I'm wanting to wind wing in lighter winds. At the moment I'm on a Signature / Uni foil Albatross 210 and have a 4.2 m sail. Im a beginner and need at least 15 knots to get flying.
For lighter winds would it be better to get a bigger foil or a bigger wing? I can't get both. I feel a bigger foil would give me more time to to make my jibes and things would happen a little slower.
Maybe it's just more time on the water with what I've got that's required.
Any suggestions.
Tanna

70 kg. Thanks for input

Which wing are you using now?

We have this argument amongst ourselves occasionally.

Water is a more dense medium than air, so you get your biggest bang for your dollars by going with a larger foil.

But, if your foil is too big, it is boooorrrriiiiinnnnggg.

If you can borrow a bigger wing or bigger foil, do some testing.

Be worthwhile seeing if you can test just the albatross 250 front foil on your current setup. Only having to buy a single component will keep your costs down.

Browy said..
I am also a beginner in the same situation. 87kg/6mtr wing.

I am going to trial the bigger foil to get things in the air more consistantly.

I understand things will be slower but i am Ok with that. This hopefully will give me a chance to spend more time in the air and get better control. then step down as my skills improve.

What size foil are you using now?

DavidJohn said..

Browy said..
I am also a beginner in the same situation. 87kg/6mtr wing.

I am going to trial the bigger foil to get things in the air more consistantly.

I understand things will be slower but i am Ok with that. This hopefully will give me a chance to spend more time in the air and get better control. then step down as my skills improve.

What size foil are you using now?

jet 2000

This is an interesting one. I struggled with a 4m for a season because I needed prob 18kts to really light it up. I ended up getting a 6m in addition so I could tackle lighter winds. Being able to fly earlier more often polished up my skills a bit to point where I could often just take out the 4m in sub 15kts with the same foil setup. Now I have 2 sizes of wings and I'm getting better, and lusting after speed and surfing ability, I can't see myself ever wanting a bigger, slower foil.

Sorry OP this won't help you much, but browy with the Naish setup..if you have any of the old 1st or 2nd gen Naish wings in the garage, even the smaller ones, give them a try.
im on Gofoil and recently got a GL120 which is tiny by my recent standards. It's amazing for its speed and general lit~ness, but you really need a bit of wind to get it going. I had an old Kai wing gathering dust, even less span than the GL120 so I took that out. It lifts off earlier, it's almost as fast, it surfs great. I love that thing. I'm considering getting hold of a Nalu for winging too.

Seajuice said..
I'm going the same way as Clamsmasha basically.
I've just recently & finally got up on my foil thanks to a bigger wing and a bigger foil.
But I'll put my success to my bigger wing sail at 6Meters. My 4 meter left me so frustrated at my bodyweight from 78 to 80 kgs.

This was my experience too ( bigger rider 90 kgs). My first wing sail was 4 m (like many that hit the market). It was so frustrating seeing smaller guys fly past, so I sold it along with my surf foil, and got a 6.4 m2 hand sail and got a new 2400 foil set up. The combination proved necessary for learning winging in lite conditions. I don't think I could have gotten through the initial phase, of getting up on foil and going controllably up/down wind without the combo. So glad I went big 6 mos ago, as it helped increase the progression rate. Lately, there have been fewer days with wind above 10 knots, so working on other foiling disciplines (prone). When the wind comes back, gonna be ready for it.

Windbot said..
Hey Seajuice and everyone else.

I am about 80kgs and typically ride light winds, I have a 5m wing and 7.3 windfoil sail. I'm kind of obsessed with the wing though and want to focus on winging instead of windfoiling, but usually there's never enough wind for it. I'm thinking of picking up a 2021 7m wing, i don't expect it will get me going as soon as my windsurf rig, but it will get me way more time on the water than my 5m. I'm just wondering if a 7 would be too cumbersome and I'm better off getting a 6. I know with kiting and windsurfing there's a law of diminishing returns where the bigger the sail or wing, the less benefit it has over a slightly smaller size. Maybe I should just get a 6 instead of a 7, even that would be a huge improvement I would think. I am open to suggestions!

I can't really answer that. As I've never tried a 7 meter wing. But initially I was concerned of getting a 6 meter instead of a 5 meter. But once on the water I had no problem using the 6Meter. And I suppose I wouldn't with a 7meter but that would be my limit.
My only other concerns with using a 7 meter in light wind would be holding up its weight when the wind drops between the light gusts & wingtips touching water surface.
I think you would need to hear from others that have a 7 meter & at your body weight.