I'm new to wingfoiling but like to know what the best pumping technique is for getting up on the
Foil? Is it just pumping the wing or is there lots of foot pumping of the board too? This would be for flat water or small waves.
Hi Wingrider,
It is a combination of both. I would say it is about 30% Pumping the wing and the rest is pumping the board/foil.
This also depends a bit on how much wind you have. In light wind you really need to pump the foil to the get the foil to engage as the wing wont be creating much pull. In strong winds you can pretty much use the wing to get flying without pumping the board much.
Another factor is the wing itself. Some brands have really flexible wings, and a few have stiff wings. The stiff wings generate a lot of power when pumped which make them easy to pump to get flying, others ( a lot actually) as really flexible and produce very little power when pumped as they dump most of the power out as the wingtips flex away from the strut. These are basically useless in really light winds and you need to really work the board hard to get flying.
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Gunnar
Hi Wingrider,
It is a combination of both. I would say it is about 30% Pumping the wing and the rest is pumping the board/foil.
This also depends a bit on how much wind you have. In light wind you really need to pump the foil to the get the foil to engage as the wing wont be creating much pull. In strong winds you can pretty much use the wing to get flying without pumping the board much.
Another factor is the wing itself. Some brands have really flexible wings, and a few have stiff wings. The stiff wings generate a lot of power when pumped which make them easy to pump to get flying, others ( a lot actually) as really flexible and produce very little power when pumped as they dump most of the power out as the wingtips flex away from the strut. These are basically useless in really light winds and you need to really work the board hard to get flying.
--
Gunnar
Completely agree with the your summary of stiff vs flexible wing struts - I have a Gong wing plus 7m which I put as much air pressure in as I dare for using in light winds to increase the rigidity, meaning pumping the wing to get up on the foil is much more effective. In strong winds for it's range (15-18knots), especially gusty conditions, I release as much air as I can to let the wing flex to dump the gusts. It really works!
**Side note - I would prefer to use a 5m in 15+ knot winds, but mine hasn't arrived yet due to flight restrictions
Here's a really good review / comparison between the Ozone Wasp and the Naish s25:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DutQgDRV4Ic
I'm new to wingfoiling but like to know what the best pumping technique is for getting up on the
Foil? Is it just pumping the wing or is there lots of foot pumping of the board too? This would be for flat water or small waves.
Hi Wingrider
I've pasted a link to a youtube video that has some REALLY good advice on wing and foil pumping technique for light winds. OK, its 56 minutes long
but when in lockdown...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_WPqAMTDgw&t=83sIt's worth persevering with (if like me you're an insomniac) as there are some really good nuggets of information in between him trying to get weed off his mast
my top tip - learn to start both ways. I see a lot of footage of people taking off switch for some reason. Definitely surfers and supers that have never kited or windsurfed. The efficiency of a switch stance is about 3/4 that of a proper stance and you cannot go upwind as well either. Mostly tho practice, practice, practice. You will get a feel for how much power in the wing will get you up - which will get less and less as you get better. Add in waves and swell and its another ball game. Windblown waves are the worst as they take away your apparent wind. I like to use them on the way out - provided you have enough wind to be stable and resist a hit. As the wave throws the front of your board up - you have gained some potential energy that can be turned into forward speed - the foil wing will slow the decent thru the water - so throw yourself forward and start pumping the back of the wave will also be downhill giving you something to pump into . Finally - save your energy- dont just pump and flail wait for a gust AND water that you can release from - pumping in short chop an d light winds can be a waste of time if the chop hits you and kills momentum.
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