Standup Zone Forum
The Foil Zone => Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP => Topic started by: Admin on May 14, 2020, 03:23:51 AM
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Completely stoked that these things are here! I picked these up yesterday (pretty well 5 minutes after I got the call). I was already packed with our current boards (and I want to get these set up right) so I haven't gotten them wet yet. That is a little bit of a shame because yesterday was perfection and it would have been an amazing first day but, oh well. They will get wet!
First things first. The packaging was amazing and the boards all arrived in great shape. Pulled them out of their boxes and the first impression is that the fit and finish is top notch. They feel bomber. I know, saying something feels strong is kind of like saying it looks light. All the same, they feel bomber.
Yes, it is 3 AM and yes, I have been weighing and measuring boards. It pretty well goes without saying that the numbers that get printed on any production board can be disregarded lightly regarded. I consider those marketing names only. The notable points on these are that the listed weights all seem to have included the footstraps, footstrap hardware and foil mounting hardware so without that the boards are all lighter than posted. Also the lengths are all shorter. The 4'8 is 4'6, the 5'0 is 4'10 and the 5'4 is is a skosh under 5'3.25. The widths are all correct within a quarter inch (but where they are off they are under). I can't say what this does to volume, if anything.
These are the actual specs of the 3 boards within a quarter inch and on my bathroom scale:
4'8: 4'6 x 22 at 11.9 lbs.
5'0: 4'10 x 24 at 13.8 lbs.
5'4: 5'3.25 x 26 at 15.4 lbs.
More soon...
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They look nice.
How did you measure length? Top, bottom, bottom following the nose curve, bottom following the nose and tail curve?
Shapers measure the bottom following the rocker curve. Measuring the deck side, makes a board about 2 inches shorter.
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Very interested to hear how it goes with the smaller two. Have fun!
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Hi Dwight,
I measure tip to tip by positioning each board vertically (no lean) with the tail on the floor and holding an angle square to nose and to the wall and then measuring in a straight line from the floor to the angle square. I find this to be the most helpful. It tells you what size bag you need and what the fit in your car will be like. It is also nice for comparing to other boards (at least our other boards). Our Slingshots are within a quarter inch to their name measures of 6'6 and 5'10 tip to tip using the same method above.
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Ok, So Sky measured them the right way ;D. I wonder if straight is the windsurf way? Have not measured any windsurf boards to check the theory.
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Get them wet ASAP!!! and tell us your impressions!
they look really good!
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The Trifecta Admin! Those Sky Wing foil boards look great. I have a 6'6" 115 ltr Sky SUP foil board and love it, but also looking forward to downsizing to a smaller wing foil specific board this summer.
Looking forward to your reviews
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Boards look super cool. You will love the handles on the underside. Makes the whole carrying the wing struggle much easier.
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They do look real nice no doubt just wish they woulda made a model for us larger riders😡
wish they made a 110-120L winger board,looking forward to a ride report👍
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I saw them today at the end of a fruitless but enjoyable ride to Roosevelt in hopes of wind. No joy. But it was nice to hang out, Diane was thrilled to get out of the house and have humans (Admin and Chan) to talk to. She literally said that, so obviously I don't count in that category, which many people will find unsurprising.
Those boards look sweet, and while they are really dinky, the larger one looks like it would work for me. I'm going to have to con Admin into a board swap, though I know he's seen what my wings look like (mauled by lions) and may be a bit reticent. It was Maui--coral reefs, no such problem here, I swear.
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You can try it for sure. We will just do a deep water swap :). A good time to come by will be when I am screaming, "f#%! this stupid little thing". I am sure I have a week of that ahead of me. Let's hope its only a week...
Things I have noticed so far:
It is really nice to have footstrap inserts that allow dual front straps without modifications. If you like that setup this is great. You actually get angle options as well. you can use either the inner or outer board inserts for more or less angle and then you can fine tune with the three holes on each side of the straps themselves. That gives you a pretty significant angle range. It is also really nice that you don't have to double up on a single screw (for the back screw of the front straps). There are two insert lines there and they have just enough spread to easily go side by side. I set us up at the lower angle position and using the widest possible spread for the strap. That makes it so I have about 2 inches of nose to tail slide in the front strap. I like that a lot on my old board. Chan has a lot more slide for her tiny feet.
The straps themselves are really nice. They have a cm ruler at the adjustment overlap so you can switch easily between riders. Honestly though, even the middle 5'0 (4'10) size looks tiny to me for a kneestart board at this point so board switch seems pretty unlikely at least in the short term.
These handles are super nice. They have internal angle on both sides of each handle and that allows for a really positive grip and a lot of control over the board. My walking sucks so anything that gets me in/out of the water easier is awesome.
