I've been windsurfing for about 35 years and foiling for about the last 7.
In case you haven't seen, I've got a youtube.com/@Berowne channel with 100's of videos on foiling sessions, races, and a dozen instructional videos... so I know how to foil.
This year I decided to wing... but I wanted to get into it a little bit at a time.
The Cheap Approach
New Board - no need... I took my smallest 125L 75cm wide SB Foil Board and made it work.
New Foils - no need... originally, I started off just riding my biggest foil from my course racing days, with the shortest fuselage I could get.
The Wing - need... Can't use anything I had so I bought a 6m wing 2nd hand.
A couple of sessions in and I could get the board up and flying but minimum speed was quite high which made getting going harder than it needs to be, and gybes a challenge. But hey it was early days and only 2 or 3 sessions. If this is all I had, I could make it work. Except for the footstraps. They are way too far forward... but for a dedicated windurfer, it is possible.
Riding Backwards - use the damn straps!
One of the strangest things... I tried riding back to the beach goofey/switch stance and it felt awful! After falling the 3rd time I sat on the board and thought about it. Why was riding backwards so hard, I windsurf both directions every damn day! So I tried the foot straps and my brain switched a gear, it made much more sense to my body and I made it work!
But!!! Because the front strap is so far forward and outboard I had to adapt and put my back foot well back and over the centreline, so I could maintain board trim. Some new ideas for board conversion below.
Using Dedicated Gear
New Foil - Of course I went with some F4 foils... and the new 1450 front wing is epic. Flies at 10kt easy and feels comfortable accelerating from barely more than walking speeds to flight mode. I need to get more confident before I push 20kts or try one of the smaller wings, but pretty pleased with the first run! 
New Board - Yes Please. I have heard that dedicated foil boards can help... a bit narrower so they have better base speed and obviously with footstraps in the right spot will help a lot.
New Wings - Sure, I've only got a 6.0m at the moment, so looking at a 5.0 next.
I'm a long way from flying gybes, tacks or videos.... but hey it is fun to try something new and the setup - especially with F4 and an e-pump is so much quicker than racing windfoil gear! I can plug the pump into the wing, setup the foil, and I'm ready in minutes. Sweet.
It's easy to see why winging is growing so fast as a sport.
Easy setup
I forgot my pump... which didn't have a guage and so I went off to the shop to buy one. ~$100 for a manual pump or ~$250 for a battery pump made more sense to me.
FootStrap plan...
To help dual purpose riding, I'll try to find some of these footstraps and put them inboard at the rear most hole of the front foot position. It won't be on the centre line but should be a lot better than current situation.
www.surffx.com.au/products/dakine-cobra-half-hook
sold out. What else would you recommend??
Slingshot twice the price and also sold out.
slingshotaustralia.com.au/products/slingshot-foot-hook
Really good writeup man
Just be cautious of too much use with feet in the wrong position on a slalom or foil race board - pretty much all have minimal patching in the standing areas and nowhere else.... so you will get heel dents anywhere else. Like putting a learner on a formula board, they wreck it from standing in the middle as its only solid in the area under pads and (maybe) a patch in the foot stomp area for gybing in between the straps.
What Mark said. The edges of reinforcement can be especially problematic. I've had a recurring problem with one of my freestyle boards at the back strap. I often had my foot out of the strap towards the side to push the fin more. The skin clearly broke at the edge of the (wood) reinforcement, requiring a repair. First attempt with epoxy and glass did not hold long at all - had to dig deeper and rebuild the sandwich in this area, with added reinforcement, to fix the problem. Race boards probably have carbon instead of wood reinforcements, which does not create a hard edge like wood does, but similar things could happen.
My windsurf foiling got so much better after winging. With windsurf foil there is always the "noise" of the mast base pressure that is confounding everything you do. With the wing it is so much less (there is still some extra force being driven through your front leg, but since the lever arm is so low it's much easier to eat with).
So with the wing you feel the foil more and I learned how to properly ride the foil. And the beginner/basic wing jibe you lift the wing overhead and ride the foil around the turn. When I returned to twin masts I started releasing the back hand as soon as I started the jibe and just let momentum and the foil take me around. My jibing % went up especially in choppy waters.
Overall I prefer twin masts to twin leashes, especially when the wind is 5.0 and lighter, but I'm learning a lot winging and it's a nice change up.
Very good post Berowne!
The GP 1450 foil is great. A friend of mine, that is at beginner level, got one.I tried it for a session, and it is so easy going.
I could tack it in any situation, wind or no wind:) And for its size, it is not slow. Clocked 22.5 knots @ 2 sec on it, with the 220 rear.
Normally I am on the Wahoo 700, or Hoki 815/1000. But I liked the 1450 so much that I ordered one myself. Just to have for super light conditions, and when learning new moves.
The GP foils like to be far forward in the board, so where you have it now will make things very difficult. A 95cm plate mount mast, or a wingfoil board with a deep tuttle box in the right place will be an huge upgrade.
If I move my foil 5-10cm back, I would look like a complete beginner.
Don't waste your time with weird footsteps etc. Just buy a half decent second hand wing board, it's maybe $700, doing anything else is just throwing good money after bad.
Select to expand quoteswoosh said..
Don't waste your time with weird footsteps etc. Just buy a half decent second hand wing board, it's maybe $700, doing anything else is just throwing good money after bad.
Got to agree, especially with the slightly longer and narrower wing boards coming out now. These boards really get up early and with the ability to not only pump the wing but pump the board as well you can get going in really light wind.
Well done getting that setup to work. I came from a windfoiling background. Did the same as you and tried my windfoil board for winging, and it just didn't work for me. I found the foil was positioned way too far back on the board. You'd have to stand forward on the board to gain speed without sinking the tail, then gradually step back while still trying to retain speed before getting up on foil. I think you'll find it much easier making the jump to a dedicated wingboard. The foil position will be way better. I'm with Swoosh on this one.
Indeed, you want to stand and also move the foil quite a bit more forward when winging There are wind foil boards that can do both disciplines well. Well balanced and lively feel both when wind foiling or winging. Here's an intermediate wind foiler trying winging and doing super well already. His 4th day, and that was his first day with enough wind to really fly. The exact same foil used both for wind foiling and winging. Just moving the foil more forward for winging.
I came in to the sport the same way as you. Windfoiling gear was to remain as my lightwind gear as I used winging gear in high wind. Eventually the time came and I found I'd use any excuse to wing over windfoil. Next thnig I knew I was listing my windfoil gear on Marketplace before there was no market for it. I now have a wingfoil setup that obliterates the low end of my biggest windfoil setup and haven't looked back at all! Beware, it could happen to you!
