetski style. Rather borrow one.
Im not arguing whether winging or prone is better. Winging is the best use of a foil for most people.
But for those who do have access to a good prone spot and have experienced waves with no chop, wind, high vol board, or wing in hand it may result in the winging wave riding experience feeling subpar in comparison. I would rather navigate a lineup than a wing. Just the direction I have gone after 4 years of both.
Not surprised there were no SUP foilers in this years Gorge Blowout. Maybe James Casey or Edo could stay on foil through “the dead zone” but it’d be a pump marathon. There’s a solid 2.5 miles of flat between the narrows and Viento and plenty of other marginal areas. Seems like it needs to be averaging 28+ for decent waves even in the best spots once the current dies down (which is about this time of year).
Seems to me an exceptionally limited set of conditions that allows this discipline to exist at all. I just don’t see the point.
I had a discussion the other day with someone about all the SUPfoilers riding through the Hatchery. Well over 50% of the people doing it are not proficient enough to foil consistently and are generally just floating and bobbing (and falling) in the water. In what world would a non-proficient windsurfer, wingfoiler, or kiter be left to float around smack dab in the middle of one of the best, most challenging (and most crowded) riding areas around? Would that person not be told “Hey, maybe you should go somewhere else and improve your skills before riding here…” But somehow with SUPfoilers it’s fine to drift through this incredibly busy riding area? I just don’t get it.
Don’t get me wrong, if you want to paddle downwind up the river and ride waves, go for it. But when you’re impacting other riders who have to avoid you because you’re not proficient enough to be predictable maybe this isn’t the right place to be learning.
Your quest will end with Foildrive.
Thank me later.
I pretty much learnt to foil with a foil drive and pushed into the prone surf side of it pretty hard (FDA+ not the stupidly overhyped GAME CHANGER!!!)
It’s an incredible learning tool but I have enjoyed nearly every aspect of foiling more since selling it and transferring those learnt skills into “real” foiling.
I disagree. I find winging a really poor way to use a hydrofoil….because of the wing getting in the way. Proper wave riding is really hindered by it unless it’s one of those magic sessions when all the angles line up. Admittedly it’s a lot easier than prone and probably why it has such a big following. And FD is fun, but it feels like cheating, it’s super kooky, and barely feels like a workout. My stoke factor from a decent prone session is always much great than when I wing/FD/tow.
Absolutely agree with your latter comments and have posted similarly.
It’s a difficult situation at the Hatchery. Every discipline has the same right to use the site. Unfortunately many users either ignore or don’t know right of way rules. Anyone with a paddle in their hands has right of way, surfskiers, sup and sup foil paddlers. Someone please inform the windsurfers. They are far and away the worst offenders at the Hatchery. They seem way too comfortable doing 20+ 3 feet in front of me.
Yes winging is still the best way to get gobs of time on foil
Plenty of wingers and windsurfers are also bobbing around everywhere in the hatch… I learned there and never had so much as a stern look or bad thing said in my direction by wingers or windsurfers.
It goes a long way to just smile, be friendly, not paddle for a wave when you know someone is going to pass in front of you etc. It’s not a difficult concept to share a space with multiple water users…
I had another thought - winging is like the winch that launches a glider plane. It’s super functional but you want to get rid of it at the first chance. This explains the incredible interest in the parawing, pocketkite, anchorman etc.
Modern foil efficiency is insane, and it stands to get much better due to sailing. Doing 20-40kmh powered only by your legs and the ocean, for hours. Winging enables this but I don’t think it’s the reason people hang around. It will be the way they get upwind to do laps for a long time to come, especially with the new ultralight upwind collapsing wings and kites.
Well yeah. Taking the variables in disciplines, equipment and endless multitude of potential conditions, difference in each rider’s ability, taste/ what they’re wanting to get out of it and nailing down “the best” is… impossible. What I’ve grown to really appreciate about foiling is just that- the adaptability gives me the opportunity to have fun on the water regardless of where I am and what it’s giving me on that day. There’s so few no go days. I feel very fortunate to have this available as I’m a better man when moving and wet.
That straight arm above head handbag wing flap is the epitome of winging in waves for me.