Wing Foil in the Lightest Winds Possible With a Downwind Board

Video Summary

Tucker, Jeff, and Ryan are discussing the benefits of downwind style foilboards for winging in light wind. These boards tend to be a little longer and narrower than traditional wingboards, allowing for less drag, better planing, and a higher top speed. This benefits most riders with better lift-off and lower light wind range. The boards are compared to 17-meter kites for kiteboarding in light wind, providing the power necessary to ride when other riders cannot. Downwind foilboards are recommended for experienced riders and are ridden in larger volumes than traditional boards, but the focus is more on the length and width of the board than its literage.

Tucker: We're going to talk to you about why you want a downwind foilboard for winging, and what that can do for your light wind experience. We've been processing this idea and testing it for about six months, and we're ready to bring it to you now that we have some more information and ideas about sizes and which boards work and which don't. Thankfully, a lot of our brands are now offering something, whereas six months ago your only option was custom.

Jeff: Those of you that have been winging a little while have been asking about how to maximize time on the water. We've done reviews on the best light wind wings, but we feel the board profile that we're going to be talking about today is going to be groundbreaking to get you going in winds in that 10 to 14 knot range, and maybe even lighter. Tucker and Ryan have ridden a version of the board, but I haven't yet, though the concept definitely makes sense. I think it's going to be a breakthrough.

Tucker: These boards are longer than most wingboards and much narrower, so a common dimension for a 100 liter board is around 7 feet, plus or minus a few inches, and around 20 inches wide, plus or minus a few inches. So what do you get from something that's stretched out like that? You get less drag, better planeability, and a better terminal velocity. That board is going to cut through more smoothly and pick up speed more easily, resulting in a higher top speed than a short, squatty board like wingboards typically are. That allows you to build speed while you're still on the water and lift off more easily because you can build that apparent wind and amplify the power in your sail, and that lowers your light wind range. I went from 10 knots being about as low as I could go with my 75 to 85 liter boards, to 8 or 9 knots easily.

Jeff: Ryan, you experienced that just a couple weeks ago, right?

Ryan: Yeah. I was a little bit skeptical at first about how big of a difference it was going to make. I was on a 5m wing on a regular light wind 90 liter board, and I just couldn't get going at all. I was waiting for a gust, then pumping and pumping until I was kind of getting there, then I'd get up and stall. I just couldn't build enough speed to get going. Then Tucker rode over, hopped off his board, and said to try that one. I hopped on it, and as soon as I grabbed the second handle and brought the wing into the wind a little bit, the board took off before I was even ready. So yeah, it's just a huge difference.

Jeff: And you gave an analogy to kiteboarding. What was it?

Ryan: This board is kind of like a 17 meter light wind kite, in terms of kiteboarding. It's the one that'll get you out there on those days when everyone's sitting on the beach and no one's really riding. A couple guys might be attempting it, but you'll be up and riding no problem with a board like this.

Tucker: To go off that analogy, back when I was riding boots doing wakestyle tricks, we'd get so many sub-15 knot days that I'd put a lot of mileage on my 17 meter because, while I could ride a 12 or a 13, when I rode the 17 I'd have the power I needed to do the tricks I wanted to do and still have fun. It's the same thing with these boards because now you're not relegated to a massive wing or a big, thick, slow foil. You ride your downwind light wind board, and now you can ride a smaller foil that's more fun and faster, you can ride a smaller wing if you want to, and you don't need to ride a really wide board. My personal pet peeve is boards that are too wide; when I'm on anything over 24 or 25 inches, it feels like a barge to me, and it really affects how you can turn. I like a narrower board, and if I need to go longer that's fine. Most people can adapt to that side-to-side balance pretty easily, but the front-to-back sweet spot is key. If your board's too small, it's going to be so hard to ride, like trying to ride a beach ball.

Jeff: Who is this kind of board for? Obviously, it's not for starting out and learning on. This is more of a board for someone who's been winging a little bit and can ride back and forth.

Tucker: Yeah, it's not a first board. If you've had some experience and you're up and riding confidently, I would say you're ready for this style of board. You're going to have a little challenge as you adapt to the new style of board, but you can definitely do it. You're going to ride these in a larger volume than you're used to; all three of us are in a similar range, with boards between 50 and 85 liters for everyday riding, but we're all really liking boards in the 90 to 100 liter range for these downwind boards. So add about 20 liters or so to what you're normally riding. But it's less about the literage at this point; it's more about the length and the width. You can ride a much smaller board, literage-wise, when you're winging because you don't need to stand on it and balance. It's more about picking a width that you're comfortable with in a length that's going to allow you the light wind ability you want.

