I'm learning to wingfoil

This year Joscha and I traveled a lot in Roermond on the Mars because I wanted to learn to wingfoil. I've already put a lot of time and energy into wingfoiling, tried it in Morocco and Holland and have already had good moments on the water.

With this blog entry I would like to summarize a little self-reflection and share my personal experiences on the water with you.

What motivated me to start wing foiling?

I've seen a lot of wingfoilers and to me the learning seemed a little less fun, but with the wingfoilers who were a little better at it, it looked very controlled and fun. In many videos, from experience reports and blog entries I was also able to learn that wingfoiling should feel like flying and is very addictive once you get a little better at it.

Right from the start I had the impression that I would definitely have less fear when wing foiling than when kiting because I can just let go of the wing and I can also move around by paddling. Overall it also seems a bit more space-saving and less cumbersome and there are many places in the area where you can wingfoil very well.

My first steps on the water

I tried wing foiling for the first time in Morocco/Dakhla. Joscha taught me the theory on the beach, we pumped up the wing and the board and looked at the material. I dealt with handling the wing and practiced getting up on the board. Of course everything in the water is something completely different, but first looking at the material on the beach and dealing with it helped me to develop an understanding of it.

Then we went on the water. We haven't screwed the foil to the board yet because I wanted to concentrate completely on the wing first. I was already able to drive stably in one direction, but had problems changing direction. This was because we used a large board with side fins to start with. The fins make it easier to maintain altitude, but turning is much more difficult. I drifted off quite a bit during practice, but that wasn't a problem because we could just run back in the standing area.

After the session I tried it a few more times in Roermond on the Mars and found out that I can turn left well and haven't been able to practice changing direction that often. It was therefore particularly difficult to drive to the right.

My first “foiling experiences”

I recently tried putting a foil under the board.

I always had the impression that I had everything well under control, but with the foil everything suddenly felt very unusual and new challenges arose for me. The awareness that you could fall into the foil worried me a little at first, but I quickly realized that if you're careful you very rarely end up touching the foil.

I noticed that you can maintain altitude much better if you have a foil under the board and that increased my fun level a lot because it was super tiring and also annoying to paddle against the wind.

In Holland at Brouwersdam I foiled a few meters for the first time, but it wasn't controlled and I fell off the board very quickly. The feeling was very interesting and felt like I was driving through jelly. The speed also took some getting used to, but it was a really nice experience and I don't think it will be long before I can control the foil.

My difficulties

Overall, I've had the feeling so far that wingfoiling is something you don't learn overnight. You have to coordinate a lot at the same time and develop a feeling for it.

What particularly challenged me and wasn't particularly fun was paddling against the wind. At our spot the wind was onshore and I was quickly pushed back onto land and had to paddle out again. It was super tiring and at the beginning I was mainly occupied with paddling. But with a little practice this became less common because over time I lost less and less height and was able to handle the board and the wing better.

Turning the wing was also very difficult for me at the beginning. This was quite awkward, especially if the wing was a bit larger. But after I practiced it a few times (also on land) I had fewer problems with it. I was able to find out that I wanted to use a maximum of 4.5 m² wings because I find anything larger than that quite unflattering and turning such a large wing can be challenging if you are just 1.60 m tall.

Getting on the board worked quite quickly and riding the first few meters in one direction was quite easy in the kneeling position. But when I wanted to get up, I often fell into the water because my foot position wasn't optimal and I quickly lost my balance. With a little practice, I fell into the water less and less and now I stand stable on the board.

Conclusion

Wing foiling is already a great enrichment for me. So far, my fear of water sports has not been as pronounced and I feel like I can handle the material well. I have a lot of fun on the water with Joscha and our spot in Holland is beautiful and has a great atmosphere. What I also think is so nice about wingfoiling is that you don't have to keep as much distance from each other as when kiting and you can just chat or take a break on the water.

Some time passed before I noticed the first successes and the fun factor wasn't there right from the start. But every time I go out on the water I feel more comfortable and I notice at the moment how much progress I'm making and how I'm enjoying it more and more.

I think it won't be long until I'm foiling in a controlled manner and as soon as I get to that point I'll write a new blog entry about it. I'm really excited to see what it will feel like and whether I'll be able to handle it well.

See you soon 😊

Mila