All your points are spot on. As a long time windsurfer with no foil experience, I thought I could learn on an inflatable at my usual big lake spots. That was wrong, I needed FLAT WATER. Only on flat water could I get the stubby blunt-nose inflatable to accelerate in a controlled manner that gave me the time to prepare for lift-off (reset balance, prepare to sheet out, keep board flat in all directions).
Great points, David. Appreciate the feedback. The air mattresses are not fun in chop and swell, that's for sure! Congratulations on cracking the inflatable code haha :D
Thanks, Miner! The i-Fly? How do you like it? I'm hoping people don't think I was bagging on the Infinity 99 (terrific tool for certain conditions). If I had just used a bigger wing, I'm sure I would've gotten up much cleaner and easier. First legit flight I had on an inflatable was actually on the 84. Hope you're able to get out soon and let us know how you get on!!
Foil forward is like having flaps down on a plane for most, it's like using brakes. I have a slingshot inflatable, it's great but sticky. Have my foil allll the way back (for where my weight is) and I do large kicks/Ollie movements to break surface tension and get up.
Great point. I didn't want to get into foil placement (which is highly personal) and ollie-ing or "kicking" (as I like to term it) in favor of keeping things manageable and simple. I was actually surprised how little I had to ollie the inflatable (if at all) when it was sufficiently powered up. Glad to hear you're enjoying the i-FLY!
Totally agree. Gotta pump! I’m just starting too. IFly 105. Couple of points: while a decent size hand wing helps I prefer to use a smaller one so I can more easily work on getting my gybes going once up so just over sizing the handwing is not my best option. That leaves pumping. I find starting slightly upwind, then arriving the wing as I turn to beam and maybe just a little off the wind gives a bit of extra speed right off. Then two or three pumps maybe on the wing, maybe on the board, maybe both in unison does the trick. Once on foil a quick turn puts me right upwind again. So my number one: have enough wind on a gust and just wing to gain speed with a few quick pumps.
Break the surface tension under the board. Pumping isn’t just the wing it’s in unison with pumping the front foot and the front wing under your feet. Pump, wing , and front foot. On the foil straight away. I’ve gone from 140 ltr inflatable to a 94ltr 5,3. And loving it Foil on peeps
I live in Scottsdale! Moved here from Maui. Originally from SFL. Since I can’t surf out here I’ve acquired some winging equipment! I have 2 full setups and am still learning to consistently get up on foil. Hoping this summer I get it down and can start taking advantage of lighter winds. I’d love to meet up with some other foilers! I take my family to lake pleasant mostly during summers. I don’t do Fb but have ig. Same name.
Hey Taylor Dan! That’s great. In fact, if you’re free, a bunch of us will be out there tomorrow and Thursday afternoon. I’ll be windsurf foiling but others will be winging. We’ll get you on foil, don’t worry. I will DM you on IG now
Great video - I have inflatable and have had some frustrations that you talked about. I feel like the nose often goes underwater so I have been messing with the location of the foil - I was hopping that you would have mentioned that. But in the end this was a great video :)
Thank you for viewing and for the feedback! So I've gotten to placing my foil in basically the same place on every board, so that point totally slipped my mind. While I never had this happen with my inflatables, submarine-ing the board (inflatable or not) is never fun. As I mentioned, I think the inflatable does have a big advantage in that it is really hard to totally submerge (for longer than a second anyway), so hopefully it's not wiping you out every time. But I will say you're on the right track in playing around with the foil positioning. In addition to the pointers I mention, I might also try incrementally adjusting your foot placement or stance rear-ward, as it sounds like you must be standing pretty far forward for the nose to be dunking often like that. Some boards just like to be ridden closer to the tail, it seems. Keep at it and good luck!!
I have the Slingshot Infinity 76 and Infinity 84 front wings at 190 pounds and Windfoil them with a 6.0 and 7.5 meter sail. I use a Slingshot Dialer 130 for maximum efficiency, but am looking into a wing board. It's good to know that inflatables don't have the same efficiency.
tell me about your experience using the Dialer. I have a Dialer 147 weigh 180lbs and want to wingfoil. Does the Dialer work adequately for wing foiling ? What are its disadvantages . It only has one position for the foil of course.
My first foil attempt today on a f-one air rocket w/ slingshot 99 foil w/ 4M wing in maybe 15-18 knots ... hard to get on foil like you said. Need more wing and wind :)
Hi! Your explanations are easy to understand. Do you recommend the slingshot ltf to beginners like me? I have tried SUP only once and have been wingskating since 2021. I’m confident in using a wing. Thanks.
Hi, I'm 5'7", 80kg & 69 yrs old. I've done some kiteboarding but no foiling/winging. I just bought a 2022 5m Cabrinha Crosswing X3 Wing to get started. Now I'm looking at inflatable boards I have a small boat & live near a boat ramp. My thoughts are to get used to the wing possibly on the 180 liter Slingshot LTF V1, with its keel & twin fins included, then transition to a foil that I can practice on behind the boat. If that all works out I may then start looking at regular hard board. Thoughts & Recommendations??? Thanks!
