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The arrival of foiling in the lineup as a new developing sport has resulted in some pushback from the Surfer and SUP community with a common assumption that foiling is dangerous, leading to frustration, tension, and aggression on the water.

You must have basic knowledge as a beginner of the social and environmental impact of the sport with basic rules to avoid causing conflict in the water.

TOLERANCE AND RESPECT IN THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

Nobody owns the waves and all water users have the right to participate in water sports, regardless, always try to have discipline, making sure your ability and fitness level are suited to the area and not endangering yourself or others.

As foilers, we try to avoid crowded areas, which avoids big incidents or aggressivity in the water. If you are sharing an area with other water - users make sure you have plenty of space. Use appropriate language and be cooperative with others on site.

Visually check the area for a few minutes before going so that you can gauge the wind and current effects on the other waterway users.

. REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACT

Small waves, high tides, or less powerful waves are wonderful resources and foilers have a vested interest in ensuring that waterways and the environments are clean. As major stakeholders foilers have a role to protect these environments and to educate the public about the importance of the waterways.

• Contact your local government if your local foiling venue has a pollution problem and would benefit from a cleanup

• Ask your local government for a grant to plant and re-vegetate the dune area

• Always take your rubbish home or place it in bins if provided.

• Always use the designated walkways, parking, and staging areas

• Do not stray into fragile areas.

WING SURFING RULES OF THE ROAD

AVOID COLLISIONS AT ALL COSTS This is the number one rule when way avoid collisions at all costs. This may be most relevant when around less competent wingers or other water users.

STARBOARD TACK HAS R.O.W OVER PORT

If on a colliding course give way to Wingers on Starboard tack. This is right hand forward.

(Memory tip: if you’re on the right, you’re in the right).

GIVE SPACE, ESPECIALLY WHEN FOILING

OVERTAKING RIDER MUST KEEP CLEAR

When overtaking, a winger must not obstruct or impede another winger They must keep clear either to windward (upwind) or leeward (downwind) by a safe distance

Maintain a 3-5m distance from other wingers and always look before passing, turning or overtaking. LET PEOPLE LAND BEFORE LAUNCHING

Getting a wing and foil back onto the beach without causing damage can be a challenge, so make sure you stay well clear of those landing. Use a quiet area of beach and never come in through crowded areas or swimming zones.

THE WINGERS’ CODE

GIVE WAY TO RIDERS NOT YET IN FLIGHT

Once you’re on the foil you have more control & manoeuvrability. Those that are underpowered or not yet up and riding will be less manoeuvrable and should be given ample room.

SAFETY EQUIPMENT

The most important item is your wing leash, double check its strength and attachment before entering the water. The board leash can be a waist, knee, or ankle attachment and should be long enough to allow you to fall away from your board. Impact vests will protect you in a fall and a helmet worn while you master foiling

WIND SCIENCE

THE BASICS OF WING POWER – HOW DOES A WING CREATE ITS POWER?

Wing power is important – without it, we absolutely cannot ride! Understanding why your wing produces power is very helpful. Learning becomes ten times easier when you understand what you need to do to get the result that you want, and you do get better faster. Now let’s makes that little theory worth it!

This page introduces a very basic version of the reasons why your wing produces power. From this, we can show where one very important wing

foiling term comes from – the wind window!

HOW WING CREATE POWER

wing power is produced in two ways:

Lift & Wind Deflection

The total wing power is a combination of these two phenomena, but each one has an area where it is stronger than the other. Let’s see where.

Lift is created as air flows over both surfaces of the wing. The air must flow over an area that has a shape like a wing. When this happens, the air flowing over the top of the wing flows faster than the air along the bottom – this creates a pressure difference. Because of this pressure difference, the wing is pushed upwards, which is lift!

HOW DOES LIFT DEPEND ON SPEED?

The faster the air flows over the wing, the greater the pressure difference becomes, which results in more lift. So, if the air’s speed over the wing doubles, you would expect the lift to double, right? Wrong! If the air’s speed doubles, lift becomes four times stronger!

e.g. If you are winging at 10 knots and the wind doubles to 20, that same wing will pull four times harder than before.

This is also why a wingfoiler who uses a small wing in 30 knots of wind can jump higher than one using a bigger wing in 15 knots - even though the bigger wing catches more wind. Say you have a 6m² wing in 15 knots of wind, and a 3m² (half the size) wing in 30 knots of wind – the 3-meter wing produces around twice as much power in 30 knots as the 6 meter does in 15 knots!

WHERE DOES THE WING HAVE TO BE TO PRODUCE LIFT?

