Remind me of 1986

Needs more downhaul.

I wonder how he goes upwind.

Looks like they figured out what to do with their failed excess "budget airliner escape device" inventory.

Amazing find - even uses a boom instead of soft handles. Please

musorianin said..
Step aside for this...

Amazing find - even uses a boom instead of soft handles. You should get one and report how it works.

Had a bit of an eye opener today, when I wind foiled at a new-to-us spot in Florida. Back home on Cape Cod, windsurfers still often outnumber wingers, and kiters outnumber both at some spots. But here, the three windsurfers and three windfoilers were vastly outnumbered by wingers. One or two teachers seemed quite busy, teaching mostly younger folks (albeit in a manner where the being dragged back upwind behind the jet ski may have been the most fun part). Lots of wingers in various age and skill groups out in mostly marginal wind, from never-evers and the large group of intermediates to a couple of experts. If the fat lady has sung, then it sure was not about winging!

boardsurfr said..
Amazing find - even uses a boom instead of soft handles. Please

musorianin said..
Step aside for this...

Amazing find - even uses a boom instead of soft handles. You should get one and report how it works.

Had a bit of an eye opener today, when I wind foiled at a new-to-us spot in Florida. Back home on Cape Cod, windsurfers still often outnumber wingers, and kiters outnumber both at some spots. But here, the three windsurfers and three windfoilers were vastly outnumbered by wingers. One or two teachers seemed quite busy, teaching mostly younger folks (albeit in a manner where the being dragged back upwind behind the jet ski may have been the most fun part). Lots of wingers in various age and skill groups out in mostly marginal wind, from never-evers and the large group of intermediates to a couple of experts. If the fat lady has sung, then it sure was not about winging!

Peter, just sailed BIB New Years Eve. Wings out numbered windsurfers 4:2 (what an evolution). I did both, but I would rather sail the bay for both winging and windsurfing now.

Is it just me or do windsurfers just look fast? The sail looks like it is built for speed, compact and colourful. The alternatives look about as sleek as a rubber balloon.

Does it come as an asymmetric version too?

airsail said..

MarkSSC said..
Is it just me or do windsurfers just look fast? The sail looks like it is built for speed, compact and colourful. The alternatives look about as sleek as a rubber balloon.

That's a common comment from windsurfers, winging definitely isn't fast, if you want fast stay on a sailboard. But if you want to ride wave/swell in not so perfect conditions, winging is a great option. And you can get going in much lighter conditions without using a huge sail.

I was just looking at it from the aesthetic perspective. All categories have their pros and cons.

Cuchufleta said..
Over here in the Netherlands the Wingers are outnumbering the windsurfers by 10:1 below 20 knots. Stronger winds and it's getting diluted. More and more Wingers seem to be getting on with stronger winds. Sea state is another thing. When it gets fun windsurfing (waves, shorebreak), it is still the windsurfers in charge.

However the demographic of Wingers and windsurfers is pretty much the same here. Kitesurfing still has the younger demographic.

When my mates return from the dark side on windy days they all can't stop about how good windsurfing is. So windsurfing is definitely not dead here but it's not really attracting the youngsters either.

Not sure about 10:1 ratio. I surf in scheveningen (NL wave spot ) all the time, its only more wingers when it's just not possible to windsurf (keep in mind nobody has big sails there, as we are blessed with a lot of wind usually).

One day in July in Hood River, my wife and I counted 290 wingers and NOT ONE SINGLE WINDSURFER/WINDFOILER. The wind was blowing 20 kts.

To be honest, after listening to Guy in below podcast my opinion about winging might have changed a bit. He has an interesting take on it and believes it's windsurfing. I don't necessarily agree but have a listen and it kinda makes sense. Unfortunately, it's no good news for our sport.

Paducah said..

Back to the topic, there is a local guy who uses an umbrella to get back home after fishing on his paddle board. He is intrigued about learning to windsurf, though. Fishing off your board is another thing we've got on wings.

if you've seen children of the wind (documentary) that sounds like how the "bonaire boys" got their start. They simply wanted to be able to fish further out away from shore, so the local windsurf(hire/coach?)would let them paddle/float out on a tethered windsurf board. Then he stuck a sail on for them so they could go further, etc etc. Eventually they competed at PWA level.

richw said..

MarkSSC said..

airsail said..

MarkSSC said..
Is it just me or do windsurfers just look fast? The sail looks like it is built for speed, compact and colourful. The alternatives look about as sleek as a rubber balloon.

That's a common comment from windsurfers, winging definitely isn't fast, if you want fast stay on a sailboard. But if you want to ride wave/swell in not so perfect conditions, winging is a great option. And you can get going in much lighter conditions without using a huge sail.

I was just looking at it from the aesthetic perspective. All categories have their pros and cons.

Why not do both and live the Dream

The dream was to windsurf. I can die happy.

ptsf1111 said..
To be honest, after listening to Guy in below podcast my opinion about winging might have changed a bit. He has an interesting take on it and believes it's windsurfing. I don't necessarily agree but have a listen and it kinda makes sense. Unfortunately, it's no good news for our sport.

That was a really good listen. It almost made me want to try winging again...

But with already having windsurf fin and foil gear it doesn't make a whole bunch of sense. The biggest benefit of winging over windfoiling to me right now would be much easier to transport. Throw a small board in the trunk with foil and the wing. But I still get way more excited about windsurfing than the thought of winging. And windsurf fin skills hep the windfoil skills and vice versa.

It's a bit more involved with windsurf boards on the roof and the car stuffed with masts, saila, and booms. But I've gotten better at reading forecasts and predicting what I'll need.
It does make me wonder what it'll be like in a few years with lots of pwa racers being dropped by sponsors. IQFoil has some legs though.

I will always be a windsurfer, but reality of time and conditions, I am currently winging 85% of the time now. When Ben or Paul talk about it, Paul has never even tried it. Ben has, but I suspect there is a pretty big skills gap between his wing and windsurf skills. Both live in windy venues with flexible schedules. I initially got a slalom kit for lightwind, then just did lightwind freestyle with a big freestyle board and a light 6.3m2 S1 to improve my skills for when planing conditions came, then windfoiled with SB freeride foils and smaller sails, then finally to the wing foil. Wing foil is king in light wind compared to freeride windfoil due to foot pumping in addition to sail (wing) pumping. There is no question the wing is more fun and surfy off the wind since you can ditch the power. The only thing that is more efficient in light wind is a kite foil with a foil kite. Rather be on the wing if the wind shuts off. As I my wing skills get better, my windsurf skills have plateaued, what was only a light wind activity is competing with higher wind windsurfing. That said, when the conditions are right, I still love windsurfing the most.