Light Wind Winging

Light wind or underpowered winging can be one of the the most frustrating, but rewarding experiences you can have foiling. I love doing it, it’s a great way to test gear and have a blast exploring the coast! On Maui I see too many people having trouble getting up not to write about it!

#1 most important thing in underpowered winging is the board. A good board for light wind has 3 main things: 

Enough volume, you’re looking for a board that can fully float you, generally this is a SUP board. 

Hard release edges. These help the water unstick from low pressure areas of the board. Hard edges on the tail and step of the board are a need, a hard edge on the rail starting at or behind the front foot helps too. I’ve seen lots of boards that sucked but would be awesome if just one hard edge was added, It makes a big difference.

Shape. Think simple, convex shapes are best, and if conclaves are used they should be as light and as few as possible. Boards should be kept as skinny as possible, newer shapes are going in the 22-24” Range.

#2 most important thing is a good sail. Size isn’t the biggest factor here, an efficient sail will work better once flying that a big one. Look for sails that are really good upwind, between 3.5 and 6m for sub. Newer sails are best as they have enough wingspan and a flat enough shape to make power at low apparent wind angles. 

#3, foils. This is pretty simple, the more efficient the better. Find the widest possible wingspan and if that’s easy to get up go for a higher aspect ratio.

Overall, the goal was in light wind is to have a good enough board to get a fast, efficient foil flying, and once flying have a sail that can handle the tight apparent wind angle generated. 

Gear recommendations:

BOARDS- anything custom, Dave Kalama and Mark Raaphorst have the most refined shapes I’ve seen.

SAILS- Ensis, WR, Armstrong, f-one strike, new CAB, and PPC are all great.

FOILS: Axis 1300, 1150, 980, 880. Armstrong 1125HA, 1550v2. Lift 120HA, 170HA, 200HA. Gofoil PNL160, PNL185, P180. Mikeslab 1000 wingfoil.  Moses w800, w1000. Higher wingspan and more efficiency needs a smaller sail, less experienced riders need a bigger sail and foil. 

Tips: 
ride tiny sails in lots of wind to get used to low power.

If possible, use the board or water’s surface to endplate the sail. This works awesome at high speed. To take it a step further, squat on your board upwind to reduce drag from your body, this makes endplating the sail using the water even easier.

take advantage of ripples and currents to get on foil, this is all about timing but can be a massive help.