How lucky are we to go Winging when the Winds are light fickle or a lot of lulls and have a great time .And when the Wind is cranking pull the Windsurfer out and go for a blast .It really is the best of both worlds . And you don't need to wrestle huge sails anymore just pick another Water toy . Please Share your thoughts Cheers Rich
Indeed, we are very lucky that foils have expanded our low-wind range, giving us more options and play time on the water. For some (myself included), using a sail and switching from foil to fin as the wind increases works better than winging, though. After 100 sessions winging, I still need a couple more knots with the wing than with a sail. That's mostly due to skill and fitness limitations - I may be able to pump myself up on a foil a couple of times with the wing in similar light wind, but since I don't foil through jibes, that does not last long. Windfoiling makes it easier to use a bigger sail (a 7.0 foil sail feels smaller than a 6.5 wing), and waiting for the next gust is a lot easier with a rig.
That said, I was quite surprised in yesterday's sessions how much the low end has changed for better wingers in the last couple of years. A couple of years ago, seeing just one windfoiler and one or two wingers getting up in light wind, while everyone else tried and failed, was normal. Yesterday, there were plenty of wingers pumping up onto the foil even in the lulls, with no whitecaps in sight. That included some regular-sized guys on smallish wings , like 5.3, on narrow boards. The improvements in both gear and skills are quite amazing.
I agree - best of both worlds! I have a 25knot 'rule: sub-25 it's Wingfoiling. 25+ it's Windsurfing!
I love Wavesailing and Speedsailing and after 40 years of windsurfing I still get twitchy when the wind starts to crank and want to sail. Most of my kiting mates have stopped kiting and just go Winging now. (But kiters always were trend followers
)
Also, my learning curve at Winging has been very slow and I'm still an 'intermediate' - I think the issue is having to un-do 40 years of windsurfing muscle memory!? When I windsurf I'm an 'expert' so it's nice to go into that mode and experience 'flow-state' - especially when you are 50-mumble years old.
Still love the sensation, power and physicality of windsurfing - it feels like a sport and your muscles burn and heart rate is high and you are moments away from disaster if you lose concentration.
My smallest wing is a 4.0 and I don't feel the need to get a smaller one as if it's too windy for the 4.0 then it's about 6.2/5.3 sail weather. My biggest sails are 6.7 Severne Overdrive and 6.2 Severne Blade Pro - so quite small sizes for my big sails - which is good as when I bust them out I'll be lit-up.
The other thing is that I am Winging a lot as the conditions in Auckland are ideal - so I look forward to a windsurf session when the wind cranks. Besides, I have 6 waveboards, 2 slalom boards and 9 sails to choose from and that have all been recently upgraded to keep me stoked on going windsurfing.
Foiling is amazing and unlocks so many new experiences and will be the future - but sometimes I just wanna go for an old-school blast and that puts a big smile on my face
