You haven't given a budget, so I'll assume no issue. As such you'll want to go big on gear.

Wing: F one 8m CWC. You're going to want to go big here.
Board: at your weight and learning - 100-110L. One ocean sports make awesome boards.
Foil: Anything mid/high aspect >1500cm2, don't waste your time on low aspect. I'm a fan on the Axis range so a larger HPS could be your front foil or PNG. Tail 420 for the winglets. Mast you could ride the 86 carbon with a short fuse.


Skills: maybe get a 3m wing or a crappy small old wing, root around on a skateboard with some wind. Learn to control the sail, to turn and then when you're jumping onto the water your wing skills will be decently developed.

12 knts and up

I have to agree w/ NordRoi - you need constant power when you are a beginner. 15 knots is the sweet spot. Lower winds are fine in the very very beginning, but after a couple days when you are no longer falling off the board just holding the wing, you'll need constant power to keep trying to foil, and when you fall off, you aren't going to want to wait to try again. Those big wings are a handfull as a beginner.

15 knots to me says 5M wing.

Agree with above.
My assumption from your post is that you might be learning in sub 10 knots as well? Learning to foil in light winds will be VERY difficult. If you have foiled (windsurf foil or kite foiled) before, you may stand a chance, but if this is your first foiling activity, you'll take ages (or may not be able to do it).
Skills. I'll assume you haven't foiled before? Ideally, get behind a boat and learn how to use a foil by being towed. Slow speed then gradually build up to the point of being able to lean back lightly to get the foil to fly. Then weight the front foot and touch down. Keep practicing until you can fly for long periods of time. Check youtube for tips on this. Wing skills - pump the thing up and go somewhere where there is a moderate wind and a softish surface (so if the wing gets out of control, you don't damage the wing if it hits the ground). Sand or grass are good. Learn how to hold it at the proper angle, pump, hold in neutral and gybe. Again, check youtube for tips on what you should be trying to do.
Once you have those skills, learning in 15 knots is the go. Excess power is easy to dump. The big area low aspect wings tend to provide a lot of lift but tend to be more draggy so can be a little limiting once you're advancing.
I learned on a 4m wing and it was too small. My biggest is 5.5m and that was ideal for me. Going much bigger, you need to consider how manageable the wing is, and how the tips of the wing will potentially touch down if you aren't tall enough to lift the wing. I'm 175cm and 70kg.
I learned on a 125L board and found it great. I'm athletic but don't pick stuff up easily (some would say unco ). Smaller vol will be more difficult. I'd be highly inclined to go biggish volume and small footprint. Others will probably disagree with me on this, but I've seen lots of learners go for too small a board (body weight +20 kg) and suffer. In light winds, if you can't get up and going, having the extra volume can be very helpful if you have to slog back home.
Ideally, try some boards before you buy so you know what you can float on with some degree of competence.

.and i would add that if your conditions are 10kt or less, then wing foiling doesn't seem like your funnest option. Sup or prone foiling if you have waves, or kite foiling if you don't.

Just had a rare 4.7 wing day in my streak of 8m sessions. It is sooomuch easier and less tiring. Everything hurts the day after a low wind session.

Less than 10 knots then do something else.

CH3MTR4IL5 said.
i'm not rejecting it, but along the lines of bigtone667 if you were learning one flat water sport to do in sub 10kt from scratch i would go with kite foiling rather than wing foiling as i reckon learning to wing in really light conditions is a big ask.

if you can learn with more wind and then transition to a big wing then sure - but kite foiling is faster and you point higher which is a good fit for light conditions.

personal opinion only, i kite, surf, foil, wing and sup depending on the location and conditions and am not going to argue with anyone's stoke!

Fully agree with this.
10kn my starting point for wind powered foiling fun.
Under 15kn I prefer to kite. Generally only switch to winging from 15kn up, unless I'm trying to eke out a session in non kite friendly conditions (offshore fluky winds, restricted launch etc).
Kiting just works better and is more fun in light wind. But that's just for me, one opinion!

dejavu said..

If I owned an e-foil I'd would probably be on it when the wind was light but where I live they're illegal -- go figure.

Really?? That's bizarre!

after a few sessions with an e-foil i found it was a bit ho-hum on flat water. If there is a bit of swell then it definitely fills the gap!

There's also the issue of your definition of fun and how you go about achieving that.

We've had some stupidly hot days with crowded beaches and cross-off winds gusting between 5 and 20 knots.

It was a huge amount of fun to find a fairly easy car park at a non-kitesurf beach. Stroll down to the water through the bikini clad sunbathers. Knee sail out into the wind line. Wait for a gust and go.

In the lulls just sit on the board and wait till the next blast. Ride upwind in the gusts. Drift downwind in the lulls. Keep an eye on your exit point so you don't get stuck having to walk.

I used a 110 ltr board, 6m wind and 1875 sq.cm mid-aspect front wing. A bigger foil wouldn't have hurt.