For the wing to produce lift, it needs to have air flowing over its surface. Anytime this happens the wing creates lift – simple as that. The pictures below show where this can happen, and where it can’t. Pictures one and two both show wings with air flowing over their surface. Both of these wings

are producing lift, but since the air flows further over the top of wing two, it creates more lift. Wing three is at too much of an angle to the wind. The air can’t flow over its surface, so instead the air becomes turbulent – no lift in this case!

To look at the same thing in a different way, the wind needs to “see” something like this; (1) what the wind sees no tilt (2) or this

So, how does this last wing lift? The fact is, in some cases, it doesn’t lift very well (we will get to that later) but in other cases it does…which leads us right into Wind Deflection!

(3) what the wind sees - lift from more but NOT this; too much tilt - no

WIND WIND WIND

WING POWER CREATION FROM WIND DEFLECTION

As the wind hits the wing surface two things happen. The wing slows the wind-down and pushes it downwards,

out the back of the wing Thanks to Newton’s Laws, the wing gets pushed up and away.

DOES WIND DEFLECTION DEPEND ON SPEED?

It sure does. Wind deflection depends on the speed of the wind in the same way as lift (although the math is different, the

relationship is the same). If wind speed doubles, the wing power quadruples.

WHERE DOES THE WING HAVE TO BE TO DEFLECT WIND?

For the wing to deflect wind, it needs to be in a position like the 3rd picture. From the wind’s perspective, it needs to “see” this:

Wind deflection saw from bottom of the wing

That’s it for wind deflection. Remember, total wing power is a combination of lift and wind deflection.

HOW DOES LIFT COMPARE TO WIND DEFLECTION?

Wind deflection is stronger than lift*. If you compare the strength of the two forces, a wind-deflecting wing will pull harder than a wing that is just producing lift.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

We know what the wind “sees” when a wing is producing lift and when it is deflecting the wind. We also know that a wing that is deflecting the wind pulls harder than one that is producing lift*. So, let’s see how this looks when you are handling your wing.

* When compared directly to each other. In this case, I am speaking of a stationary wing that is deflecting wind, and a stationary wing producing lift. A moving wing can create lift even if it is deflecting wind.

Wing power from the rider’s perspective

Wing power It is broken down into two main parts: the top and the power zone. The top of the wind window is where a kite has the least amount of power. The power zone is where it has the most. Through the topics above, we can see exactly why this is!

CHECK THE CONDITIONS

As in all water sports its essential you check the conditions before you enter the water, use online websites such as windy.com and magicseaweed.com to check the predicted wind speed and wind direction for the spot you will visit; Rule No. 1 DON’T WING IN OFFSHORE CONDITIONS.

Never wing in thunderstorms when lightening may occur, always monitor the horizon for squalls and stronger winds. Always know the tide changes to avoid the foil hitting the bottom. The sun is intense when you’re winging so fill up on water before winging and always wear plenty of sunscreen.

MAKE A PLAN

Your plan can include :

Conditions, Equipment selection, Safe zone or last solution zone, Self-rescue, Getting help, Emergency call.

Conditions: Before doing anything it is highly recommended that you check every detail especially if you don’t know the spot. Tide height, wind direction, wind strength, today you have many forecasts to check your local spot conditions, it should still be double-checked on land before entering the water. Tidal effects in channels and lagoons should not be avoided. Going out when the Wind is offshore is very dangerous and should be avoided.

Equipment: knowing and selecting good equipment is always gonna benefit you, if the conditions are hard do not go with unknown equipment. Taking care of the Board size, wing size, foil mast length, and foil front wing can avoid being overpowered or underpowered, reducing the chance of incident or hard session.

Starting and stopping point: Always choose a safe starting and exit point, if you don’t know the spot it is always better to ask the local for some advise, this/these point(s) should always be in your sight angle when riding upwind or downwind.

Self-rescue: Knowing all the techniques to self-rescue yourself is very important, you should know what to do in case of losing your board or wing or how to go back to your safe zone on your own in case of wind drop.

Getting help: In case of a big injury or bad situation, you should know where are the nearest hospital and the quickest way to get there, having a boat is always a bonus, always ask if they are any available..

SELF-RESCUE

Paddle upwind, lay on your board with your upper body balanced in the middle of the board so you were able to arm-paddle your board. Now place the wing on the back of your legs and hold the strut with your feet and paddle upwind.

In the case, you don’t wear a leash and you lose your board you will have to do a body drag to catch it.

