Wingfoiling, wingsurfing, foilwinging, in-fact whatever you want to call it in the space of about 12 months this new sport has exploded onto the scene in the UK. We first saw it in March 2019 whilst on a Duotone/Fanatic dealer trip in Tenerife and its hard to believe how quickly it has grown. In the first Lockdown of 2020 we did a Webinar with Nik Baker and pretty much after that date there has been an explosion of people wanting to learn and purchasing Wingfoiling gear.
A few people have asked “why do you do it?” and I have to say it has an unusual feel about it – it looks like a kite, it handles like a windsurfing sail and feels like when you are up on the foil like being on an endless wave. What I like most about it is that it fits in with conditions from 12-20 knots that you wouldn’t normally bother going out on the water.
Wings: We are mainly selling 2 principle types – with boom or without boom. It seems if you are coming from windsurfing then the transfer is to the boom type of wing; but we are still selling the non boom version from Duotone, Ozone, RRD, Slingshot and the new wing from North when available in March.
The non boom Wings are lighter but its worth coming down to try a few before making your decision. As far as sizing, if you were going to start with just one Wing, if you are at 90kg then a 6m; 80kg 5m and sub 70kg a 4m. You will need different size Wings if you want maximum water time in different wind strengths.
Boards: This is where is becomes a little more complicated and depends on your technical skill on the water with other sports, balance, weight and the prevailing conditions. If you are a beginner one thing is for sure you want water as flat as possible, a compact shape board is essential, Board sizing – 90kg 130litres; 80kg 110litres and then under 80kgs 95litres.
We sell Fanatic SKY SUPs and SKY Wings, Quatro Wing Drifter, RRD and North.
Foils: All the foils we sell are modular which in simple terms means you can purchase different size masts, different fuselages and different front and rear wings. When you start out you will properly want something around a 70cm mast, a standard length fuselage, either a low aspect or high aspect wing around 2000 and a 400 (ish) tail wing.
The problem is when you start foiling your technique is not good enough to pump the foil onto the plane so a fuller chorded low aspect front wing is a much easier way to begin but they tend to hit a top speed quicker and have a lower speed than a high aspect front wing.
When you are thinking about choosing to buy a board, foil and wing combination you do need some technical advice, its not straight forward. You can easily purchase the wrong gear and waste a-load of money and time.
At 2XS we have found, in particular the quality of the foil, bolts, stiffness of the mast, the support that the fuselage gives on the front wing, the fixing points on the tail wing all contribute to the package.
We sell foils from Fanatic, Slingshot, RRD, Axxis and North.
If you are thinking of taking up Wingfoiling we offer lessons at 2XS, with the 2 part BKSA Wingfoil course – the WingTRO and Wing Private.
We also have loads of gear on test at the 2XS Beach site or you can call and speak to Simon directly to get technical advice on what to buy – 01243 512552.