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Use the wing surfer as an outrigger (when mounting and getting situated perfectly on the deck) and you’ll be fine on the small one. I can ride Jacky’s little board no problem.
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Hi Admin, stoked that you got your new boards. What’s the deal with the vent plug? I see an ATTENTION tag. Is it a remove after every use plug or a goretex vent plug?
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Use the wing surfer as an outrigger (when mounting and getting situated perfectly on the deck) and you’ll be fine on the small one. I can ride Jacky’s little board no problem.
What size and volume is Jacky's board? 4'10 x 24 wide just looks tiny to me thinking of my goofy knee start. I will be stoked if the 5'4 works and anything else will be gravy.
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Hi Admin, stoked that you got your new boards. What’s the deal with the vent plug? I see an ATTENTION tag. Is it a remove after every use plug or a goretex vent plug?
I tossed those but I think it is a pretty generic message. Loosen when out of water. I never do. I only take them out when I fly with them.
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For reference, here is the Fanatic 4'8 (4'6) next to a Slingshot High Roller 4'6 Surf foilboard and an Outwit SUP 5'10 foilboard. Second shot I added my 6'6 Outwit.
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This will help you with the little one
https://youtu.be/SPmSEm28Eq4
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Wow, that was great.
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Thanks Bill. I was motivated by something I saw yesterday.
A young teen, sponsored pro wakeboard champion, and winger, so good he rides a 30 liter board winging, boosting air in straps..became a total kook trying to mount and ride Jacky’s wing board and deal with the leash. He normally rides leash less.
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This will help you with the little one
That is a nice video DW. Lots of good stuff in there. I can't lift a knee from a kneel without using both hands on the deck so I have to do that before lifting the wing. The two problems with this are that I have no forward motion when I go for my knee and that the nose gets pulled straight downwind every time when I lift the wing. I have learned to make that adjustment really quickly on our current boards but I think I will have to learn it again for these little ones.
Have you tried the FCS Freedom leash on your ankle? You will never have to do any of that leash clearing again. I hated that.
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The FCS freedom leash works equally well on a waist belt. Even stepping on it is not the big deal it is with a regular leash. I haven't tested the breaking strength but I like them too well to give it up even if there are strength issues. I would use one on a big SUP or anything in big waves, but for winging with foilboards it works well.
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I saw them today at the end of a fruitless but enjoyable ride to Roosevelt in hopes of wind. No joy. But it was nice to hang out, Diane was thrilled to get out of the house and have humans (Admin and Chan) to talk to. She literally said that, so obviously I don't count in that category, which many people will find unsurprising.
Those boards look sweet, and while they are really dinky, the larger one looks like it would work for me. I'm going to have to con Admin into a board swap, though I know he's seen what my wings look like (mauled by lions) and may be a bit reticent. It was Maui--coral reefs, no such problem here, I swear.
Bill be great if you can try and talk admin in for a test run on the 95L to see if that can be doable for us HW class riders,I’m wanting to downsize from my Kalama supfoil for a more wing specific board and not a lot of options for us larger riders out there was eyeing the Fone V2 6’0”120L but not coming till late june/July the sky wing 95L looks nice but is that a bit to small for us HW the $1300 question?
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Have you tried the FCS Freedom leash on your ankle?
I have. It drives the leash deep and it gets caught on the foil wing tips. I much prefer the coil because it never gets caught on the foil. I can deal with a leash I can see, better than one deep under water doing weird stuff.
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Admin -- I'm thinking about purchasing a 5' 10" SS Out Wit. Is it a descent wing foil board?
Thanks for any feedback.
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Paddlur, I'm going to wait until Admin stops thrashing around on the board before I ask to try it. And since I kind of ran him over today while he was trying to get up onto the board, and it certainly wasn't completely on purpose, I think he might bear a grudge. It probably would have been better if I hadn't laughed about it.
I may have to wait for the statute of limitations to expire.
I am thinking that my 6'6" X 32 Flying Dutchboy board is a bit too big, and I'll be considering something under six feet, but still wide and thick. I'm thinking somewhere around 5'8" X 31" but that might be my inner chicken talking. If I can get up on Admin's little toy maybe I'll be more aggressive sizing my next wing board. I was stupid in sizing the Flying Dutchman for both foil surfing and winging. Its a little too small for comfortable paddling and a little too big for winging. That shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Its almost the definition of "compromise".
