Wind Wings

Thanks JB. I had a paddle in with a hard frame wing towing behind me and it was a bit like throwing out an anchor. I should have realized there would be minimal drag on an inflatable doing the same thing. So no need to deflate it on the water. That way if the wind comes back I can still sail in. I am impatiently waiting for a Wingsurfer from my Naish dealer.

The race to market is really interesting. Slingshot had the first post I saw, maybe 2 months ago, resurfacing a wing they invented 10 years ago. Now, just a short time later, we see maybe 8 to 10 companies ready to go.

Were all these companies each secretly prototyping designs over the past few years and coincidentally releasing at the same time? (Where's the videos of the experiments)

Are they hastily building their own equivalents? (Imitation being best flattery) this looks to be a super simple design. Compared to kiteboarding kites , much less technical and also much lower consequences if it doesn't work perfectly....safety concerns lessened. Kite maker could probably churn out a reasonable working copy in a half day in their shop is my guess.

Or is there one factory in China churning out rebranded copies? (Why has no one trademarked this design?)

I am intrigued but not $1k intrigued. Really looking forward to playing around with one,maybe I'll be the first in Canada. But I'll have to wait till a cheaper version arrives ... used, secondary brands, or when the China factory starts selling them out the back door on Ali Express. :-) sorry brands....but there it is. Sounds like no shortage of punters with cash in hand any way.


In the meantime I may experiment with Jerry rigging my 3m prodigy. Tie rear lines together and figure out a handle....maybe sew on a few loops. If it works I'll make a thread for DIY wind wings for the 8 people interested worldwide...a niche in a niche in a niche.

$1375 for the 5m

I am of two minds.

One: defending the mad geniuses and innovators pushing the envelope. An old technology that has new potential ... surf foils are the chocolate in the peanut butter, mmm mmm. But so many haters! For me, this seems to meet a sweet spot in surf foiling ... wave riding without paddling, but also without the hassles involved in being tethered to a kite in marginal winds, bad launches, etc.

Two: kind of amused at all the companies each claiming to be the originators. (no offence JB) I actually don't care who gets the blue ribbon, I just want a decent one cheap. Someone sponsor me -- and if it works, I'll say nice things about you online everywhere I can. It's not that I am against selling out, just no one has asked.

however, tennis elbow point is valid....it's a non-starter if that's the case. SUP foiling kills my elbow, as does surf kiting in higher winds (lots of one handed arm extended bar use). I am now pursuing surf foiling partially for this reason. Reports are that arm strength is not much of an issue, as the wing luffs when riding downwind in the waves. But remains to be seen elbow impact.

Well obviously it was not achieved with the first windsurfing gear because as the sport developed and the gear got better windsurfers developed a whole range of sail sizes.

The point i was making is that just because it is possible to use 1 sail in an extreme range of conditions doesn't mean that is it's good working range.

Once again just based on my own conjecture but I believe Naish has chosen the one size that works for the widest range of users and conditions. Having just one size would be easier and cheaper to produce and quicker to bring to market. They will almost definitely bring out a number of different sizes further down the line as this improves the range of use and more importantly sells more units!

Also Naish is the only brand that has decided to bring out just one size of kite wing. In windsurfing and kiting sails and kites are almost always offered in a wide range of sizes so I feel Naish is going a bit out on a limb with their one size fits all strategy.

The pic of Rob Naish that I first saw was a wing of only 3M wing span. So looks like different sizes to come when when we start wanting them. Same as the foils when they first came out.

Only 3m wing span that should be reasonably manageable , I thought they were much wider.

This will make a hell of a lot more sense as more people get to try the Wing-Surfer.

Very important not to get confused thinking that the Wing-Surfer is hear to replace all wind sports!! It is NOT!

As Colas said earlier, we all used to get away with one size sometimes two. Windsurfer One Design is still one size, and probably the largest windsurfing class in the world still (and it's having a resurgence too with the LT). When I started Kiteboarding back in the super early days, I only had one size. It took ages for them to make 2. The reason ranges get expanded is the need for greater performance, more speed, higher jumps and so on.

Generally the first evolution of most things is middle of the road, easy to use, stable and fun! Then we want more.

With everything as you increase one side of the performance spectrum you sacrifice something on the other. There is not magical anything out there that just does everything!

Naish' direction (at the moment) with the Wing-Surfer is to stay middle of the road, keep it limited to fun and accessible. This is also what Naish has done with its Windfoiling line. Sometimes people just want to have fun and not worry about jumping higher that Bob, for going faster than Benny.

Now, something to think about! The Wings have been around for decades (4+), but never really taken off!! Why??? In my opinion foiling, and more to the point Surf foiling has opened the window. The wings have been around and regularly used on the snow and ice because of the low drag/friction. This allows us to get more performance out of a smaller wing which makes it manageable.

Enter Surf Foiling! Big ass wings and designs that have not ever been seen before (yes foiling has been around for decades and more too, but not like this, and not as accessible as this). What a great time to dust off those old Water Wing designs companies tried to develope some 40 years ago.

Yes the Wing-surfer works and is fun on a SUP, but you're likely not going to get planning, go fast or get any serious air, but it's fun and great for the general cruising person that just wants to float along and enjoy the day.

Foiling is where the Wings will show their real potential, but even then, there will be limitations to those that try to up the performance as any wider in the wing span will be incredibly hard to use - This eliminates higher aspect designs (normally the first place to go to get more bang for your buck).

One size fits all. Well it does! Because you can easily dump power by flying the wing high, the bottom en is good, but you still beed 12kn approx. so it's not like Wind or Kite Foiling where you're going incredibly early. When the gusts come on the Wing-Surfer's Luff Strut design allows the profile to flatten off (something the others do not have), this means you can sheet out without ridiculous amounts of flapping of back powering because of fu length battens and the like, this is why some brands need to have more sizes, because like with a fully battened sail, they don't like being flagged, the battens flap back and forth and result in the sail being uncomfortable and near impossible to use. The Wing-Surfer does not do this, it sits still and behaves it self. Yes in 40kn, it would not be fun, holding a hanky in 40kn is hard work. No-one going out in 40kn is looking for a nice cruizy time. This was not the point of noting this above, but merely the fact that it has been done (which honestly surprised me).

Anyway, super stoked to see Naish have launched the official Wing-Surfer Website wing-surfer.com which has heaps of info, pics and video to check out.

It will be good to see all the great content going up as the wings start delivering around the globe.

Yes, you're going to be jealous if you haven't put your name on one, they are heaps of fun.

No, you're not going to go out and sell all your wind gear because of the Wing.

Yes, you'll likely have more fun days on the water each year because of the Wing-Surfer's addition to your wind quiver.

No, you probably won't be more desirable to the opposite sex because you have a wing (except the added days on the water and prolonged sessions because you're having so much fun will result in you getting fitter and more buff).

If you're not interested, thats fine. But don't bag it until you've really tried it. But place it in expectations that it's not designed for. And accept it as a pretty cool thing that is going to give a lot of people out there more giggles each year (if not yourself).

Keep stoked,

Ride safe,

JB