Beginner Wing Foil

Foiling is one of the newer additions to the watersports roster. While foils can be put on almost any watercraft (including kitesurfing and windsurfing above) at a beginner level the most approachable foil sport is Wing Foiling.

Wing Foiling is performed by riding on a board with positive volume on your weight (i.e. it floats when you are on it) a foil underneath and holding an inflatable wing to provide the power to engage the foil and keep you moving.

Conditions

Learning to wing foil is best when following a few rule for the conditions

1. Depth - You must have enough water depth for your foil to not hit the bottom when you sit on your board. This can depend on mast length but generally you will want to be foiling out of your standing depth.
2. flat water - foil boards can be unstable and tricky to stand up on. Flat water will help speed learning
3. 10-20kts - with the right gear a veery wide wind range can be ridden with a foil but for learning anythign in that 10-20kt rang is best
4. cross shore wind. Because of the foil sitting so low onshore wind will cause you to becom grounded very quickly. cross shore is best but youi must be aware of where you will end up if you cant go up wind and ensure you stay safe.

Learning curve

Intial learning wing foiling is quite quick. with the rright gear and conditions most riders will be stood up on the board (not on the foil) with the wing powering them along slowly in the first session.

Learing to foil is tricky. This takes time and dedication to get it nailed. however, once yoou can foil the sport becomes super fun and progression speeds up again.

Fitness level

With beginner gear (i.e. big board) and in lighter winds and flat water the intial leaning is not too tough.

When learning to engage the foil yoyu have to expect to fall in a lot. Climbing back onto your board repeatedly can be tiring and sometimes frustrating.

Once up and riding on foil this sport is very low energy intensive. Espeically for riders using a harness

Riding Styles

The chart below should give some indication of how the sport fits the various riding styles as your skill level progresses. Note that this information is subjective and should only be taken as such, with the right gear, skill and conditions all sports can be fun for almost all riding styles.

Safety

Novice riders are often intimidated by the foil and worried that this will do damage. Whilc it is true that  this can happen, beginner foils are designed with minimal sharp edges and points to mitigate this as much as possible. 

In flat water and controllable power you are unlikely to do more than give yourself a scratch even in the most dramatic wipe outs. A helmet is advisable for the worst-case scenario but the majority of riders will never test their helmet's capabilty!