2024 Wing Board Design Trends

The boards in the video are my wife’s.
Mine are identical dimensions, just thicker for increased volume. Mine are 90 and 110 liters. I’m 85kg.
UPDATE: we have moved onto even more narrow boards. My board is 6’8 x 20.5 x 98 liters. My wife’s board is 6’2 x 20.5 x 74 liters. I prefer 6’8 over the 6’2 length. 6’8 has momentum and flow. Better pump and better glide than 6’2. At my wife’s weight of 56kg, she prefers 6’2.

[@ronporterman]

I'm sold. I borrowed a DW board after watching this video and noticing the general trend. It was 2-3x easier to get going in light wind, allows you to use a smaller foil and wing, etc. Then went back to my old board and it felt like I was dragging a sea anchor. Great analysis.

[@jamalschott5547]

Thanks for your insight DF!

[@Mokescam]

Mahalo for this video! After seeing it I kept my eyes open till I found a 6'10"x20" 105l board on CR. This has been the easiest thing to help me jump from my 129l 6'x29". Soo much easier to get onto foil with the faster foils on this board.

[@powerlooper9121]

Thanks for explaining. I'll will soon be building some new prototype (foils and boards) pursuant to my patented "Self-Propelling Hydrofoil" designs. I like how these downwind boards allow the rider to rock fore and aft, and thus initiate the pumping aspect of the wing. Also these outlines remind me of the wide-point-forward pintail surfboards we rode in the '70s. Keep riding and take it easy!

[@mikeinhoodriver]

Love those shapes!

[@AdamsHadEnough]

It looks like you are ahead of the curve with these. My downwind is my go-to in all but the strongest conditions. That first board looks like an excellent do-it-all board one board quiver.

[@EkapolTharasiriroj]

Just saw the new Sunova Carver wing board. It's a 20" board with various length to required volume and quite optimised in my opinion. Should perform well in most conditions.

[@wingmanfoilclub]

Beautiful boards. I think these designs are much better than the extremely narrow and beveled bottom boards because stability matters to getting started for me as much as efficiency. I like the forward volume too to not sink the nose. Vince Broglio built me a similar board more geared to freestyle and he somehow glasses them with inserts at under 10 pounds. And super solid rails. I like that 90L, and I might get one like that for beating the shore break on big days when the wind is marginal and consequences too high to mess around. I am a big fan of a back footstrap though in the waves because I use it to control the board when getting slammed. Great video.

[@wcoe8410]

What are the specs on the board Vince build you?? Liters as well?

[@wingmanfoilclub]

@@wcoe8410 4’11”x 23 1/4”x 4 1/4”= 70 liters is the board I like best. My current one is 4’9 x 22.5 x 4 = 60L and it’s too small for me at 90kg for light wind. It also doesn’t have the nose bulge and it makes it much harder to start.

[@ozoneflysurfer9491]

Hey Dwight thank you it's been 4 years since I got my first wing sup foil board from you 6'4x27 110L I learned to wing on it and have taught many friends on it. I'm happy to say it's still relevant and going strong and relevant 💪 As for the new trend 100% agree with your assessment for the future. I'm currently really enjoying winging my 5'7x17.5" 75L 9.5lb Jimmy Lewis custom board with straps the board gets up as early as my 7'7 x20 110L KT Dragonfly downwind board (just can't paddle it ;) Agree you don't need straps on these boards but even just 1 front strap adds at least 1-2 knots earlier on the low end because you can basically throw the board in the air and unweight to get on foil with a big hop in full control. Minimal strap inserts done right should be around 1/4lb with glassing here is a short clip of my 5'7 kzbin.infoCKQ_ohx8vR4?si=VgzdwZyUzzQX10Wc

[@foilsurfmachines]

Jimmy probably has access to 1.25# EPS. I lost access to 1.25# during COVID. The factory stopped offering it to me. I switched to 1.5#. EPS weight penalty, plus penalty with full Innegra construction makes going any lighter impossible. I’m really happy with the toughness of Innegra and I’m beating the weight of Armstrong boards and similar to KT.

[@ozoneflysurfer9491]

Absolutely your Innegra con struction is legendary 🙌 thanks for leading the way

[@fishcakes2]

Really nice work , could you explain your construction, core and glass / carbon schedule? Thanks

[@foilsurfmachines]

4 oz Innegra under 4 oz glass, with carbon deck patch. 1.5 lb EPS

[@HADDEN67]

Very high rocker. The trend is flatter to get going easier.

[@obx_foiler]

Hi Dwight, Great video. Keep 'em coming. Would you say the optimum volume for these style boards is +5 liters (over your weight in kg)? There are few options out there now other than custom. The Sunova Carver is close but for me at 78kg my options are 5'6"x20 @ 76L or 5'10"x20 @ 85L. For me this would be a second board to my 4'8"x24 @ 62L. I still want it to ride it in all conditions but give me better light wind coverage. I like the idea of 5'6" or less though. Maybe I just need to go custom and 21" wide probably gets me there. Have you seen the "400 hours" post on the progression forum? Tony

[@foilsurfmachines]

Don’t be afraid of longer. You stand in the middle of these boards, not at the back. So they feel short and pump like they are short. I’d go 5’10 x 20 x 85 liter. My small board is +5 liters. My true DW board is +25 because I also paddle it. I have seen the 400 hours post. Mine are 21.5 wide because I’m 69 years old. If I was your age, I’d ride 20 wide.