Hi! I noticed the Gong inflatable in the video, in your first setup with the 4 wing. Any thoughts about that Gong board? In the specs on their site i see there is almost no rocker, is that something that has an influence to get on that foil? Curious about your experience/opinion. Thanks! (I'm a beginner, researching to buy my own gear now :) )
To save you 18 minutes of your life, this is all that is said (quantifiers are mine): Take a big enough wing (5m) and frontwing (1500+), go in enough wind (16 kn+), start on a broad reach, make speed.
An inflatable is great for learning with, as they're usually less expensive and bomb-proof construction-wise. Plus, since there are so many of them made, you can usually find one used or closeout for a good deal. Initially, you should be learning the wing basics and how to sail off-foil anyway, and the inflatable is just as good for that as with a hard board. Also, think about it this way, if you can take off and foil with an inflatable, you'll have no problem doing it on a hard board if/when you eventually know what you want and decide to invest in one. Thanks for viewing and Good luck!
Hi, For a beginner (very first flies, 50 meters max), and provided money & travel are not an issue, would you recommend an inflatable or a hard board (my home spot never gets flat)?
Thanks. I am a beginner. I have an inflatable gong board. I am heavy (92Kg)... and I have troubles to get foiling... I have the feeling that the board sticks on the water and not glide...
I disagree with the opinion that inflatable are different ( harder) to learn with. For a beginner it won't make much difference ( I disagree with the reasons too) Actually you can have a much lighter and manageable board with more volume if it's an inflatable and as stiff as the others the only downside is a bit more thickness. 70kg and a 4 m is too less? It has to be blasting ? Only if 20 kt is blasting ... Having only a 4m is too less yes , you should have something bigger also, for lighter wind days, but 4m for 70kg in 18 kt is more than enough, specially with a 2300 front wing. I also disagree with that theory of too big front wing. If that happened everybody was using thin foils , thick begginer foils with lots of lift ( but TOO much drag in the opinion of the author) wouldn't have a reason to exist. I doo agree with the broad reach +
All your points are spot on. As a long time windsurfer with no foil experience, I thought I could learn on an inflatable at my usual big lake spots. That was wrong, I needed FLAT WATER. Only on flat water could I get the stubby blunt-nose inflatable to accelerate in a controlled manner that gave me the time to prepare for lift-off (reset balance, prepare to sheet out, keep board flat in all directions).
Great points, David. Appreciate the feedback. The air mattresses are not fun in chop and swell, that's for sure! Congratulations on cracking the inflatable code haha :D
Thank you for the great video. Inflatable boards more and more popular 👍
Very informative Ben! I’m just getting started and use the slingshot 140 with 99 foil. Thank you for the tips can’t wait to get out there again!
Thanks, Miner! The i-Fly? How do you like it? I'm hoping people don't think I was bagging on the Infinity 99 (terrific tool for certain conditions). If I had just used a bigger wing, I'm sure I would've gotten up much cleaner and easier. First legit flight I had on an inflatable was actually on the 84. Hope you're able to get out soon and let us know how you get on!!
Awesome information! Thank you!
Much appreciated, friend! Thank you for watching and good luck with your winging :D
Foil forward is like having flaps down on a plane for most, it's like using brakes.
I have a slingshot inflatable, it's great but sticky. Have my foil allll the way back (for where my weight is) and I do large kicks/Ollie movements to break surface tension and get up.
Great point. I didn't want to get into foil placement (which is highly personal) and ollie-ing or "kicking" (as I like to term it) in favor of keeping things manageable and simple. I was actually surprised how little I had to ollie the inflatable (if at all) when it was sufficiently powered up. Glad to hear you're enjoying the i-FLY!
Totally agree. Gotta pump! I’m just starting too. IFly 105. Couple of points: while a decent size hand wing helps I prefer to use a smaller one so I can more easily work on getting my gybes going once up so just over sizing the handwing is not my best option. That leaves pumping. I find starting slightly upwind, then arriving the wing as I turn to beam and maybe just a little off the wind gives a bit of extra speed right off. Then two or three pumps maybe on the wing, maybe on the board, maybe both in unison does the trick. Once on foil a quick turn puts me right upwind again.
So my number one: have enough wind on a gust and just wing to gain speed with a few quick pumps.
Break the surface tension under the board.
Pumping isn’t just the wing it’s in unison with pumping the front foot and the front wing under your feet.
Pump, wing , and front foot. On the foil straight away. I’ve gone from 140 ltr inflatable to a 94ltr 5,3. And loving it
Foil on peeps
Thank you! Nice video
I live in Scottsdale! Moved here from Maui. Originally from SFL. Since I can’t surf out here I’ve acquired some winging equipment! I have 2 full setups and am still learning to consistently get up on foil. Hoping this summer I get it down and can start taking advantage of lighter winds.
I’d love to meet up with some other foilers! I take my family to lake pleasant mostly during summers.
