MediumSizedDan said..
I have read a lot of discussion on this forum about DW boards for light wind winging, but as a beginner-intermediate I'm still not clear on a couple of things. First, do people ride these boards only in light wind or do they also ride them up through the 20s and beyond, and in rough conditions? And if not, why not -- honest question, I have limited experience. Second, I see a lot of new wing boards that are narrow (19-22") but much shorter than the Barracuda for example, like in the 5'6"-6'10" range. What do these short narrow boards gain and lose in the tradeoff of length? I'm imagining they lose just the very low end wind range, say 6-10, but I'm just guessing.

Your maximum below planing speed and the easiness to accelerate and maintain that speed depend mostly on waterline lenght.

Width ,rocker,shape and volume are critical too but you cannot cheat waterline lenght...just like foils cannot cheat aspect ratio.

So yes,you loose low end performance in exchange for maneuvrability.

I'm wondering about similar things, and am looking forward to demoing to see for myself...I don't see myself w/an 8' cuda, but just how long to go to make getting up in light winds remains a big question (along with volume). Currently liking the looks of the Amos Sultan Wing, but its a crap shoot as to which size makes the most sense for my 63kg late beginner self looking for help generating sufficient board speed in flat water light wind conditions...

As winter sets in here, I have a while to wait for everyone to figure things out, then try some new boards in the spring...

omg said..
I have the smallest Armstrong DW board 6'3 x 18 3/4" and it's amazing for my 80kg. In lightwind very nice with pumping technique it goes earlier than "old school" wingboard. Also I have ridden it to 30+knots, ie. 2,5m Unit wing and it wasn't bad at all. Of course when starting with heavy chop/waves there's much more for water to push the board if it's sideways against the waves, but otherwise no issues. I love the narrowness of the board, game changer, and the reason I bought the board. 6 out of 5! :)

oh yeah, this board is very agile, couldn't believe it!

Great information. That's the paradox I see for me. I am interested in one as a board to ride the afternoon 10-12knot seabreeze which is a bit frustratingly light to build initial planing speed on my 5'4. The seabreeze however is always accompanied by the usual chop which sticks the small board down but also would push the longer DW board around & make it harder to get up due to its' narrow beam & inherent tippiness.
I'd love to demo one & see what they're like.

Yes extending the waterline helps but there's a point of diminishing returns for a wing board at around 2 meters (we are talking winging only here, not paddling up). Where you end then for width and volume would vary by your weight and wind strength. I'm very happy with a Kalama 6'7 x 23 115L for light wind winging but wouldn't bother anyway under 10mph winds regardless of the equipment. Do you really want to put 2300usd into a board to wing in 8mph winds? Buy yourself a decent bicycle instead and wait for the wind to pick up.

Had a 6'1" x 23" @ 105 litre Kalama E3 (the orange board in the photos) and used it for winging in all conditions, gets out of water in light winds (sub 8 knots) with big wing and foil and absolutely loved it.
Grabbed a used Amos Sultan 7'2" x 19" @ 103 litres on a whim to see what all the fuss/hype was about, wow this board is fast through the water, first time out taxiing through the moored boats and I could see how much speed I had with hardly anything in the wing. As everyone comments, the length disappears as you are standing amidships rather than at the stern. Definitely very easy to get up in light winds, very stable, doesn't slow down on touchdowns blah blah,
One downside I noticed was the board getting turned downwind when I was in the water and trying to get going again in waves/wind. Simply spin the board by pushing the wings leading edge and sometimes hang the upwind leg over the edge of the board and drag it to keep the board tracking across the wind whilst getting forward motion.
I kept thinking about the Kalama E3 and thought that my dream wing board would be a slightly shorter/less volume version. I came across a 5'9" x 22 1/2 " @ 95 Kalama (blue board in the photos) and now with a few sessions on this board I think Ive found the sweet spot. Took a session to get used to the fore/aft instability compared to the 7'2" Sultan, but Ive found I can get this shorter board going in light winds now that I have finally got my wing/board pump cadence in synch. The shorter board actually bounces quite high out of the water in 2 or 3 pumps and the Kalama tail/rail design releases the board very quickly and cleanly. I haven't had a chance to try the 5'9" in the surf yet, but the shorter length should let me slot into the troughs.
I had a session yesterday where the wind died when I was 600m from shore and this 95 litre board is easy to stand on and taxi or do a spinnaker run or kneel or lie down to paddle.
So for me this board is really best of both worlds, small enough to be a heap of fun, but big enough to be comfortable and energy efficient
For reference: Im 180cm and 82kg