The first step is to flip the wing over so the leading edge is down into the water, reach the back handle and flip the wing downwind. If your body drags to the right you should grab the leading edge on the right side, which will allow you to body drag diagonally to the right, and vice versa if you have to body drag to the left. When body dragging tries to approach your board from the side otherwise you might push it away with your wing.

SELF-RESCUE

BODY DRAGING

WIND WING ZONE

This plan represent all the possibilities you can do using the wing and the wind:

The No-Go Zone is roughly a 90° area that is too close to the wind to wing in effectively, but it is possible to wing on either side of the zone and zigzag your way to windward.

A & B: Steering upwind, you go toward the direction from which the wind is blowing. It includes two points: Close-Hauled and Close Reaching. Close-Hauled means you are as close to the wind as you can get, it is the most upwind angle that your board will point under your wing. Close Reaching is where your wing will generate a lot of power for your board, when you Close Reaching you pick up a lot of power.

C & D: When you are at this point your are across the wind ( 90°) , it’s called Beam Reaching. The wind is blowing directly onto the side of the wing, it’s also where your wing will provide the fastest speed.

E & F: It’s called going downwind, refers to the direction to which the wind is blowing, It includes Broad Reaching and Running. Broad Reaching is when the foiler is turning away from the wind, but not directly downwind. Running is when the wind is pushing you from behind.

The first exercise is board control.

Mount from the side in the middle of the board, place your chest on the deck, and turn your feet to the tail.

Place your arms to the side of your chest and left your chest while sliding your knees to the middle of the board.

Paddle the board with your arms on either side to make sure the board planes, not noise diving or tipping you backward.

Handling the wing :

Hold the wing by the top handle, with the opposite hand of the direction you want to go; let the wing sail downwind, walk your hands down the handle, second hand to the first handle, top hand now to the back handle.

Flip the wing over Left, Stand on the board left foot forward, right foot back.

Wing positioned to the downwind edge of the board, take hold with the top handle with left hand and slightly lift the leading edge while, push the rear of the wing into the water to balance yourself.

You can push on top of the wing with your backhand to help balance yourself, slowly raise your body while using the rear of the wing in the water to balance yourself.

The wind will now blow into the wing and you can reach under with your backhand and begin to raise the wing out of the water.

DEPOWERING

POWERING

Lift both your backhand and front hand to the same level above your head while pointing the leading edge upwind when you want to slow down, stand taller or reposition your feet. Keep your eyes looking in the direction you want to keep moving towards.

FEATHERING

Pull your back hand down, while pushing your back knee forwards, keep pointing the leading edge towards the wind to create more power and increase your speed. Keep your eyes looking in the direction you want to keep moving towards.

Flip the wing upright then while holding the wing with your backhand lift the wing too your eye height and point the leading edge upwind. Look towards the leading edge and where you wish to place your hands next.

CHANGING DIRECTION

STEERING - UPWIND

Pull the wing backward with both hands while opening your back knee to gently turn downwind. Keep your eyes looking in the direction you want to keep moving toward

45- degrees is the maximum we can steer upwind, start by finding your upwind line with your eye direction, looking for an object in the distance to continue to look towards, and the focus on keeping your wing in the power position slightly to the back of your body with your back knee open.

STEERING - DOWNWIND

Push the wing forward with both hands while pushing your back knee forward to gently turn downwind. Keep your eyes looking in the direction you want to go.

Switch the backhand on the top handle and place your front hand on the neutral handle. Push the wing over the nose of the board, move your feet and keep them with your shoulder opposite the leading edge of the wing.

Keep pushing the wing over the nose of the board until the leading edge is parallel with the rail again, by this time you’ve now turned 180 degrees and you’re are pointing back across the wind in the other direction.

From this position swap your hand over, move your front hand to the top handle, and place your back hand to the bottom handle, once you have good balance power up the wing.

FALLING TIPS

HOW TO FALL

Properly falling plays a big part in foiling, it will avoid any injury or equipment damage. One of the best ways to do it is to always try falling backward. When you want to get back on your board make sure you are on the side and don’t kick too much with your feet otherwise you can hurt yourself on the foil.

- Choose an easy access point to enter the ocean or lake. Always avoid entering big shore breaks.

- Try to always keep looking forward it helps for your balance and improvement of your skills.

- When learning to change direction in the water if you are struggling to turn the paddle board does not hesitate to move back your feet or use your hip to twist your body and the board at the same time. But this should only be used on a board without a foil.

- When you ride sometimes your wing might pull you towards it or go down into the water, in this case, you want to do something called flagging. It’s pushing your back hand forward while you rise and pull with your front hand, flagging is similar to an 8 shape.