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Funny one Bill almost spewed by brew! Kinda in the same boat I’m riding my Kalama 6’8”140L for surf supfoiling love it for that app,but like you for winging would like to try a little smaller I keep telling myself or maybe I’m fooling myself?At any rate hopefully you can patch things up with admin for the accidental flybys so you maybe could have a go on that 95L and see if it’s doable for us HWs or not,hoping it might be as that would sweet as it’s a great looking wing board.On another note don’t know much about the Fone boards as never seen one in person but perhaps when the V2 6’0”120L become available that might be a option for us big guys production board wing specific wise. Wish I knew more about Fones build quality that’s a concern.Certainly like to hear the reviews of the sky wing 95L from admin and especially a fellow HW hopefully you might get a chance if the flybys subside give em little more airspace😳
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Hah! Bill did surprise me with a little wing thump on the back of the head. Dickbag. I was preparing what was certain to be a glorious and graceful kneestart and I hear this decidedly evil sounding cackle behind me. Then thump and I'm in the drink. It actually makes sense that he was so close because the other 80 miles of available, windy river were clearly not as alluring as the 5 foot four inch section that I was using. Much better now. He can still try the board.
This (5'4) is going to be great. Let's do the tough stuff first. The wind was a gusty 11 to 25. Blasty, but still in the fun range. I was on a 5.0 Swing and an Axis 920 with a 400 tail, which was as good a choice as anything. The Sky Wing 5'4 is 15 inches shorter, 3 inches narrower and 25 liters less volume than my previous mainstay board (6'6 Outwit). I am 6'2, 170 lbs. Getting to my knees, gathering the wing and knee cruising is much more pitch sensitive than on our 6'6 or 5'10 Outwits but not too bad. Most of you will be able to pull a knee up and start from that position and if so, I think you will be golden. I have to do an alternate start method and I definitely struggled a lot with fine knee positioning in during that process. Doing my start (drop the wing, use my hands to get into runner's start stance, then fly the wing) is very touchy. I did some great slapstick shit trying to work this out. Plenty of flails and fails. Even so, I stayed out for 2 hours and started to figure some things out that I think will make this manageable with some practice. Once I got the wing in hand and the board was redirected to a reach the actual kneestart was easy. Plenty of volume and comfortable stability right on the footstrap inserts. No problem getting straight into the straps right from get-up. The setup is the bear for me but I think I can work that out. Ugly as I am sure it was to watch, I learned a lot yesterday and had a ball doing it.
Now for the awesome stuff. The board takes off easier and faster than any board I ever used. Just the littlest pop and it is flying. I did pump takeoffs, no pump takeoffs, and a full surface planing takeoff just for kicks. There is no bad way to get this thing airborne. It wants to fly. The missing weight from the nose is super apparent. It is crazy responsive to foot pumping and turn initiation and that feels so cool. Twice I pumped through the long dead zone behind our island with near zero wind. Pumping feels more natural and takes less energy without the extra nose. I need to move my mast back a little to adjust for the weight that is missing from the nose. The same measurement (center of front footstrap to front of mast) from my old board is too lifty on this one. A smaller stabilizer may also do it or even a smaller front wing. That would be cool if I could back down a wing size. I am going to try that.
The deck is great. I don't love concave but where my feet land on this board feels perfect. It has a skimboard style arch bar which I love. I don't have any feeling in my right foot and poor feeling in my left but I can feel my legs resist on that bar so I can tell where I am and it is a great reference without looking down. Surface cruising once standing is comfortable. 26 inches wide is relatively narrow but the board is very stable from side to side once standing. I see no problem surface cruising out to a distant wind-line or surf break if it is sub foiling wind.
All in all I am incredibly stoked so far. Right now I could (and will) use this my main board. The knee starts are very inconsistent still and none to glamorous but that should improve. When I am down I am down for a while. Even so, I can always get a knee start off even if it takes a few tries :). The foiling part is ridiculously fun and is well worth the hassle and humiliation of these early knee starts. Yesterday I was really intent on working out the kneestart, so I was doing hundred yard reaches with a kneestart at each end. Next time I will just kneestart when I wipe out and that should emphasize the positive a bit more :)
I haven't tried the smaller boards yet. I have plenty to learn on this one for a while but hopefully, if I get this down, what I learn could be used with the 5'0 (4'10) as well. Baby steps.
So stoked to be underway with this.
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Admin -- I'm thinking about purchasing a 5' 10" SS Out Wit. Is it a descent wing foil board?
Thanks for any feedback.
Hi deja vu,
We loved our Outwits. We learned a lot on those boards and I feel like they were a great purchase and an amazing value. They were designed as SUP boards and while they may not be the end all for winging they are great to get started on. What is your weight and experience with foiling?
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Stoked for you Admin.
