The feeling of flying over the water with the foil is simply magical. That moment when the board suddenly lifts, everything becomes quieter, and you accelerate – indescribable. But to be honest: It took me a while until I could ride the foil stably for the first time.
With a few tutorials, tips from others at the spot, and a lot of practice, I managed it. Here I share the learnings that helped me get into flight mode.
The Course
The easiest way in stronger wind: bear off slightly from a beam reach (90 degrees to the wind) and let the wind pull you, power up the wing until the board gains enough speed to lift off – like an airplane taking off.
As soon as the foil lifts, everything changes:
Water resistance is almost zero, you get faster, need less wind – but it also gets more unstable.
To avoid accelerating uncontrollably, it helps to depower the wing a bit and reduce the pressure.
Steering also changes once you're on the foil. Even slight pressure on either rail (long sides of the board) can cause you to go in one direction or the other. Once you get used to it, it's incredibly fun to play with.
You can gain a bit of extra stability for the board by slightly heading upwind after the lift. If you steer the board slightly into the wind, the wind can help stabilize the board. However, the wind can also act destabilizing due to the larger surface area of the board – especially if it's gusty (e.g. often on lakes in Brandenburg). The tip to head upwind helped me. I usually fell because of something else. 😅
In light wind, you can quickly reach the wind speed or even go faster by accelerating. If you then bear away too much, the wing suddenly loses pressure – and thus propulsion.
Leveling the Board Correctly
A beginner's mistake I made: too much pressure on the back foot, angling the board too steeply. I thought: the more the nose points up, the faster I’ll get out. But I was rather pushing water away than getting the foil moving by creating lift. Much better: Keep the board as parallel to the water surface as possible or slightly angled. To do this, apply more pressure on the front foot or position yourself further forward on the board, if you tend to put more weight on the back foot like I do. That really helped me to get the speed needed for the lift.
A few images for illustration:
Pumping
Not only a well-leveled board helps generate speed, but also a downward movement of the foil. But to move with the foil/board downward, you must first go up – otherwise you’re just turning your board into a submarine. This kind of up and down rocking motion is called pumping and is achieved more or less through alternating pressure on the back and front foot.
The pumping motion of the board is usually combined with a pumping motion of the wing. Sometimes, just pumping the wing is enough. In light wind, though, you usually need both together. When pumping the wing, it’s moved in a circular motion away from and towards you. This not only creates forward thrust but also lift and makes you temporarily lighter.
The upward movement (push) involves slight pressure on the back foot, and the downward movement (pull) slight pressure on the front foot (sometimes just removing pressure from the back foot is enough). When moving the wing upward, you become a bit lighter and give the foil a chance to rise. During the downward or parallel movement, you try to generate speed.
The “Flying Carpet”
I found one tip particularly helpful for extra momentum from a tutorial by Damien Leroy. During the downward movement, imagine the board is a carpet you’re trying to slide across a smooth floor. To do this, during the downward movement of the wing, give yourself a quick pull forward with it. That was often the missing momentum for me to get the foil flying.
Black arrow: the next wing movement
Blue arrows: movement of front and back foot during the next wing motion
Orange arrow: indicates the sliding movement of the “flying carpet”
All of this gets you onto the foil faster – and out of breath 😅. If you notice that you're not managing to lift even with pumping in a gust, then take a break from pumping, relax, recover, gather strength for the next gust – and don’t try to catch every gust. Go for the ones with potential: attack.
Additional training for foil fitness and balance during the time I wasn’t on the water definitely helped me make progress – even if it might not be a prerequisite for success.
We were all beginners once. My most important learnings to get on the foil as a beginner:
- In strong wind, the pull from the wing is often enough – bear off slightly, level the board (don’t let the nose go up too much), depower the wing a bit after the lift for better control or speed limitation.
- For more stability in light wind: point the nose of the board slightly into the wind.
- Pumping the wing creates additional thrust and lift.
- Simultaneous pumping of wing and board is often crucial in light wind to get on the foil at all.
- “Carpet move” can provide the missing momentum for the lift.
Recommendations
Just reading about these techniques is usually not enough. I'm not a coach either. I would recommend taking a course. You can manage without one, but you'll probably save time and failures if a pro shows you directly how it's done and what you're doing wrong or right.
Additional videos, books, and tips from others are of course always helpful. Just ask other people at the water if they have tips for you when you're stuck with a maneuver. You’re not alone. We’re all connected through the fascination and excitement of flying over the water, and most people are happy to help. This blog is based exactly on that. I received many valuable tips from others at the water and want to pass them on. The website is sort of an extension of the beach – well, or the parking lot.
I also often film myself with a camera mounted on the wing to see posture mistakes, for example. Plus, I can mentally return to the water while reviewing the footage.
Speaking of posture: In the beginning, I often bent my knees more, hoping for greater stability. With the wing, however, I didn’t bend my knees the way I would when surfing; instead, I intuitively tried to create a counterbalance to the pull of the wing. In fact, this made it harder to keep my balance, since my center of gravity shifted away from the middle of the board with my hips. Bending the knees helps me mainly in the wave, at least temporarily. It can also be helpful otherwise – but not if it creates unwanted imbalance.
The butt is too low on the rail – and so is mine. 😉
My first moments on the foil were short but magical. With each session, the flights got a bit longer. Off the water, training on the balance board and stretching helped me improve my balance – jogging and the exercise bike for better endurance and resistance bands combined with other exercises for more strength when pumping the wing. There will also be a dedicated blog category on foil fitness here.
Despite the exercises, it took me a while to foil in a controlled way, and I fell a lot – I still do – because I try a lot. I do watersports because I like being in the water. So falling doesn’t bother me much. I think it even helps me learn better. And if you have the right safety gear and make sure not to fall into the foil or board, it’s not a big deal.
You can find my experiences and tips for the first steps in wingfoiling here and you can see my first rides if you scroll far down on pasta.particles on Instagram.
