Using the wing on a no-foil SUP

[ittiandro]

Hi

What about using a 5 m. wing on a SUP, without foil, in light winds ( 12 knts)?. Will it be better than a regular sail?. I am already windsurfing on a SUP in light winds. Better than a shortboard, at least I move, but kind of slow.

Will a wing be better?I have no great speed ambitions. It would already be good if I could go faster than..paddling. Admittedly a very low bar, but with the kind of winds here, it would be a good alternative to sitting on the beach or paddling.

.After all the weight of the SUP would be substantially reduced without the 12 kg rig and the is very floaty ( 220 l). What about controlling the direction of the SUP with a wing? Any comments, if somebody has tried it?

Thanks

Ittiandro

[dllee]

Works fine, but maybe not efficient for 18+ winds.
Always better than paddling, except -5 when the wing won't fly.

[ittiandro]

Can the Duotone boom be easily damaged on impact? I hesitate between Slingshot and Duotone because of this.

Thanks

Ittiandro

[rswabsin]

James Douglass regularly posts responses on this forum. Here is a post from his blog that might answer your questions (hope the link works): http://jimbodouglass.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2019-10-05T19:53:00-07:00&max-results=7

[dllee]

Does your windsurf boom get damaged?
WS is twice or more the stress of winging.

[grantmac017]

Much slower than a sail. Locals report that it takes significantly more wind than windfoiling and is less efficient.
In less than 10kts the wing barely flies itself which makes it far more awkward.

If you want ease of use under 10kts get a Kona rig, better yet get a Kona or raceboard too.

[joethewindsufa]

Ten knots is my wind minimum and I longboard on a Mistral Equipe 2 XR
That is a REALLY light wind and obviously is unstable too
With a wing lacking wind, I would NOT want to be balancing on a large WindSUP

You have the board now Franco
Maybe just need a better sail ??
Or as we discussed - come out to OKA - when eveything has calmed down
I have lotsa light wind stuff you can try
even my JP SLW92 in 12-15 knots

[ittiandro]

Yes, I hear you. Indeed the opinion are mixed, about 50-50. For one thing, the more I read from run-of-the-mill surfers ( not promotional videos, of course,) the more positive reviews I see, in addition, of course (!) to the inevitable thumbs down, especially for light winds conditions,
Jim Douglass for inst at http://jimbodouglass.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2019-10-05T19:53:00-07:00&max-results=7 has a very positive review and so many others. .
Surely, adrenalin pumped people, centered on speed and planing, or even dyed-in-the-wool traditional windsurfers, are less likely to like wing-supping with no foil in 10-12 knts..Some find ( or think ) it difficult to control the SUP direction with a no foil wing and next to impossible to tack upwind...
Two minutes after, you read the opposite elsewhere : the longer and the floatier the board,( like a SUP) the easier to keep the course on a wing and even to go upwind, provided you rail the board as you would normally do with a sail, even better, if you use a centerboard, which makes perfect sense….
The only thing I do see as a potential problem is keeping the balance while launching the wing from the kneeling position at startup. With the sail, I can easily pull myself up by using the rig as counterweight, without too much..dancing-with-the-wolves( read the waves..) . But the SUP is extremely stable. All in all, it should be a lot easier than standing on the old Mistral…
I’ll keep all the comments in mind. For the moment I am considering a good deal and I feel kind of inclined to go ahead, because prices will inevitably flare up once this hype takes off, just like kitesurfing has almost killed windsurfing and quite possibly, wing surfing will…now pull down the kites..
If I will not have decided by summer, I’ll take you on your offer to meet you at OKA if the park will be open , because there are rumors that windsurfing and related water sports may be off bounds due to the Covid 19 situation,.which I find kind of excessive because people don’t normally shake hands, or breathe on their necks or otherwise engage in romantic postures while grabbing the boom, unless they have three hands. .

Take care

Ittiandro

[dllee]

Plenty of wingdingers started first day on 7' boards around 120 liters, then progressed on to 100 liter boards by their 4th day.
Of course, 7-10 knots is needed to fly the wing. Less than 5, you paddle home dragging the wing.

[NOVAAN]

Stick with your sail. The wings really work best with a foil.