When i first started winging, I wasn’t sure myself, if a wing board would be worth the hassle. One ride and I was blown away. Same reaction for Jacky too.
Bill will be next to join the party.
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Admin -- I'm thinking about purchasing a 5' 10" SS Out Wit. Is it a descent wing foil board?
Thanks for any feedback.
Hi deja vu,
We loved our Outwits. We learned a lot on those boards and I feel like they were a great purchase and an amazing value. They were designed as SUP boards and while they may not be the end all for winging they are great to get started on. What is your weight and experience with foiling?
Thanks for the response.
I'm 75 kg. -- I'm coming from one year of wind foiling and 40 years of windsurfing.
Here's something for you to sink your teeth into -- a nice review of the Sky Wing boards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwZUkFNr2Hs
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This will help you with the little one
https://youtu.be/SPmSEm28Eq4
Saw that on youtube, Dwight, Awesome video, SUPER helpful, thank you!
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Admin -- I'm thinking about purchasing a 5' 10" SS Out Wit. Is it a descent wing foil board?
Thanks for any feedback.
Hi deja vu,
We loved our Outwits. We learned a lot on those boards and I feel like they were a great purchase and an amazing value. They were designed as SUP boards and while they may not be the end all for winging they are great to get started on. What is your weight and experience with foiling?
Thanks for the response.
I'm 75 kg. -- I'm coming from one year of wind foiling and 40 years of windsurfing.
I am pretty well the same weight (5 lbs heavier). I think your year of foiling will help a lot. The less you are falling and having to restart the less it matters if the starts are difficult. I wouldn't have wanted to start on the 5'10. Even the 6'6 was too small for me for the first few weeks. I think it was a full month or two before the 5'10 felt comfortable. Most people that I see around here start with a dock of a board for a few weeks to get through the initial flailing. It isn't perfect but there is a pretty quick progression down through sizes. The whole process is really fun but I do think that you could frustrate yourself by going too small.
Have you tried winging yet?
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Hey Bill,
This 6’0 x 29 x 120 liter sure looks like a possible wing board for you. If the photo is accurate, even the tracks look better located for winging, than SUP (farther back than a Kalama)
https://bigwinds.com/collections/wing-foil-boards/products/2020-ride-engine-moon-buddy-sup-wing-foil-board
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Thanks Admin.
I'm going to start with a high volume wide board to try and geat the hang of this and then hopefully move to a smaller volume, shorter board.
I did give it a try on a smaller board and did some flailing so I know I need some stability to attempt to get up and going.
Thanks again for the advice.
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That is a great way to go. Plan on a few incremental reductions, dropping maybe about 20 liters each time. So far I have done 142, 120, 95. I would have done a 5'8 x 27 if I had seen one that I liked but this 5'4 looked great to me and it was available.
My end goal is to work out a money board like this 5'4 for light wind, junk wind, and travel and then to have a tiny waterstart board for good wind.
In any event, you are going to love winging. I have a stoke level for this that is only rivaled by my early windsurfing stoke.
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When I first saw videos of foiling with a wing I knew that I wanted to give it a try. I also knew that I needed to learn to foil first and the easiest way for me was to learn on a windsurf type of board. That was phase one and now I'm moving on to phase two -- I have 6 and 4 metre wings and a large board to learn on.
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Speaking of travel, I hope companies start making board bags. So far Armstrong and blue planet have bags but I'm hoping 30" wide bags with wheels get to market soon.
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Definately a nice looking shape and price for a wing board. I wonder why they didn't offer something in the 110 L range for heavyweight riders? That's unfortunate. Wing boards take a beating from knees, pumping and climbing up on them. It will be interesting to see how these boards hold up over time with the offered construction. Sounds like vacuum bagged glass with a bamboo patch on the deck. I doubt the footstrap plugs are set in high density foam. Those are likely to be a problem and a surefire nidus for water entry. Construction matters alot. Dwight's boards I would expect to be much stronger. I weigh about 250 lbs. and have been riding a 6'8" x 31" x 150 L board. It's time to downsize. Currently having a 5'4" x 29" x 114 L board being made. Still working out the construction details but super excited to see how it goes.
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Just a guess, but it looks like they are coming from the same factory as our Slingshot boards. If so, those have been insanely strong. The finish, packaging and construction feels identical.
https://panjiva.com/Hei-Guan-Zhuhai-Sports-Equipment/1335270#
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Definately a nice looking shape and price for a wing board. I wonder why they didn't offer something in the 110 L range for heavyweight riders? That's unfortunate. Wing boards take a beating from knees, pumping and climbing up on them. It will be interesting to see how these boards hold up over time with the offered construction. Sounds like vacuum bagged glass with a bamboo patch on the deck. I doubt the footstrap plugs are set in high density foam. Those are likely to be a problem and a surefire nidus for water entry. Construction matters alot. Dwight's boards I would expect to be much stronger. I weigh about 250 lbs. and have been riding a 6'8" x 31" x 150 L board. It's time to downsize. Currently having a 5'4" x 29" x 114 L board being made. Still working out the construction details but super excited to see how it goes.
