Beginner Wing Gear Buy Guide
What wing gear is right for me?
This is a question that we get asked on a very regular basis. The answer isn't simple, it's different for everybody!
Beginner foiling kit
There’s a lot of gear out there so it can be daunting when deciding what gear is best for you, fortunately we are here to try and dumb it down for you. There’s obviously 3 pieces of gear you need to have to get into wing foiling, a wing, a board and a Foil, we’ll discuss how you can choose the best gear for you.
Wings
Sizing is very important, we advise people to buy a bigger wing to start with anything between 4.5m and 6.0m depending on your weight. When your learning you want to go out generally in less wind, as your looking for the flattest water possible, this makes learning so much easier. To start with in general the most manageable wind strengths are between 12 - 20 knots these wind strengths will suit perfectly the first wing you buy.
Having hard handles/boom VS soft handles is also something to look out for when learning. We’ve found the hard handles/boom option to be more user friendly and easier to access the power of the wing compared to the soft handle versions when your beginning your wing journey.
Below is a rough size guide
60–75 kg / 130–165 lbs: Use a 4.0m to 5.0m wing.
75–90 kg / 165–200 lbs: Use a 5.0m to 6.0m wing.
90–105 kg / 200–230 lbs: Use a 5.5m to 6.5m wing.
Over 105 kg / 230+ lbs: Use a 6.0m to 7.0m wing.
Board
The correct board for you is incredibly important to help aid your progression, having the correct board for you is made up of these features.
Dimensions
We advise you to get a board between 5’8 and 6’2 and between 26” and 32” wide, this will ensure you have a nice stable platform so balance is much easier.
Volume
Have enough volume to float you is the most important, a board around 20-30L above your body weight is about right to get you going. For example if your 70kg’s something around 90-100L would be suitable. Anything more than that has an opposite affect on your winging and will actually make the board more unstable, as you’ll sit too high of the water so will be affected by any little bump that hits you.
Construction
We’ve found solid board, made out of glass fibre or carbon fibre to have a massively positive impact on customers progression. The inflatable boards serve a purpose and are great for travel but overall are more sticky to the water so harder to get on foil.
Foil
The foil is what you're aiming to ride on! It’s what gives you flight so having it right is incredibly important.
The correct foil size for you is determined often by what front wing size you get, the front wing provides the lift so it important you have the correct size. Between 1500 and 1800 cm2 is right for most people. If you have done a lot of foiling before it will mean you can start on smaller foil front wing.
The correct mast length is also important as this impacts your stability and ease of foiling something between 70-80cm of mast height is great for learning.
We appreciate that this can feel like a lot of overwhelming information when you're about to take on your wingfoiling adventure! So don't be afraid to reach out and ask us any questions, were here to help make this transition a whole lot easier! Alternatively come into store, we can chat over a coffee and you could take out some kit to try!