[@obx_foiler]

@@foilsurfmachines Thanks Dwight. Makes sense. The only issue I have with the 5'10" is the convenience factor of fitting in the truck bed, doable though. BTW, 69 is still young!

[@tbliska]

Hi Dwight! Thanks for the video. How does one go about procuring a custom board these days? Thanks.

[@foilsurfmachines]

you can’t from me. I’m retired. I only build for me and my wife.

[@wsurfn]

I am very interested how besides weight reduction (OK with no inserts for my light wind board), how we get the earliest take off of a DW Foil board, but dedicated shape for wing foiling. I have NO interest in paddling such a board, so none of those features interest me. Right now, it seems almost everyone is offering a DW foil board that does both. I wonder if that much length is necessary for a pumped wing take off. Amos has one (Sultan Wing). This is where I feel a lot of experiment and R&D has yet to be done. Most of us can't afford to turn over our board that frequently, so it would be nice to see things settle in just a little.

[@foilsurfmachines]

The boards you describe are slowly appearing with some brands. Look for narrow boards of 19-22 inches in lengths of 5’5-6’. They will be rocket ships onto foil. The much longer boards, like 6’8-7’6 are a wonderful luxury

[@mm74forums7]

The longer a board is, the higher speed it can reach. The narrower board is the less resistance it will produce. So it will accelerate to its max speed faster or it will require less thrust from wing, or less pumping. This makes the whole setup depend not only on a board but also on a foil, wing, wind, and rider. So a narrower and longer board allows to use smaller foils and wings, will require less pumping efforts. My understanding regarding the board length - the low end of a foil should be lower than max speed of a board. So a foil should lift the board and rider up before the board hits its displacement speed limit.

[@foilsurfmachines]

@@mm74forums7 The really small foils, like my GoFoil RS-650, do better with a shorter board, like my 5’5. Because it can accelerate to the higher speed needed better. The longer board makes drag over a certain speed. This the limit where DW boards tap out.

[@drgeatman]

are you interested in selling any in the 5' 60l size? thx for video . have not used footstraps for 5 years.

[@northyvids]

Really interesting! So i guess it poses the question - what are the downsides compared to a normal wing board eg 5'4 x 21.5 vs something more like 5'0 and 24.5" ....im thinking here about winging only...in waves

[@foilsurfmachines]

So last winter I started going narrow with 23.75 x 5’5. I struggled climbing onto the board in rough side chop for weeks. Eventually it was easy. That was the only learning curve. Then I went to 22.5 x 5’5. It was easy. My narrow board skills were dialed. Then went to 21.5 x 5’5 and it too, was easy. There are no downsides, once you learn to climb aboard a narrow board in big side chop. A bit of stink bug skill is all you need to learn.

[@mattllewhellin5996]

I have both a 5’6x20.5”x 5.5”90litre (very similar outline to Dwight’s)and 4’10x24 73litre that I made. I’m not sure there are any downsides although I’d like something around 5’2x22” in a similar shape to replace my 4’10. Pretty sure I’ll never make a wing board wider than 21.5-22” again…. I’ll just adjust length and thickness to get the volume I want. If you want that light wind performance (nearly on a par with a DW SUP) then my guess is stay at 5’5 or over. Dwight is a master… his knowledge is always bang on. Everything in his designs looks to me to be 100% function and not fashion. As I recall he was first to move away from step tails on foil boards… and then 6 months later so did everyone else. I learned to make my own boards thanks to his KZbin vids many years ago.

[@martinomovies]

If your board is 90L, what is your weight? I'm 100Kg and I had a difficult time on a 7'5" x 20" x 110L Freedom Dagger DW board in choppy conditions.

[@foilsurfmachines]

There is text in the video correcting whose boards they are. They are my wifes. Mine are 90 liters and 110 liters at 85 kg. Same dimensions as my wifes boards, just thicker.

[@briansangeorzan4986]

@@foilsurfmachines Dwight we are in Lake Huron (choppy water even in light winds) and at 200 lbs, I don't think I could get up on 110L 20" wide board. You said you thought that people could learn on them??

[@foilsurfmachines]

@@briansangeorzan4986 our boards are 21.5 wide. What happens with these boards, is they start gliding forward with speed, while still on your knees, making them very stable and easy to stand. The only skill a beginner then needs to master is, just climbing aboard without falling off. No need to learn fore and aft stability, because the length makes that factor a non issue. The auto onto foil nature eliminates the need for pumping skill, which beginners don’t have. So really the only hurdle is climbing aboard without falling off. Once you grab the wing, all issues go away. So learning is down to one skill. Climbing aboard.

[@briansangeorzan4986]

@@foilsurfmachines It may be an experience thing, but I'm still struggling on my 24" wide board in the choppy, light wind conditions.

[@foilsurfmachines]

My 100 kg bud, rides the Duotone 135 liter. He says it’s easy and fun. He is 6’4 and 69 years old. That board is 22.5 wide.

[@secondlife7976]

What is the price for your boards?

[@foilsurfmachines]

I’m retired. I don’t build them for anyone but my wife.

[@maartenvandel3455]

@@foilsurfmachines a real pity but great attitude enjoy!

[@mm74forums7]

I bet some people will try to screw footstraps into those imitation holes. :)

[@foilsurfmachines]

I have had a person ask if there is a screw hole hidden under the carbon. Haha