Hey all
Long term kiter/sup/surf/wake/skate guy here and recently got my PG2 (paragliding)...
I am super fit, keen, and have tried a lot of different sports over the years...
Do you think it is possible for me to learn how to wing foil on my own after relevant YouTube saturation?
I'm thinking the following steps:
1. Buy wing first, ground handle, get comfortable with it on the beach in various wind strength. Perhaps even using a land board might be an option...
2. Use the wing in light winds on my big SUP board(no foil), get comfortable with the power and turning the board etc.
3. Try the wing with the kite board in shallow water, stronger wind.
4. Step up to the foil board in light winds.
Anything I should be aware of, sans safety equipment? (Vest/helmet I have already from wakeboarding)
Cheers
Just get a good beginners kit & go for it. You'll learn how to use the wing in an hour or so. Don't waste time with a sup, (or just try it once to get used to the wing) the mast & foil will be better at holding you upwind . Pick a sandy beach deep enough for the foil (1M + deep with no big rocks) with good walk of shame ability & start trying.
Kite surf college on youtube is the best - no seppo hype attached to it.
It's a really frustrating & difficult sport but really rewarding. 90% of us have just learnt without lessons.
Don't bother going out after the initial wing learning sup experience unless there is a good strong wind. You need the wind as resistance against the wing otherwise you won't be able to balance properly & just wobble about gretting frustrated.
Some people swear by going out behind a boat or jetski to learn how to ride up on the foil. I tried it once however it is nothing like winging as the balance is all different.
Helmet & impact vest for me are a definite esp when learning.
I already sailed and windsurfed when I took up wingfoiling.
I did a session with the local eFoil school (for about an hour) to get the hang of foiling and then basically went it alone, with the support & advice of some helpful locals and lots of YouTube... 
Most of my lack of progress and frustration came from going out in not enough wind.
When you are learning, pumping the wing and board (in synch) to get up on foil is extremely difficult and will expend a lot of energy and cause a lot of frustration especially when you see others out just flicking up and flying whilst you're flapping, falling and swearing.
Minimum of 15knots, flatish water, big board, big wing, big foils
BINGO !
Yes, once you've "cracked the code" less wind, smaller boards, smaller foils, smaller wings all become important and relevant, but to get the basics in the least amount of time you need wind and big, easy gear.
In my opinion it's like with learning about anything else: yes you can absolutely do it on your own, but it saves a lot of time having someone tell you what to do, especially in the beginning when you don't yet know on what to concentrate on.
Half hour playing on beach with wing then an hour on SUP getting from knees to standing, then get learner gear.
It helps loads if other wingers to watch you and chat to. Getting wind right in new sport is tricky, as you kite if wind would be good power on 12m kite you could learn on 6m wing (85kg), if nice on 9m kite then 5m wing.
infinite number of paths to success here, but time doing it is probably most important...and if you do have real frustrations there are plenty of options for getting free feedback online if you take some videos of yourself.
While the balance is different, I think a few hours (or more) on an efoil (or being towed/riding wake) can help a lot.
+1 on having enough wind (and a big enough wing/foil/board...anything to make it as easy as possible to get up on foil...then its all about time on foil).
Plan to hike back upwind and pick a place that allows for that, and get comfortable carrying the gear
ETA - oh...and if you are a skate guy...I've been having a ton of fun with a wing and a surf skate in a big flat parking lot...great wing handling practice and very helpful for understanding how to generate board speed, and to jibe/tack, all without falling 100's of times (or even once)
Most local wingers I know learned on their own. Some learned very quickly, others quite slowly, most somewhere in the middle. Unless you're in the "very quick learner" group, good on-the-water instruction will help a lot.
If you learn on your own, cut out a lot of your steps - they are more likely to hold you back than to help you. Half an hour of wing handling on the beach is certainly a good idea. The SUP without a foil is questionable. Get a big enough beginner board and use that instead for "taxiing" - the foil makes going back upwind a lot easier. Maybe one or two sessions on this on light wind to learn how to stand up and slog back upwind. Then go out on a windy day. As others have said, it's a lot easier for beginners with plenty of wind. I had my first good wing sessions in 20+ knots.
Wing+skateboard and foil behind a boat then combine the two.
I know nobody who took lessons and all except for a very unathletic few are foiling all over the place within a dozen sessions.
Select to expand quoteSpokeyDoke said..
ETA - oh...and if you are a skate guy...I've been having a ton of fun with a wing and a surf skate in a big flat parking lot...great wing handling practice and very helpful for understanding how to generate board speed, and to jibe/tack, all without falling 100's of times (or even once)
Yes mate that sounds awesome !!
I just need to find a place with consistent wind ... I'll probably need a land board. Thinking of buying an old evolve skateboard and taking the motors off and using as a land board?? Or a used land board I guess, if they are still a thing...
Yes. As stated previously. Try and get some time behind a boat. Having a bit of an idea what happens after lift off is good.
Two tips that I was given.
1. Make sure that you are standing in the centre of the board.
2. When things get wobbly when on the foil. Bail out and jump as far from the board as possible. Do not try to recover earlier your flight career.
Goodluck, it will be worth the effort.
Yes. As stated previously. Try and get some time behind a boat. Having a bit of an idea what happens after lift off is good.
Two tips that I was given.
