Windwing on a longboard

I'm pretty sure I've seen a vid of Robbie Naish on a plan old SUP. Seemed to work okay but wasn't very exciting.

Yeah seen that too. Question is if you could get upwind and back to the take off spot. Then surf it from there. Repeat. If you have a spot that's good in sideshore wind, you could surf without paddling maybe. (All speculation ...I haven't tried one yet)

Yeah gorgo. Good plan. It'll be esasier than the kite sup thing....I found it challenging not to drift under the kite and slack lines. With wing on a longboard , could maybe start kneeling until get a little speed.

Anyone manage to go up wind with a wing combo? Was thinking those flat days then no fun with a paddle as to windy. Can you engage a rail or just rely on the fin and length of board.

Hello

I am also just testing with my wing and built myself these fins out of plywood.
Without them I couldn't go upwind (ISUP is disigned for the river). The only thing is that after a while both start to lean in one direction (like on the last picture, the other one is already under the board). Next time I will try it with a ratchet to get it tighter.

But as colas already wrote, it is ok for testing the wing because you dont have to worry about balance. As soon as I will get my foilboard I dont think I will be using these fins much anymore (or only if I go together with my son).

And thanks to all in this forum --> great Information for beginners.

Nicely done both of you, good to hear first hand reports.

Flat water non-foil use: optimal board might be a wide learner windsurfer with retractable dagger board. Put it down to get upwind, pull it up to play in the waves back.

Physical aspects: I am maybe 8 sessions in, with 1 or 2 good ones -- main problem has been doing it in sub-15 kts. Once up on foil, all the weight comes off your arms, wing feels like it is pulling more up than forward, and there's very little arm strain. But before getting up on foil, I have found it really hard on the body. Arms, shoulders, and the muscle along the rib cage side....thought I was going to rip them out last session attempt. I recall similar in early days of kiting, but especially wind surfing, not really knowing the efficiencies yet, so trying to overpower it into submission. All in all, has been harder than I expected, eating some humble pie. mmm mmm

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IanInca said..

One of the attraction to the wing and the foil (and wing/sup) was potentially using it in lighter winds. I'm hoping 10 to 15 knots will be doable on the 5m, if not the 7m will be a purchase..

I'm sure some of that pie will be headed my way soon!!!!

I have the 5m Gong and so far towards 20 seems to be the ticket to getting up on foil. I suspect I will get this down to 15kt with practice, but below that, it may just be the pros and other freaks who can find speed from near nothing.

I am considering trading in my 5m for a 7m ... mostly because my interest is doing this on light days, when there's waves to play in. When it's above 15kt, I will likely kite instead. So if a 7m gets me out 10-15kt that would be excellent. But, talking to more experienced folks, the bigger the wing, the heavier it is, and that can apparently become an issue in light winds.

I also believe there's going to be a shake down in the industry, where performance and build quality will start to become clearer. 10 brands may shrink to 3-4. Or maybe we will see 3 echelons: highest quality $$$, then medium "good enough", and then the cheapies for the lake punters. Right now we have some price variation, but it's not yet based on quality. So we have to guess from user reports and posted videos, but separate out the myth from reality. For example, I see more videos of the ozone wasp doing big airs and the FOne Swing'ers riding in surf (which is ultimately what I want to do) than for any other brands ... are their wings capable of things the others aren't? Or maybe even just marginally better? Or do they just have better marketing departments and better team riders?

I'm only a few sessions in on the 5mtr Duotone and sup with either the 102 or 900 Axis foil.

Its pretty easy with 15knots+ but until the board (6'8) gets up and foiling it is pretty hard work.
Once it does the wing is heaps easier to hold and the board just points upwind easily.

I haven't tried it on a normal SUP yet (and doubt I ever will except maybe once or twice to try it) but I'd imagine it would be fairly hard work just to go back and forward, to get upwind would take some effort.

Something like an old school windsurfer with a dagger board may get upwind ok, to me though windwings are designed for use with a foil and are not going to be much fun for long without one.

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warwickl said..

Abdillam said..
My first try of my duotone 5m before I progressed to the foil board... good way to get used to handling the wing before attempting to learn to foil

Please tell me more of your experience, e.g. how to turn a race board with the wing, balancing and starting etc
Thanks

My 14 sup is a pin tail and I found myself way back on the tail...which is very narrow but managed to balance. This was a downwinder and I do a lot of them paddling so used to being back on the board. I was able to gybe downwind fairly easily. I've also done a lot of windsurfing so switching stance was also no problem.
Starting on your knees...get some power in the wing and let it pull you up as you stand up.
This run was about 10kms and my first time using the wing. Was actually a bit of fun...a lot quicker on a race board than trying it on a 10'6 or something like a surf sup. The race board glides downwind

I'm now winging on a foil board...much more fun getting up on the foil