I don’t do Fb but have ig. Same name.
Hey Taylor Dan! That’s great. In fact, if you’re free, a bunch of us will be out there tomorrow and Thursday afternoon. I’ll be windsurf foiling but others will be winging. We’ll get you on foil, don’t worry. I will DM you on IG now
Great video - I have inflatable and have had some frustrations that you talked about. I feel like the nose often goes underwater so I have been messing with the location of the foil - I was hopping that you would have mentioned that. But in the end this was a great video :)
Thank you for viewing and for the feedback! So I've gotten to placing my foil in basically the same place on every board, so that point totally slipped my mind.
While I never had this happen with my inflatables, submarine-ing the board (inflatable or not) is never fun. As I mentioned, I think the inflatable does have a big advantage in that it is really hard to totally submerge (for longer than a second anyway), so hopefully it's not wiping you out every time. But I will say you're on the right track in playing around with the foil positioning. In addition to the pointers I mention, I might also try incrementally adjusting your foot placement or stance rear-ward, as it sounds like you must be standing pretty far forward for the nose to be dunking often like that. Some boards just like to be ridden closer to the tail, it seems. Keep at it and good luck!!
Helpful thoughts! Constructive feedback: Do this vid in 5 min, or even better in 3.
I have the Slingshot Infinity 76 and Infinity 84 front wings at 190 pounds and Windfoil them with a 6.0 and 7.5 meter sail. I use a Slingshot Dialer 130 for maximum efficiency, but am looking into a wing board. It's good to know that inflatables don't have the same efficiency.
tell me about your experience using the Dialer. I have a Dialer 147 weigh 180lbs and want to wingfoil. Does the Dialer work adequately for wing foiling ? What are its disadvantages . It only has one position for the foil of course.
My first foil attempt today on a f-one air rocket w/ slingshot 99 foil w/ 4M wing in maybe 15-18 knots ... hard to get on foil like you said. Need more wing and wind :)
Hi! Your explanations are easy to understand. Do you recommend the slingshot ltf to beginners like me? I have tried SUP only once and have been wingskating since 2021. I’m confident in using a wing. Thanks.
I'm getting up as a beginner on a large inflatable with a 7m wing and 1700 foil in. 12+ knots
Hi, I'm 5'7", 80kg & 69 yrs old. I've done some kiteboarding but no foiling/winging. I just bought a 2022 5m Cabrinha Crosswing X3 Wing to get started. Now I'm looking at inflatable boards
I have a small boat & live near a boat ramp. My thoughts are to get used to the wing possibly on the 180 liter Slingshot LTF V1, with its keel & twin fins included, then transition to a foil that I can practice on behind the boat. If that all works out I may then start looking at regular hard board.
Thoughts & Recommendations??? Thanks!
Hi! I noticed the Gong inflatable in the video, in your first setup with the 4 wing. Any thoughts about that Gong board? In the specs on their site i see there is almost no rocker, is that something that has an influence to get on that foil? Curious about your experience/opinion. Thanks! (I'm a beginner, researching to buy my own gear now :) )
so how big of a wing do you need?
To save you 18 minutes of your life, this is all that is said (quantifiers are mine):
Take a big enough wing (5m) and frontwing (1500+), go in enough wind (16 kn+), start on a broad reach, make speed.
I want an inflatable as new to foiling but thinking against it and getting a hsrd board
An inflatable is great for learning with, as they're usually less expensive and bomb-proof construction-wise. Plus, since there are so many of them made, you can usually find one used or closeout for a good deal. Initially, you should be learning the wing basics and how to sail off-foil anyway, and the inflatable is just as good for that as with a hard board. Also, think about it this way, if you can take off and foil with an inflatable, you'll have no problem doing it on a hard board if/when you eventually know what you want and decide to invest in one. Thanks for viewing and Good luck!
Hi,
For a beginner (very first flies, 50 meters max), and provided money & travel are not an issue, would you recommend an inflatable or a hard board (my home spot never gets flat)?
Thanks. I am a beginner. I have an inflatable gong board. I am heavy (92Kg)... and I have troubles to get foiling... I have the feeling that the board sticks on the water and not glide...
Probably need more wind. The difference between 12 knots and 18 knots is huge. Also get the wing to pull you from in front rather than to the side.
I disagree with the opinion that inflatable are different ( harder) to learn with. For a beginner it won't make much difference ( I disagree with the reasons too)
Actually you can have a much lighter and manageable board with more volume if it's an inflatable and as stiff as the others the only downside is a bit more thickness.
70kg and a 4 m is too less?
It has to be blasting ?
Only if 20 kt is blasting ...
Having only a 4m is too less yes , you should have something bigger also, for lighter wind days, but 4m for 70kg in 18 kt is more than enough, specially with a 2300 front wing. I also disagree with that theory of too big front wing. If that happened everybody was using thin foils , thick begginer foils with lots of lift ( but TOO much drag in the opinion of the author) wouldn't have a reason to exist.
I doo agree with the broad reach +