Jeff: I haven't had a chance to ride one of these boards yet, but both of you agreed that your foot stance is definitely going to be taking a bigger portion of the width of the board.

Tucker: It's going to depend on the foil you're riding. In light winds, and especially extreme light winds, chances are you're riding something with a bigger span. Especially with a board like this, high aspect is key. You won't really want to get on a board like this with a squatty, thick, lower aspect foil. You're creating a lot of speed on the surface that you don't need. Most people are going to utilize smaller foils and higher aspect foils with these kinds of boards because you can really take advantage of that wider speed range.

Jeff: What kind of range is the width that we're looking at in these boards?

Tucker: It depends on the volume, but I would say between 18 and 23 inches, roughly.

Jeff: That's considerably narrower than a traditional board at 26, 27, 28.

Tucker: Yeah, I'd say these boards average around 20 to 21 inches.

Jeff: It's really exciting to find a board that's going to get more riders out on the water in that lighter wind area. I think Ryan said it well: board speed is the key in light wind when you're trying to get going. You're pumping and you're just pushing water and it's going to be a struggle, whereas this board is going to get up to that speed as if there were more wind. This board is going to be so efficient.

Tucker: I look at it like steps. With a short, squatty board or a board that's too small, you take a step forward and accelerate, but then you go to reload your wing to pump again and you decelerate. Accelerate, decelerate, accelerate, decelerate... so you never get to that second step. With these boards you accelerate, accelerate, accelerate, and lift off. You hit that second and third step so easily. Ryan and I have experienced this. You almost don't need to pump these; you just sheet in and wait for the apparent wind to build and give you more power in your sail, and it just automatically lifts off.

Jeff: Now, that's the plus. What's the downside of this, though? I would assume you take a few tacks to get used to the narrowness and pitch?

Tucker: Your stance, I think, is going to remain the same relative to the center line of the board because that's more of a foil thing, whether you're on a 28 inch wide board or a 20 inch wide board. The wingspan of your foil is really the thing that determines the offset from the center, in my experience. There is more real estate on the board, though, so I think if you haven't found your mast position or your stance position yet, it can be harder to find your sweet spot because there are no straps on most of these boards. Once you find that area, make a little mark where you like your mast and your feet just as a visual reference. I think that really helps, but yeah, it's going to take a minute to figure it out, just like anytime you buy a new board.

Ryan: Yeah, I was a little too far back my first time up on it. It's like any board for the first time; you've got to figure out where you want your foil and feet to be, but it doesn't take too much to adjust to it at all. One thing that had me a little bit skeptical of these boards when I first started looking at them was that they are long boards. I started when everyone was learning on stand-up paddle boards, so in my mind I was not sure that it's going to be that fun. But it's so narrow that that helps, and you're standing on it towards the center of the board, so it's not the traditional length out in front of your feet; you're up a good ways in front of the back of the board.

Tucker: Yeah, and they're incredibly light, too. They're really paying attention to the weight of these boards. A lot of those bigger SUPs have monstrous noses, and in the cheaper construction they might be 20, 22 pounds. Most of these boards are around 14 or 15 pounds, so they have a lot less weight to swing around. Like Ryan said, you're navigating more from the middle of the board, so there's not a lot to swing around. Sometimes you need to watch your tail when you're pumping so you don't tap it down, but they release so cleanly that it's hard to tell even when that does happen.

Jeff: Well, I'm excited. I have not been on one yet, but in the Midwest in the summer we have lots of light wind, and now we're going to be riding a lot more. It's really the "easy button" to light wind riding. We're going to do some reviews and give you a little more on-the-water experience, but we wanted to let you know what's coming down the pipe to get you out on the water and get more ride time. Now, there is a price tag with these boards, obviously, with R&D and materials and their light weight.

Tucker: Yeah, there's not a lot of quantity of scale yet, and pretty much every board we're offering is a high quality carbon construction, so you can look to pay around two grand or a little bit more, but for more time on the water, it's worth every penny. It's cheaper than therapy.

Jeff: That's for sure. Well, we're excited about it. We're here to help you out, so hit us up by email or chat with any questions.

Tucker: Call for availability, because these things are going to be hot this year.

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