Agree 100% fanatic missed the mark for larger riders on the wing specific boards,I’m in the same boat here! That new board you describe sounds right up my alley as I’m 225-230 any chance of making a extra👀Lol, no seriously be interested on where you might be getting it made that sounds perfect big boy wing board size exactly what Fanatic shoulda made😡Please let me knowThanks Doug
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Cool web site.
Here is another manufacturer name I know..
https://panjiva.com/Sonic-Composite-Technology-Ltd/26622917
They make Gong stuff.
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Agree 100% fanatic missed the mark for larger riders on the wing specific boards,I’m in the same boat here! That new board you describe sounds right up my alley as I’m 225-230 any chance of making a extra👀Lol, no seriously be interested on where you might be getting it made that sounds perfect big boy wing board size exactly what Fanatic shoulda made😡Please let me knowThanks Doug
I'm having my board made by George Hradil of Delta Hydrofoils. He's my neighbor so it makes sense. No shipping cost!! I'm sure he could build one for you if you were interested. I see you are in California? I would be very tempted to order a board from Dwight. Vacuum bagged innegra sounds tough. His boards are proven.
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I am loving this 5'4. We have had two amazing days here of steadier winds (20 to 30 and 20 to 25) and I have been getting to know this board a lot better. It frees me up and goes a long way towards taking the board out of the picture when its is foiling. Yesterday was really soft pleasant 20 to 25 4.2 Swing wind at Roosevelt with flat water and no current right by shore on the Washington side where I launched side and a slopey, waist high swell over by the Arlington launch on the Oregon side. The friendly wind and long swells were accommodating all angles of riding and the light rain gave it a super drifty feeling. I did my best swell riding ever. Better yet, the best swell was right over by the far shore where there was a strong eddy. My board is a bitch for my kneestart in the strong opposing current we are still getting (the foils and rails get sucked down and it is real balancing act) but it is much easier in the eddys so I just knee over 20 yards, get a start off and get back to riding.
Some things we have noticed. The 5'4 has a flat base from the tail to just before the front footstrap insert where it starts to gently rocker up to the nose. That is pretty similar to our Outwits. The deck angles up slightly from tail to nose. That is different from the Outwits which are parallel. It is subtle but it is there. That makes it so if you level the deck to the water, the foils would be pretty close to no lift or even facing a little down. That is worth knowing because visually it can mess with you a little if you are used to something like the Outwit and I did a few nose diggers while i was getting used to it. Now it feels great.
The 5'0 and 4'8 are much more extreme like this. The boards are flat only through the mast tracks and then rocker up steeply to the noses. That means that if you are standing balanced in the stance position the boards rest with the foils angled significantly down. Your back foot has to be back on the tail and weighted a lot to get the foils into a lift position. That was a big adjustment for Chan who has a narrow stance and is using the 5'0. That board has more deck incline again and also flies nose up (even moreso than the 5'4). It is really cool to see Chan ripping around on this little thing. It looks awesome.
Chan hasn't tried the 4'8 yet and I still have plenty to learn from the 5'4.
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Hi Admin, have you tried the 5'0 yet? Really interested to know about that board. I'm 83kg and looking to replace my 6'6 116 lt BluePlanet SUP Foil board I use for winging. I'm used to years of 75-80 lt windsurf boards so am familiar with how that volume supports me, but in a longer length. I'm a competent fast knee starter in pretty much all conditions from 10-30+ knots. I'm looking for that one board to wing with and can't decide between the 5'0 or 5'4. I've got lots of variety from lake to ocean swell and point waves to "grow into" on my wing journey. Thanks for any input on the 5'0 and 5'4. Stay healthy & happy! Rob
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Hi Admin, have you tried the 5'0 yet? Really interested to know about that board. I'm 83kg and looking to replace my 6'6 116 lt BluePlanet SUP Foil board I use for winging. I'm used to years of 75-80 lt windsurf boards so am familiar with how that volume supports me, but in a longer length. I'm a competent fast knee starter in pretty much all conditions from 10-30+ knots. I'm looking for that one board to wing with and can't decide between the 5'0 or 5'4. I've got lots of variety from lake to ocean swell and point waves to "grow into" on my wing journey. Thanks for any input on the 5'0 and 5'4. Stay healthy & happy! Rob
You can do the 5’0 no problem. I can ride my wife’s 75 liter no problem. I’m 190.
