Wing foiling or wing surfing or winging is a wind propelled water sport that developed from kitesurfing, windsurfing and surfing. The sailor, standing on a board, holds directly onto a wing. It generates both upward force and sideways propulsion and thus moves the board across the water. The recent development of

foilboard A foilboard or hydrofoil board is a surfboard with a hydrofoil that extends below the board into the water. This design causes the board to leave the surface of the water at various speeds. Background Laird Hamilton, a prominent figure in the inv ...

s, which

plane Plane(s) most often refers to: * Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft * Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface Plane or planes may also refer to: Biology * Plane (tree) or ''Platanus'', wetland native plant * ''Planes' ...

very early on a

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

fin and thereby lift off the water producing low friction, represent the ideal complementary hydrodynamic platform for wings. This young sport is poised to become wildly popular.

History

Precursors

The history of wing foiling begins with the invention of wing surfing dating back to 1981, when aeronautical engineer Jim Drake, the inventor of

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

, and Uli Stanciu, European windsurfing pioneer, together invented the first wing. Their patented concept was based on the symmetrical shape of the flying fish. Unlike windsurfing, their wing was hand held and not fixed to the board via a mast. About the same time a frenchman named Roland Le Bail developed a similar wing design. In the years that followed, new technology was adapted and wings repeatedly came onto the market in different variants. In 1986 a mast borne winged concept called Wind Weapon allowed for high jumps in locations with strong winds, but like the Drake wing, it never caught on commercially. The use of the wings is not exclusively tied to water sports, but are also used for sports on the snow, on the beach or on land. The designations "Skate Sails", "Wind Skates" or "Kite Wings" should be mentioned as milestones in further development. What most of these variants have in common is that they use a stiff frame to stretch the wing, which also acts as handlebars or handles. The reason for the moderate success of all these developments is a physical one: friction. Wings that are big enough to move a sluggish traditional board (including the rider) have to be big, unwieldy and heavy. Newer lightweight, efficient, inflatable wings offers enough propulsion when combined with foilboards to allow excellent performance characteristics.

Modern form

Tony Logosz, Slingshot Kiteboarding co-founder & designer, made the first "Slingwing" prototypes in 2011, and used it on a wind foil board with a large, high-lift foil in the

Columbia Gorge The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the state ...

. In March and April 2018, Hawaiian Flash Austin tested 3.5 m² and 4 m² handheld wings on a SUPfoil in

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

Kitesurf Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

manufacturer Duotone started to market its wing in the spring of 2019. From the summer 2019, Robby Naish and other kitesurf manufacturers were offering inflatable wings.

Construction

The young sport is still developing. While older wing models were often stretched and held by means of rods, the influence of kite development is currently becoming increasingly important: The wing is made of light kite fabric, which is stretched by inflatable air tubes. To grip the wing, some brands use struts with hand straps, others use telescopic aluminum poles.

Deployment variants

In contrast to other sports, the wing is not board-bound: it can be used while riding a

surfboard A surfboard is a narrow plank used in surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding an ocean wave. They were invented in ancient Hawaii, where they were known as ''papa he'e ...

, kiteboard or standup paddle board, but also in combination with a

skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. They are usually made of a specially designed 7-8 ply maple plywood deck and polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboarde ...

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...

, or even on

inline skates Inline skates are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates typically have two to five wheels arranged in a single line. Some, especially those for recreation, ha ...

. Wingsurfing on boards equipped with a foil is particularly popular, as it is possible to plane with small wings at around 8 knots. Wings come in different sizes; typically the smallest are around 2.2 m2, and the largest around 8 m2.

Organization

Wing surfing companies have founded an organization for the sport called the Global Wingsports Association (GWA). They have organized a world tour starting in 2021. There are two disciplines: surf-race and surf-freestyle.

Classification in the existing surfing sports

Technically, but also in terms of application, wingsurfing has numerous similarities to both windsurfing and kitesurfing. For example, the wing is controlled directly instead of using lines, but it still has a similar construction and functionality to a kite. The question of whether wingsurfing is a variation of kitesurfing, windsurfing or a completely independent sport is not just of a theoretical nature: it also concerns, for example, the extent to which kite bans at the spots also apply to wingsurfers.

References

{{reflist Individual sports Boardsports Water sports Hydrofoils