1. Make sure that you are standing in the centre of the board.
2. When things get wobbly when on the foil. Bail out and jump as far from the board as possible. Do not try to recover earlier your flight career.
Goodluck, it will be worth the effort.
Teaching yourself is very rewarding if thats the kind of thing you like doing. I found becoming an Alan Cadiz patreon to get access to all his instructional videos was very helpfun for the first six months or so.
Taught myself, and was foiling fairly consistently after 5 sessions. YouTube is a great asset, as are forums like this and Facebook groups. I'd also ask lots of questions of people at the beach who know what they're doing. Ask lots of questions everywhere. Try things, think about what worked and what didn't and then ask a few more questions. And then try different things. Alan Cadiz has awesome YouTube content.
I do like the idea of doing some eFoiling if you can. You need to get a feel for what its like to ride on the foil. I windfoiled before winging so had a reasonable sense of it.
I didn't do any intermediate steps. I just borrowed a big setup and went for it. Was up and foiling right away. Everyone learns differently so just do what feels right to you and you should be fine. Make sure you have a bail plan.
So all roads lead to Rome! Whichever route you take you will have a blast.My advice to you would be invest in good equipment. Someone like David John can help you there. Where are you going to be foiling most of the time? Light wind, medium wind, high wind ? Get a great foil with an 80-85cms mast. For the average Joe 1550 - 1800 mid aspect is going to be the starting point.Then I would recommend you get yourself a mast plate shim that is about 2mm at the fat end and next to nothing at the other end. Reason being a great foil with a shim can adapt to so many boards, riding styles and conditions. This for me was the key to really unlocking fun foiling. A great front foil on a good length mast with a mast shim to play with once you are making some progress.Your board probably your weight plus 10, so say you are 75kgs look at 85liter boards. Get any old wing, they are all like paper balloons and will disintegrate before your eyes, not too big and not too small.
If you take some lessons with a local guy you will be learning good habits from the get go and maybe connect up with other locals more easily too.
Supsurfer, I have taught a few people now. If you have a windsurfing background, the wing skills are good within 20 mins. If you don't, spend plenty of time on the beach getting the wing skills developed to a good level. You want to be able to have the wing control as second nature. Releasing the wing tips if they get close to touching, flipping the wing, powering the wing, releasing power, swapping hands, changing direction etc etc. The thing that many learners do is not spend enough time on the beach getting wing skills down pat, and then out on the water, get themselves tangled up in a mess cause they struggle flipping the wing while on knees. Then spend a lot of time getting themselves out of a mess rather than standing on a board learning things that are more relevant.
If you have heaps of talent, yeah, maybe you could miss the SUP phase and go directly to a larger foil board and go from there. But most I have taught find the sup is a good second step as it's a stable platform and teaches steering skills combined with wing skills really well. If you're wobbling around on an unstable foil board trying to learn how to taxi gybe, that's not a good way to get the technique refined. Other thing with a sup is you can learn in waist deep water, which means when you fall off, it's easier and faster getting back on. If you can borrow a stable sup for a session or 2, it's well worth it I reckon.
When it comes to foiling, I'd say get behind a tinny and learn some foiling skills. Initially lots of short flights. Fly, then deliberately touch down, then fly again. Also, learn how to "dismount" when you're about to fall off. So rather than trying to save it when things become unstable, know that you're going to fall and eject the board and foil away from you if you can. If you try and save it, you might, but if you don't save it there's a higher risk you can land on the board or foil. Wear a pfd and a helmet.
When it comes to the real thing, get in plenty of wind. Light conditions (sub 15 knots) will be difficult because its hard to learn how to pump the wing and foil to get you that extra power to get foiling. 15-20 knots is ideal. Then you have power to burn/dump which is easier to control when learning.
4 big things that will help you learn fast.
- The right gear. Talk to others about a suitable setup to learn and progress with.
- The gear set up correctly - foil position on board and your position on the board. Getting this wrong can end up with you struggling to get on foil,or getting bucked off all the time.
- Conditions. Consistent wind and flat water is great (this is often very difficult to find as 15 knots will generate some descent chop). Dont go out in offshore winds unless you have a rescue craft who understands what you're doing. If you get stuck or there's a gear malfunction, check out where you will end up. Can you get back safely?
- Good instruction.
As mentioned, lots of us have been self taught. You can do it. Good luck.
@martyj4:
Great advice.
There's one thing I'd like to add: If you want to learn on a SUP, get one with a central fin. Maybe a very big SUP without one works, but I gave up on it very quickly when I realized I wouldn't get anywhere on a 3,20meterish SUP without one.
I rented a big foil board for two sessions and found I was easily able to taxi and to turn round.
Of course, I can't tell you if a massive SUP would have helped me to learn more easily.
I tried a few times.. struggled, then 20knots came and bang off I went, it's a lot of ?? I haven't mastered the 10-15 knots thing yet
DJ it's difficult to offer advice as we don't know how heavy you are and what gear you are on. But I tell other beginners that a good thing to do is imagine you are belly dancing. So once you are standing try to rotate your hips from the rear of the board to the front trying to egg it on and at the same time you do small rotational pumps with the wing, keeping your foil board level you should find that a moment will come when you hit the foil take off speed and you will find yourself in a kind of heavenly place