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You can do the 5’0 no problem. I can ride my wife’s 75 liter no problem. I’m 190.
Awesome Dwight thanks! I do keep coming back to the 5'0 as my favourite in my mind. Quit thinking just do it! Same issue with my gybes :D
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Hi Admin, have you tried the 5'0 yet? Really interested to know about that board. I'm 83kg and looking to replace my 6'6 116 lt BluePlanet SUP Foil board I use for winging. I'm used to years of 75-80 lt windsurf boards so am familiar with how that volume supports me, but in a longer length. I'm a competent fast knee starter in pretty much all conditions from 10-30+ knots. I'm looking for that one board to wing with and can't decide between the 5'0 or 5'4. I've got lots of variety from lake to ocean swell and point waves to "grow into" on my wing journey. Thanks for any input on the 5'0 and 5'4. Stay healthy & happy! Rob
Hi Rob,
I haven't used the 5'0. I could definitely go smaller than the 5'4 if I could get up straight from my knees. Just cruising on my knees on the 5'4 is very comfortable, so if you can pop up from there with the wing in hand you should be fine. Standing on the 5'4 and cruising is also fine and I could go smaller for that as well. Other than that you will get better advice from guys like River and DW who are able to do the normal kneestart.
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Your technique is of interest to us because my wife is just starting to learn and is having trouble with standing up onto board. If one cannot stand from a kneeling position, what is the best alternative?
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Your technique is of interest to us because my wife is just starting to learn and is having trouble with standing up onto board. If one cannot stand from a kneeling position, what is the best alternative?
Hi Phils,
Very cool that your wife is learning! Can she stand from a kneel on land without using her hands (hands overhead)? If she can then it is probably worth sticking with the conventional knee start. It has a lot less steps and some other advantages. No worries if she cannot. There is another way.
I would suggest that you show her how you get on your board, get to your knees and position yourself on the board before you lift the wing or lift your front knee. It is worth practicing a little cruising in that position as well. That part is the same. The next part is different.
Rather than lifting the wing have her hold the wing's leading edge handle in her downwind hand and then use both hands to push down on the rails. The downwind hand is going to be holding the leading edge handle and grabbing the downwind rail.
The nose of the board is going to take a position somewhat downwind at that point. That is OK. She shouldn't fight that. It is important that she get the toes on her back foot tucked under and on the deck first (just like they are when a runner starts a race). Having the toes tucked under is really important for giving extra push when standing if she has uncooperative legs. Then she can move her front foot up to the taking a knee position. If her legs are really bad she may need to use her free hand to help move that leg into place. Where her knee and foot are positioned is the key to her success. It is worth taking her time to do the fine tuning on leg positioning before lifting the wing. If things are going to go wrong it almost always because the setup wasn't quite right.
At that point she can lift the wing. She is going to need to lift the hand that is holding the handle and pass it across her body to grab the front strut handle with the other hand. As soon as she lifts the wing the board is going to turn straight downwind. There is no getting around that. If she can get her back hand on one of the back wing handles at this point, great. She should do that, but only apply very light pressure to it until the board rounds up to a normal reach. In stronger wind she may not be able to get her back hand on immediately. In that case she can twist the wing a bit with her front arm to help bring the nose of the board a little upwind. Then she can grab the back handle. Once she has both hands on the strut the rest of the kneestart is the same as the normal kneestart.
A big board and very mellow conditions will be very helpful until this is second nature for her. This start is awkward because you have no support from a flying wing while you are getting the knee up. That is much harder in chop, swell, current or with a challenging board.
Let her know that she is learning the hardest part first. The rest will be much easier once she can get to her feet. It doesn't have to be pretty, just functional. She will get it if she sticks with it.
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Thanks so much for the detailed explanation and encouragement. She (middle aged, fit and athletic) has no board, foil or wind sports experience so this will be a long but hopefully fun journey. We are trying to video the whole process. :D
Sorry, a bit off topic. I may start a new one about her wing journey.
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Thanks so much for the detailed explanation and encouragement. She (middle aged, fit and athletic) has no board, foil or wind sports experience so this will be a long but hopefully fun journey. We are trying to video the whole process. :D
Sorry, a bit off topic. I may start a new one about her wing journey.
I will be very interested to follow your wife’s story. It sounds much like the adventure I am just starting on. Like your wife, I have no foil or wind sport experience. I suppose I am also fairly fit, but unlike your wife, I’m a little older than “middle aged”.
