Is anyone foilboarding?

I have been a lifelong windsurfer and more recently a kitesurfer.

Im not amazing but i can jump and gybe and head upwind without drama.

I have recently had my head turned by the tech of foiling. I know dinghies have had it a while, but thats not my thing any more.

So, if you are foiling, are you using a kite, or the new gen of hand held inflatable foilboard wings? Can you share some of your exoerience?

I have a friend locally who has offered to talk me through and teach me. Ive watched a ton of youtube guides and tutorials, but would value peoples experience before i go mad and spend!

Thanks

Ian

No one??

I’m really curious about this too. Looks great

I don’t need more hobbies, please don’t tempt me. I’m on the slippery slope of SUP -> kayak but I want more speed and foiling looks seductive…….

Spoke to someone who was using an e-foil in Studland a couple of months ago. Looked incredible, cost about 7K though! He reckons he can get in the wash of the Isle of Wight Red Funnel Ferry and ‘draft’ it all the way to the IOW without having to motor at all.

He offered me a go on it but there were too many expensive yachts around for my liking!!

As a long time windsurfer I had go at foiling in Vass a few years back. A polite description, like bouncing a pogo stick on the back of a moving truck. More realistically, it’s like dating a really crazy, hot person who likes knives.
IQ foil worlds on windsurfing tv YouTube this week.

More realistically, it’s like dating a really crazy, hot person who likes knives.

Somehow, every thread comes back to Louise.

Spoke to someone who was using an e-foil in Studland a couple of months ago. Looked incredible, cost about 7K though! He reckons he can get in the wash of the Isle of Wight Red Funnel Ferry and ‘draft’ it all the way to the IOW without having to motor at all.

Similar but slower, if you catch-up with a canal boat whilst SUPing and stop paddling just ahead of their stern you can ride the barely perceptible wake.

@k371 did you use a foiling windsurfer? Or were you using a foiling board and one of those large inflatable jellyfish over your head? Or indeed even a kite?

Ian

JP foil and board, Severne windsurfing rig. I’ve heard a few horror stories of busted ankles/knees, but if it wasn’t for a bit of a stroke I’d be foiling all the time.

Yeah I’m a long time windsurfer/wavesailer and started windfoiling last summer for the lighter wind days. All I can say is, do it. It’s fantastic…adds a whole new dimension to windsurfing. It’s doubled my time on the water..oh and 20kts in 10kts of wind 😁

Wings is where it’s at now I think. I Kitesurf, at my local spot there’s a few guys that use wings now with foil boards (and a couple more about to give it a shot). Very rarely see a foil board with a kite at there moment.

it’s like dating a really crazy, hot person who likes knives.

Do you have her number? Actually, Angelina Jolie probably keeps her contact details fairly close to her chest…
Ok, back to the subject at hand, I didn’t really know what foilboarding was, so a quick Google got me this:

O. M. G. That’s incredible, I can only dream of having that balance and poise to ride something like that! And those beautiful waves as well, what a location. #swoon 😍

Lardarse Hamilton is such a weirdo….he’s had way too many bangs on the head 😁 (amazing waterman tho)

Foil surfing has moved on a lot since then…you don’t need to have snowboard boots and bindings anymore!

Btw check out “the longest wave” on Red bull tv…New Robbie Naish film…

It does look completely awesome.

Foiling seems to have opened up lots of sports.

After the pressure and drama of using kites in waves, i really fancy a go at this….

Not sure how to embed that as a link, but i hope it works…

Ian

Wingfoiling: I can’t do it.

I first saw it in Tarifa a couple of years ago. Robby Naish was having a dealer conference at Valdevaqueros, behind Spin-Out and he and a bunch of others were zipping around.
As a long-time windsurfer I didn’t need to try it to know that I can’t do it.

I have no experience of foiling, kite surfing or windsurfing but after being in Greece last week, the idea of wing foiling as a new activity really appeals.

I was speaking to a friend over there who is a very experienced windsurfer, now developing his foil skills. He commented that in my position, wingfoiling would be the best option to try first. From the bit of the video up there I watched, this seems reasonable. Anyone with experience agree?

fairly rubbish kitesufer here, I bought a foil board and some coaching earlier this year and it is really difficult but I am enjoying my early wobbling attempts so far. Wing foiling appears to be exploding around here, loads of people taking lessons and there are people doing it every time I go out, it is apparently far easier to learn although I am told gets boring on flat water pretty fast and really you need rolling ocean swell to make the most out of it. No experience myself, just what the instructor teaching it told me!

I’d like to give it a try but suspect it’s a lot harder to get the board to foil and be balanced than the riders in the video make it look. I’ve been kitesurfing for well over 10 years and have pretty reasonable board skills but suspect this would be like starting from scratch. Personally I’d still want to start through kiting, understanding the wind and balance is I would imagine a good stepping stone then to foiling.

The wingfoiling foils are (usually) a lot bigger surface area than windfoil foils (except the ultra light wind ones), and get up on the foil more easily and are more stable. But bigger surface area means more drag and lower top end. My windfoiling gear is way faster than the wing guys.
I still want a go tho but the overlap in wind conditions means I’d never be able to decide whether to wingfoil or windfoil!

@Twodogs. I have sent you a PM

Ian