- Remember to stretch, the first few days you start wind foiling your arms can be sour, stretching is a good way of reducing the pain

Rip Curl School Of Surf

LEVEL 2

EQUIPMENT SET UP

When it comes to choosing your equipment, all the different foiling sports and brands can be confusing. We recommend this setup who is mostly used in your beginning as a wingfoiler.

1600 -1800 cm²

For the board a large volume is better, between 110L and 140L, it gives you good stability and plenty of movement without falling. Board length is usually 7’8 - 8’0

The front wing should be large, 1600 to 1800 cm² is very good, and you have plenty of portance, lift, and stability. The short mast is better when you start you can have good control of the front wing

BOARD7’8-8’0

fuselage:

The large fuselage is recommended, it gives you more stability, basically the more distance you have between the front & back wing the less movement you will have which

Wing size depends very much on wind power and rider skills.

the minimum size is 2m² and can go up to 8m², an example of which wing to choose would be: wind power 8 to 10 knots

can choose from 5 to 8m² depending on your level. All wings have their singularity depending on the brand, some brands like to put many handles some juste 2, etc. In overall they all have the same purpose.

HOW TO ENTER THE WATER

Before going in the water make sure to check your wing pressure (manufacturer recommended PSI) again before entering the water. Attach your wing leash to your downwind wrist and place the wing on the sand.

Walk as far upwind on the beach before entering the water, holding the wing downwind then walk the board into the water until waist deep, mount the board, and paddle upwind as far possible to allow yourself a period to go downwind.

Paddle upwind lay on your board with your upper body balanced in the middle of the board so you can arm paddle your board. Now place the wing on the back of your legs and hold the strut with your feet and paddle upwind.

Or if you don’t need to paddle wind position the wing, launch onto the board, and make an upwind track before reaching your entry point.

STANDING START

STEP 1

Mount the board from the side with the leading edge of the wing across the downwind rail of the board. Place your front hand on top of the wing, and your bottom hand on the leading edge handle. Lift the wing with your bottom hand and balance with the top hand. Step up onto the center line of your board with both feet shoulder withing apart, put your front hand on the top of the wing and push it down while lifting up your upper body to gain balance.

STEP 2

When you’re ready to go and you have a comfortable standing position lift your body while raising up the wing with your backhand on the leading-edge handle Place. Your front hand is on the top handle and the switch places your backhand from the leading edge to the back handle.

STEP 3

Straight your top arm and pull with your backhand on the back handle to gain more power, always look where you want to go.

BUILDING SPEED

GENERATING SPEED

Keep your eyes looking in the direction you want to go and your arms in the power position, lift both your hands and the wing higher above your head, then quickly pull with both arms and bring the wing back towards your chest, repeat to create a burst of speed. Remember to keep your eyes looking at your goal and your back knee pushing forward.

TAKING OFF

Once you know how to control and gain power you now must learn how to use it to fly! This is where the technique plays a big part such as your wind knowledge.

You’ve learned that to pick up the power you need to go upwind, so you’re going to do a tack upwind, during this tack you will feel more and more power coming in the wing, you can also speed up the process by generating speed.

Once you feel you have enough power to launch you now to change your angle, you cannot launch upwind, even though you have obtained power it’s not enough if you are upwind, so it’s time to go downwind! once you are downwind you will feel lots of power! Press with your front foot to take off.

you can also lose all your power and just drift away. The maximum distance you should go downwind is between 10 to 15 meters, after this, it’s already too late, do not continue downwind.

So to sum up everything it’s like doing a Z shape, go upwind, once you feel that wind is building go downwind, and use your front foot to take off. cannot fly? No problem, go upwind again and repeat the process until you fly. With time and experience, you will be able to take off better and better even with low wind conditions!

TIPS

If you cannot launch do not worry, go upwind again, the worst thing to do is to force everything by staying downwind, basically, you will be able to - Always check the spot you’re going to ride, if you see anything suspicious wait and find the problem.

- Rideshare. It is strongly recommended to practice with the other riders who could call for assistance in case of emergency.

- Never go out in Off-shore conditions unless you have a boat. If anything happens you will have a lot of difficulty going back onshore.

- Respect the priority on the water. When two riders come from opposite directions, the rider with the right hand close to the front of the wing has priority over the rider with the left hand close to the front of the wing. The rider with priority should maintain the direction while the other one point downwind to avoid a collision. Before any jumps or direction changes, make sure there is enough room and that you are not going to cross anyone’s path.

Rip Curl School Of Surf