Many of the DW boards' light wind winging attributes are now being incorporated into strictly winging boards for light wind winging and beyond. Several manufacturers will be offering these boards over the next few months.

Here's a look at the new Armstrong wing boards, which incorporate the things they learned from the DW boards (at the 2 minute mark):

For ease of learning, light air, sticky chop, smaller foil lift off, easier climbing back on ... Just go for it. When 8/10 people rave about boards that are in general long aspect and thicker with more vol behind the mast, then you can assume they're not all deluded and jerking each other off. Others who say "... not for me" have their own specific use cases. Choose the size for your needs. I guess the principle is valid for the majority of wing-foilers.

But beware of a trap: If you want a DW board to assist with getting out of the water with a small foil and/or smaller sail, then you want a shape which can rock-squat enough to get some brief angle on the foil. A DW board that can squat the tail, wont always suck down like an old design short+wide wing board with a "tail kick". But some DW designs are too long and flat for winging and you cannot squat the tail in a fixed feet position. Therefore they need a big+slow foil to lift off, or they angle the mast tracks for foil nose-up for a flat take-off, but once up, this mast-track angle means the board rides nose down, which results in a straight front leg which is very bad for multiple reasons.

I'm heading down a different path for light wind winging. I really dislike riding big boards, I'm 80kgs and my 74ltr x5'3x22 is ample in anything down to 10knots. The trick is the new front wings appearing on the market, they are large area, but super thin. The new Naish HA I'm on is 1440sqcm, much larger than Ive ever considered riding before (except when learning). So although your on a 1440 wing they feel heaps smaller, get going super easy and once up are great to ride allowing you to practice tacks etc in the lightest breeze.

Generally, if I can get to standing, I can pump onto the foil with a 5mtr wing. As soon as you're moving just start foot pumping and you're up and away. Although my 74ltr is technically a sinker for me, the front wing lifts it out of the water as soon as you start pumping.

It's also nice not having to bring 2 boards to the beach, if the wind picks up I just drop to my 900sqcm front wing. So no need for a DW board when using a large super thin wing. The Axis 1201 works great too though has a slightly higher stall speed compared to the Naish.

Has anyone seen anyone riding a negative size DW board for the rider size? I currently ride a standard 62l (75kg) board. I'm sure if I went with a 62l DW board I would get the additional low end that I'm looking. Will it be too unstable?

MediumSizedDan said..
I have read a lot of discussion on this forum about DW boards for light wind winging, but as a beginner-intermediate I'm still not clear on a couple of things. First, do people ride these boards only in light wind or do they also ride them up through the 20s and beyond, and in rough conditions? And if not, why not -- honest question, I have limited experience. Second, I see a lot of new wing boards that are narrow (19-22") but much shorter than the Barracuda for example, like in the 5'6"-6'10" range. What do these short narrow boards gain and lose in the tradeoff of length? I'm imagining they lose just the very low end wind range, say 6-10, but I'm just guessing.

I have a Barracuda 7'10" 19.5 105lt. I ride it in all winds. No down side with strong wind. Large short side chop can be a start up challenge. I soon learnt to deal with that.
But if I had a shorter E3 say 6'0" x 20" ish about 80lts I'd likely use that in those rougher short chop conditions.
The long Barracuda is an excellent taxi back in when the wind drops bellow foil strength.
my wt. 72kg.