Now that the cold weather has hit us I invested in a pair of 5mm gloves for winging. The gloves did a great job of keeping me warm, but stopped me from getting my hands properly into the handles, I could still wing, but only for about 10 minutes until cramps set in. Has anyone come up with a good solution? Perhaps some way of attaching a larger loop to existing handles
I would stick to 3mm gloves as long as possible. Use precurved gloves to lesson hand fatigue. Use a harness so you can rest your hands. These are currently my favourite winter glove: waterproof.eu/products/accessories/gloves/g1-glove-aramid/
5mm precurved gloves for Oz? Most of us don't even use 5mm gloves in Canadian winters. Consider open palm 3mm mitts, you won't get the arm pump that gloves quickly give and 3mm are much less restrictive. If you can't find open palm neoprene mitts you can cut the palms from paddling mitts. What really helps also if it's like 5C out is to do a quick reach without gloves. Your hands will go numb and be painful for about 5 minutes. Come in and warm them up on the beach then go out again and your hands won't be cold for the rest of your session. It is the weirdest thing, and has to be experienced to be believed. With your air and water temperatures you may then find you may not need mitts/gloves. I should also mention, big soft handles are great with open palm mitts, first gen small loop handles are a bit of a challenge.
Hello, we also surf in Finland during the extremely cold winter. Mittens are the most challenging thing. Personally, I use 5mm mittens in cold weather. In my opinion, the most important thing is that the material on the palm side is very grippy, such as rubber or similar.At the moment, it's really difficult to find mittens with a grippy palm. Sales pictures and promises often claim that the palm side has good grip, but even in expensive brands, it tends to be very slippery. That's why I've personally improved the grip by adding neoprene glue to the palm side. It creates a rubber-like surface. With mittens like these, I can surf for several hours, just like in summer. Of course, it would be most comfortable without mittens."
It's advisable to start using gloves well in advance and gradually so that the wrists have time to adjust. However, my wrists are completely normal. I can only windsurf for a couple of minutes with fully enclosed gloves, but I can engage in wing surfing for hours.
Here is more info about my winter setup:
wingsurf.fi/en/wingsurf-wingfoiling-accessories-wetsuit-harness-leash-pump/
The problem with gloves is less tactile sensation, which makes us grip harder. That leads to fore arm cramps quickly. Thicker wetsuits with tight arms that restrict blood flow make the problem worse. Windsurfers in colder regions are very familiar with this, and thicker diameter booms can make the problem worse.
Open palm mittens reduce this issue a lot. Some brands are better than others, since they differ in how far down the neoprene goes over the fingers. They work well down to near freezing if your fingers are not cold sensitive, and down to 5-8 C air temps if you have cold sensitive fingers (I do). I sometimes use them for winging even if temps are around 10 C, when I don't absolutely need them, since it's more comfortable.
Warmer 5-8 C also 2-3mm gloves work well. In cold -3 to 4 C 5 mm mittens are needed. There is a huge difference between windsurfing and wingsurfing what comes to the gloves, fore arm cramps, and how long the season can be. That is one reason I have sold my windsurfing gear.
Switch to the Cabrinha 2023 handles.I hate winging with thick gloves but with the handles on my Mantis V3 I have zero problems.