I went out the other day for the first time on my foil board with the foil attached. Didn’t have a wing with me. I just went out and paddled around to get the feel of it. Made me realize what a very steep learning curve I will have. But then again, as the saying goes, “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
Very best of luck to your wife!
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Phils, that sounds amazing. I would love to watch her progress.
Quick, don't let paddling your little foilboard spook you. If you are used to a "normal" sized SUP, these little boards will feel super awkward for paddling. The foil underneath only adds to that. I would say pump up your wing and do a few laps on your knees. Get a feel for that and then get started on the kneestart. You will be cruising around in no time.
Here goes....
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Phils, that sounds amazing. I would love to watch her progress.
Quick, don't let paddling your little foilboard spook you. If you are used to a "normal" sized SUP, these little boards will feel super awkward for paddling. The foil underneath only adds to that. I would say pump up your wing and do a few laps on your knees. Get a feel for that and then get started on the kneestart. You will be cruising around in no time.
Here goes....
Thanks Admin. Appreciate the encouragement.
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I have had a well timed opportunity to demo the 95L 5'4" for a few sessions now in a variety of conditions. I am about 165lb. I have outgrown my 116L foil sup, for winging at least, and am awaiting an 85L board from DW. This has been my first ride on a dedicated wing board but I am pretty stoked by all the known benefits, especially swell riding and to finally be able to pump without hitting the nose on the water. I was a little concerned about going lower volume for knee starting but it has been no problem even in the wildest wave and chop. It is all technique and once you can do it correctly it quickly becomes confidence building. I thought the handle cutout on the bottom would be helpful, but found it only to be useful in certain situations and awkward in others such as walking downwind/ cross off/ swirling wind with wing and foil. I can more easily stabilize the wing overhead by carrying the foil on my shoulder with the wing pressed against the top of the board (at the expense of shoulder pressure). I found overall I'm not a fan of the concave deck. It benefits from slightly more turning leverage at the expense of foot comfort. It hurts to keep my foot bent up like that for more than a few turns. Otherwise, the board is great. I like that they flattened the tip of the nose, since I always seem to get nose damage on boards that are pointy and bump into something. Hopefully it will spread the impact load.
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https://www.facebook.com/102039636498825/posts/2919722068063887/?vh=e
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Three weeks later and I am loving this board. I haven't ridden anything else since it showed up and I have a bunch of sessions from maxed out 3.5 to super light 6.0. It feels very comfortable to me now.
I am fully stoked on the packed design - flat (no SUP angle) tail, chopped off vertically right behind the tracks, flat rail to rail with very vertical rails, and a flat rocker through to the front footstrap with no bottom contours. I am convinced that any angled chop to the tail (often mentioned for easy takeoff) is not necessary or even valuable for winging. Chopping off and blunting that whole area makes it so there is nothing back there to contact the water. I have seen some designs where they blunt the tail but the tracks are further forward and that doesn't seem like the best solution to me. This 5'4 takes off more easily than any other board I have used. It is actually pretty silly feeling. I haven't used my 6 meter wing or my largest foils in 2 weeks (and we have had plenty of light days). When it is super light you can just wing pump a few times on the surface to gain a little speed and one good board pop will usually do it. That is the magic of the super flat base. I am not feeling any of the stick that is supposed to be associated with flat bottoms.
The same is true of the rail bevels (or lack thereof). This board basically has no bevels except for very forward. I used to occasionally grab a rail on my previous board at 29.5 inches inches wide but at 26 inches wide it hasn't been an issue for me at all.
It would be cool to see Fanatic offer a DLX construction that came in at 11 lbs. and equally sturdy. That would be pretty unstoppable and they would have at least one buyer :) They could also do a 5'0 x 25 in this design that could come in around 80-85 liters. That would be incredible as well.
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YES....wing boards are the future.
It’s like the early days of windsurfing. Nobody wanted a longboard, but everybody needed one to get past the kook stage. SUP foil to get past the kook stage, then never look back. Wing boards only. Young guys can skip the SUP stage.
I made a 5’1 x 27 x 110 liter for a 225 pound winger. He had no problem riding it.
More sizes, nobody wants a SUP.
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Hey Admin, any chance you could measure the thickness of the 5'4 for me? I'm making a wing board and am using the skywing as a guide and couldn't find this dimension anywhere.
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Hey Admin, any chance you could measure the thickness of the 5'4 for me? I'm making a wing board and am using the skywing as a guide and couldn't find this dimension anywhere.
Hi Ceej,
I measured (no caliper) but these will get you very close:
At the rail: the absolute tail is 4 inches even. It is 4.5 inches a foot off the tail and a bit over 4.75 at the thickest spot.
