Anyone learning wing land boarding without skateboarding experience? Can it be done? Thinking of the 4 big wheel mountainboard. Any recommendations? Too many days sitting on the beach parking lot with light breeze. Would like to use the mountainboard time to dial in transitions.
Sure. Wear helmet and knee, elbow, wrist protection. Pavement is much harder than water.
I just used my longboard in a big empty parking lot before I could afford a board. Biggest issue is scraping your wing tips, so put some painters tape in them. This is also super helpful for learning transitions even after you can foil both ways.
It's fun but there are some issues. If you don't know how to skateboard, you will probably hurt yourself. Depending on your age, it could take a lot of time and money to heal. So please buy all the goofy gear. It's pretty easy to pop a wing on a hard crash or if it hits a rock or something sharp on the ground. I've popped two wings this way. Maybe buy a used wing for this purpose.
I spent an hour wing skating last night, super fun. 5m in 8-10kts was just perfect. Little pump to get going then easy to glide through tacks and 360s. Gybes are little more sketchy on wheels since you can build more speed than you'd like.
Tried both a longboard with loose trucks and a small one with big wheels. Prefer the small board.
I've had a few really fun sessions with the wing and skateboard. I use a longboard that i've retrofited with the 'Surf'skate style front truck that allows for looser, surfier feel, with tighter transitions compared to a standard board.
Best session was with my 2M wing and 18-25 knt breeze at a spot/road right on the water. I was almost getting lifted off the board in the gusts with the wing overhead and gusts ramping off the bulkhead. Lots of fun tacking out of the lane with an oncoming car (25 mph zone).
Helmet helmet helmet.
big fan of skateboarding with wing, at the spot Grant M is at -- clover point in Victoria BC. You need barely any wind on pavement, I hear mountain boarding you need more power, as there's more drag. Yes, be careful, maybe do some skating around without wing until you feel comfortable. It's great for working on gybes and tacks. And it's fun too.
if you're comfortable on a skateboard then yes. it's a great way to learn how to generate forward propulsion w/ the wing, and it's also a good way to learn transitions. if you're not comfortable on a skateboard, then it could be very dangerous.
If you are comfortable riding a skateboard and know how the wing works, easy and fun. My Mrs likes winging on roller skates.
Select to expand quotesultanofwing said..
windskate - it was painful
Wind skate is sketchy as hell and feels very unlike windsurfing, 0/10 would not do again.
Wing skate is to exact opposite, super easy and analogous to winging.
Wanting to improve my gybes I bought a surf skate style skateboard. Despite being in my 40s with no skateboarding experience. It took around 10 sessions to get comfortable on the skateboard before I was ready to add the wing. I started really slow, practicing all the basics like stopping and starting before attempting to ride with any speed, or leave my comfort zone.
Once I started skating with the wing I loved it, and found it easy to link turns and even practice toeside.
From my experience learning to skateboard on a surf skate is far easier than learning to wingfoil or windsurf. As to the safety factor, use common sense and control the risk and you'll be fine. Avoid areas with loose gravel sticks or debris on the road surface, and find an open space like a basketball court where you don't have to make tight turns or worry about traffic.
I have an old Land Board with pneumatic tires for the beach and I used to put a windsurf rig on it. Slower and softer ground than with skate board/asphalt.
Works great with wing on the beach at low tide. Practiced my jibes and going toe side with it early on. I should probably try tacking on it as that is my next challenge.
Select to expand quoteBotanyCruzer said..
Wanting to improve my gybes I bought a surf skate style skateboard.
What surf skate did you go for? I've been thinking about a Carver with the CX trucks just to increase my boardsport time, and some possible time with the wing in a big parking lot
hah, i learned a lot windsurf skating and wing skating.
don't agree that windsurf skating has nothing to do w/ windsurfing... it's a great tool for learning some sail handling things and also for feeling apparent wind. helped me immensely with the duck tack and shove its believe it or not.
Wing skating gives you a good exercise in how to generate forward propulsion with the wing without having to learn to foil. Also, wing handling and transitions.
Select to expand quoteSpokeyDoke said..BotanyCruzer said..
Wanting to improve my gybes I bought a surf skate style skateboard.
What surf skate did you go for? I've been thinking about a Carver with the CX trucks just to increase my boardsport time, and some possible time with the wing in a big parking lot
I have a Carver Tyler 777 with CX trucks. I went for the 777 deck because it's the longest one they do and I am fairly tall. It's a great board and the trucks feel spot on. It's been instrumental for improving my backhand surfing and suping.
Select to expand quoteIngenuity said..
Anyone learning wing land boarding without skateboarding experience? Can it be done? Thinking of the 4 big wheel mountainboard. Any recommendations? Too many days sitting on the beach parking lot with light breeze. Would like to use the mountainboard time to dial in transitions.
I bought a basic land board with similar intentions to yours, but I have spent almost all of my childhood into my mid twenties surfing and skateboarding. Then life got in the way, but I am back in the water and on wheels after nearly 15 years of doing other things.
The land board has been really good for getting my jibeing going and learning how to handle the wing. I would recommend starting out on large grass areas, such as parks etc, since the speed will be limited and grass is more forgiving than tarmac. I can't really say how it will feel without surfing / skateboarding experience, but I don't feel like I am using much of my skateboarding experience at all on the land board, apart from balance muscle memory.
I have one of these for reference
powerkiteshop.com/mbs-colt-90.htm
I took the straps off because they force your feet into a position that felt super awkward to me.
