Tips for your first Duo Tone wing foil session

Tips for your first wing foil session

Take a lesson… Learn to Wing Foil at Hove Lagoon, Brighton

Location

Choose some where with plenty of space as there is a good chance you will end up down wind

Go out in flat water

Launching and landing in any waves requires care

Protection

I put a helmet and impact vest on. If you have no previous foil experience I would wear a helmet. I had some big wipe outs and would recommend an impact vets to start with.

Wear board and wing leash

Ride safely away from others

Kit preparation / Tuning

Set your wing up before you go to the beach just so you know how it all fits together

Every time I have been out I have moved my foil back in the track as once you are up you are going quick and for me it has been all about keeping the wing from breaching when going at top speed.

There are some useful videos on the duotone Youtube channel I would watch 

Kit choice

Wing : You need some power but not over powered

Board : Best start with some volume I would say about 20 – 35 litres over your body weight. No foot straps at this stage.

Foil : Not too big, once you are flying you get up speed really quick. Move it back a bit in the track.

Conditions 

Ideal world flat water

Calm safe water entry and exit

Enough wind (10- 17 knots depending on wing size)  to give you some power but not over powered on first few goes.

Once on the water

The wing behaves a bit like a crashed kite when lying on the water so I advise holing it by the handle low to the water. You can flip it over on the water by lifting a wing tip.

I would watch this video,  for getting started it worked for me

If you don’t feel comfortable it is easy to keep the foil down and just sail slowly across or even up wind. So just sail about getting used to the equipment and don’t try and fly until you are ready.

If you are new to foiling try and fly low and learn to control the foil a bit before flying high.

When flying keep a lot of weight on your front foot to keep the foil from breaching.

If you feel under powered you can pump the board as you would SUP or prone foiling to keep or gain speed.

Play with the wing holding it in different positions. High above your head like a kite or beside you like a windsurf sail. The wing is very manoverable and you can find allsorts of interesting and new ways to sail.

Basically play lots with the foil and the wing.

Be ready for a lot of fun, a few high speed scary moments and some crashes.

If you end up too far downwind come in as walking back with the gear can be a pain.

Once you get the hang of flying experiment with upwind and down wind flying.

Coming ashore.

Don’t forget you have a foil on so come in slow and don’t run aground. You need to pay attention to managing the foil and the wing. This can be challenging in any waves or any shore break. Plan ahead to make sure you can get back in safely. Keep the wing away from the foil for obvious reasons. Keep an eye out for other water users or swimmers.

Go have fun.

More updates to follow on my progress….or read about my first goes on DuoTone Wing foil.