The board loses an inch of thickness at the centerline due to concave. The concave runs through the entire deck nose to tail but graduates with very little at the extreme nose and tail and full dept through (and well in front of) the stance area. Most of the board has a full 1 inch concave. You could add a lot of volume if you went with no concave or you could go thinner and lower your center of gravity.
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It is super exciting to hear that they are figuring out shapes for wing specific boards that make a real world difference.
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Hey Admin, any chance you could measure the thickness of the 5'4 for me? I'm making a wing board and am using the skywing as a guide and couldn't find this dimension anywhere.
Hi Ceej,
I measured (no caliper) but these will get you very close:
At the rail: the absolute tail is 4 inches even. It is 4.5 inches a foot off the tail and a bit over 4.75 at the thickest spot.
The board loses an inch of thickness at the centerline due to concave. The concave runs through the entire deck nose to tail but graduates with very little at the extreme nose and tail and full dept through (and well in front of) the stance area. Most of the board has a full 1 inch concave. You could add a lot of volume if you went with no concave or you could go thinner and lower your center of gravity.
Great info, thanks. I didn't realize the deck concave was so extreme. I plan to stick with the concave on the deck, but maybe keep it a little more subtle. I can clearly see the concaves in the V toward the nose on the bottom of the board, but wasn't able to determine what the rest of the bottom looked like. Does the middle section have any concave or V to it? or is it totally flat back to the boxes?
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Hi Ceeg,
It put a flat edge on the bottom. There is V at the nose that gradually fades to flat as you move back. It is flat V with no concave anywhere (I hope I wasn't confusing above - the concave I was mentioning there was deck only). By the front footstrap the V is ~ 3mm mm and at 2 feet from the tail the V is gone.
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Hi Ceeg,
It put a flat edge on the bottom. There is V at the nose that gradually fades to flat as you move back. It is flat V with no concave anywhere (I hope I wasn't confusing above - the concave I was mentioning there was deck only). By the front footstrap the V is ~ 3mm mm and at 2 feet from the tail the V is gone.
Perfect sense, thanks again.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_VbnsaF9Mc
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I was out with a guy yesterday who was on a Sky wing 5'8. 5'8? It looks like Fanatic has added two sizes (5'8 x 28 @ 110L and 6'0 x 30 @ 130 L).
He was interested in my 5'4 and pretty stoked with his own. His board had full bevel rails all the way back to the tail and had a radiused chop off the tail (more like the 5'0 and the 4'8 ) although the bottom looked flat (no deep concaves) unlike the smallest two boards.
I could see the need fore some bevel as width increases but I do think that Fanatic hit on something really special with the 5'4. I have been loving this board all year and having ridden a bunch of other decks between 5'0 and 5'5 I would get another one right now if they lightened it up a bit. A couple of more footstrap inserts closer to the tail would be appreciated as well. I don't think that the brands have fully accommodated yet the variety of foil setups that riders are using on their boards (not to mention stance preferences. Please litter these things with inserts and add an inch to foil track length.
The 5'4 has a very simple shape (almost a non shape) but it works fantastic for winging. At 11 lbs? Oh, yeah.
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keep in mind that adding footstrap inserts and longer foilbox does add a surprising amount of weight. I'm thinking wingboards should come with a blank deck and a set of adhesive footstrap "inserts" like the NSI ones. Probably too much DIY for most people, but that's going to be the lightest solution
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And it's not just weight. The typical five-hole glass-over insert is vulnerable to cracking away from the skin when it's stepped on or otherwise flexed--or rather not flexed. The insert is very rigid, the skin is not. If you want them to not crack away and start to leak you need to put a screw and washer into the first and last hole. Not a lot of people do that. I started doing it after I saw how Tomoko's board was leaking through the last two (unused) holes of her rear strap. Alex Aguera told me what the problem was and showed me the fix to prevent it. It actually helps even after it's cracked away but you need screws with washers in all the leaking holes.
That 6'X30" 130L sounds great. I'd ride my SIC Manta all the time if it were 130L instead of 104L. 5'8"X28" 110L would probably even be fine. At 6'0" X 28.5" 104L feels really great once I'm standing with the wing flying but the sweet spot for kneeling at my weight is microscopic, and once the nose goes underwater I'm generally screwed. Aaaahhoogah, dive, dive.
Good video by the way. It's not often I watch a video on Wingfoiling and think everything they say connects directly to my experiences.
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Sky's custom wingboards look quite different from the Fanatic boards. More pulled in nose and tail and flat off the tail. Similar to the wingboard Gunnar designed for Indiana.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njFM9wJjeNA