Wing Foiling UK

Wing foiling is the latest watersport to hit the UK shores. The likes of Ken Winner designer of Duotone wings has helped the sport grow quickly. Wing foiling combines kite surfing, windsurfing, surfing and, as you become better, wave riding on a swell and even jumping. As you gain speed, the hydrofoil beneath the water will lift, and with a pump of the foil and a pump of your wing, you will be up and foiling. You are quickly travelling at speed above the water. It is much easier to learn on flat water to begin with. When starting, you will need to stand on your board and then take hold of your inflatable wing to give you the power to start moving. Balancing on your board to start with in waves is difficult. If you have a sup or an old windsurfer then you can start on one of these boards, but trying to sup foil is hard as sup boards are pretty big and heavy compared to wing boards. Sup foil is a different disciple altogether as this requires you to paddle yourself up on to your hydrofoil.

Terminology. A wing can be the part you hold on to. The dacron engine driving you forward. The foil under the water is also known as a wing. So as a beginner, it is often confusing losing to a rider talking about a wings.

Wing foil wing

The dacron inflatable wings you hold on to propel you through the water is measured in meters squared. The beginner normally starts with a wing of about 5-6m. Different wings will be needed for different wind speeds. You can control your performance by changing the angle of your wing.

Wing board

Wing boards come in two varieties, an inflatable board or a hard board, inflatable boards are cheaper and a little more compact, but you will grow out of this type of board. The board size for beginners is usually about 20 to 40 litres more than your weight in kgs. The beginner board has good thickness with good volume, making it easy for standing on with good stability, good float that enables good stability. A little more volume will make your progression to getting up easier on a stable platform, but you will outgrow it. Starting on a wing board that is too small is hard, as you will have to have an extremely good balance to start with. The foil board is either inflatable or the construction will be from glass fibre or carbon. The Inflatable wing foil board is harder to release from the water's surface as the round rails suck down. A carbon or glass fibre wing foil has better performance with its sharp rails, and you can get more feel through the board, and control is better from these shape boards. The shape of the board will change due to the typing of winging you will be doing. Check out Fanatic sky boards to see what I mean.

The hydrofoil or foil beneath the water.

The foil wing below the water will develop lift. Short-fat foils give great lift but are slow. Long thin wings, so-called high-aspect wings, or performance wings, have reduced low-end lift but are faster and a little easier to generate power by pumping the foil wing below the water to generate speed and lift. High-aspect foil wing are made of carbon and glass and come in many sizes. Bigger is slower but gives more lift at lower speeds. As you start to go foiling in a stronger wind, you must reduce both your board litres, the foil wing below the surface and the inflatable wing size you are holding on to.

When learning to foil or push the limits, we advise you to wear an Impact Vest or Buoyancy Aid and Helmet. We stock a good range of these that you may want to come and try on for the best fit.

We work with the best wingfoil brands like F-One with their inexpensive gravity hydrofoils, Ensis, North brilliant all-round Sonar hydrofoils, Sabfoil for the best intermediate and pro equipment and Fanatic for the best price packages. Ga or Gaastra seem to be leading the way for the best all-round gear at impressive sale prices. We have beginner packages to Lightweight High-speed wings and carbon foils. There is a lot of kite on the market from a lot of companies, so to narrow your choices, give us a call for more info.

You are able to wingfoil in most multisport or surfing wetsuits. We also carry a massive range of Wetsuits from all the best brands.

Boardworx is proud to be involved with this new sport and as Kents biggest wingfoiling shop we are happy to advise and share knowledge on all your winging foiling needs. We carry a great range of Wings, Wing Boards, Foils and all the Spares you may need to keep you out on the water and having fun.

Is wing foiling difficult?

We have found the average rider will be going up and down not on the foil in the sport of foiling within an hour but not up on the foil. Foiling on the board often occurs a few hours after this, so for rider coming from a windsurf or kitesurf background, within a few days of riding on there own kit, they will be starting to wingfoil.

How much will a complete wing foil setup cost me?

The cost of a complete wing foil setup in the UK can vary depending on the brand, components, and quality of the equipment. On average, you can expect to spend anywhere from £2500 to £4000 for a complete setup, which includes a foil board, wing, mast, fuselage, and stabiliser. However, prices can range from lower-end budget options to high-end premium setups, so it's best to research and compare different options to find the one that fits your needs and budget. To go wing foiling, you need the following equipment:

A Hard Wingfoil Board: costs between £800 - £2000
Inflatable Wing: costs between £600 - £1900
Foil: costs between £1200-£2500
Wetsuit: costs between £100 - £300
Footstraps: costs between £40 - £70