FEEDBACK: WHEN IT ALL COMES TOGETHER IN WING FOILING!

Lalo recently started wing foiling and today, he shares his experience with all those who are still wondering if they should have a try at it.

The starting point

“To give some context on my feedback, I must say that I have 42 years of experience in boardsports propelled by the wind: 32 years of windsurfing at a very good level, I stopped 10 years ago to switch to kiteboarding. I have 23 years of experience in kiting at a very good level too. I’ve been doing a lot of surfing since I was 13 and a lot of SUP since 2006. I tried out wing foiling when it first came on the scene and I didn’t catch on at all because the foil scared me a bit (bad experience in kiting). I also found the whole kit slow and clumsy. My wife seemed interested and wanted to do some. She has done a little bit of windsurfing, not up to the level of planing, and she has 10 years of SUP behind her. Kitesurfing frightened her, so we decided to get into winging toghether, because what beats a session with the family? (Which we already do regularly in SUP).”

Gear suited to our objectives

“On Fred’s advice, we bought gear at the end of June: Zuma 6’6″, Lance 5’7″ and Plus 6/5/4 m2 with a foil X-Over XXL for me (90kg) and XL for her (50kg). The first session was laborious because the wind was far too light to be able to fly, but it allowed me to assemble the gear and explain the basics to my partner on rigging, handling the wing and safety rules. The GONG gear is super suitable for beginners and when we see Malo’s recent victory in Brazil, we have time to progress!

The SCS fixing system of the foil with the nuts is simply brilliant and so practical!
The straps are super comfortable and very well designed for the front straps.
The pads are super comfortable with a great grip.
The wing bags are big and it’s so nice to be able to store your wings without struggling.”

Flying within 2 sessions

“Then after 2/3 sessions, I managed to secure my flights. The desire to sail more often made me buy a Super Power 7.5m2. This has allowed me to sail very often this summer in addition to the other wings, 23 sessions as of yesterday for me and 7/8 for my partner.” Fun at each session “So after these 23 sessions, I can fly in both directions (I switched to Fluid front wings to gain speed and maneuverability), the jibes are close to 90% on my natural stance and 10% on the other … on the other hand, I still can’t switch in the air when exiting a jibe, that’s the next objective! I started to feel the potential of surfing on undulations when sailing back to the shore and it’s driving me crazy to imagine what it’s going to be like in a few weeks!! I love surfing so much… After 7/8 sessions, my partner carn return to her starting point (finally!) while sailing flat and on the last two sessions she made her first flights in dolphin mode and there I saw in her smile that the magic came to operate! For all those who are still hesitating, I have only one thing to say to you: “don’t hesitate anymore!!” Since I got the wing foiling gear I haven’t touched my kites… I only watch the weather forecast to consider wing sessions.”

The magic happens

“Discovering a new nautical activity at 52 is just magical. There is everything to learn and it’s just great. I have the impression of seeing myself again at 10 years old when I had discovered windsurfing and that I only thought about it, or when in 1999 I first sailed a kite and that I only thought about that … just like for SUP in 2006! I feel like I’m becoming a kid again, the happiest kid in the world with each little goal achieved in the progression. And what a joy to be able to share all this with the family! The wing is super accessible, it’s not dangerous (wearing a helmet, vest, wetsuit and booties is strongly recommended though) and it can be practiced almost anywhere. Compared to kitesurfing you can start from a creek, sail in a small lake, sail with offshore wind, and in “ultra light” winds even if the wind dies on you don’t have to swim with a 19m2 kite, a board of 25 liters and a foil with a 1m mast. Learning is fun because you can be quite close on the water and breaks are easy side by side, even on the water. Huge thanks to GONG, because without Fred and Patrice and their precious advice and motivation for me to get started, I would have missed out on this magical practice. Thanks to wing foiling, I sailed again with a childhood friend, Grd Gui (we hadn’t sailed together for at least 30 years) and soon with my brother Arnaud. Crazy I feel like I’m 15!!!”

Wing foilers: Mélissa and Fabien, staff GONG, with HIPE Cruzaders Strapped.

Thanks to Lalo for this feedback which makes us want to continue to create ever more efficient equipment, to allow you to live these magical moments of life.