Downwind Foiling: What they don't tell you..

0:00 Intro & Downwind clip
0:57 SUP foiling is hard
2:25 Normal SUP is the best start
2:58 Wing foil downwinding
5:40 Downwind foiling is really hard to learn
6:02 Downwind foiling: A special idea
7:52 Outro
Rider weight: 88kg
Downind foiling clip and thumbnail from The Foilers Club:
/ @thefoilersclub
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/forgotten
License code: 0RRIMABYROIABKQF

[@tareklimem]

very instructive. thank you so much

[@windaddict]

Glad it was helpful!

[@christomo]

Nice one it sure takes a lot of organising 😊

[@windaddict]

Oh yes

[@IINoisesII]

Gong Cruzader is also really nice for lightwind wingfoiling. Im tempted, too 😅

[@windaddict]

Absolutely, I would love to use it for that as well

[@andybarber7563]

Will follow your journey with keen interest. I think you have the right attitude and plan, working on your paddling and wave riding, then down winding 👍🏻

[@windaddict]

Thanks a lot for your nice comment. I have feeling it will take a long time though

[@andybarber7563]

@@windaddict enjoy the journey, if you can stick with it the rewards look amazing. It’s not that I have the level to enjoy DW but all the KZbin videos look crazy good

[@DavidSmith-rc1sd]

I can’t wait to try this sport as an old skimboarder.A tip . Pump with front leg only. Use back leg to stabilize nose. Just to get it down then pump both legs when get better.

[@windaddict]

You should! Thanks, I'll try that. I am still not efficient when pumping.

[@solentfoiler5969]

I've started the DW journey and at the point where I can do 10km runs in about an hour, so still lots of falling! I would suggest you carry on doing the winging upwind to come back downwind up to the point where you are riding the bumps for long enough that the wing really starts to get annoying and intrudes on the whole riding experience. Then you are starting to read bumps and beginning to understand where you need to put yourself and can then start thinking about bringing the paddle and DW board into the mix. While learning how to read bumps on the wing, get out on the DW board regularly and practice paddling up on to foil. It doesn't need to be flat water, and SUP foil surfing is a good idea, but you need the physical fitness and power and technique that only time with a paddle can give. The fully committed route is to give up winging and just take the DW board and paddle on the train like you say, and throw yourself into doing it. It's brutal, but probably the quickest way of learning, along with getting some coaching, from the Coach Casey Club for example. Good luck, and remember to enjoy the process and celebrate the small victories... 🤙

[@windaddict]

Wow, thanks for this great advice! Yes, I think the winging approach can help, I will keep doing that. Also the SUP foil surfing, mainly to get my paddling right. That will really take a long time I feel. I won't go the fully committed route. I don't want to give up winging. So I'll do it the slow, painful way I guess. How is the Casey Club? Have you tried it? Do they have good materials? It doesn't come cheap.

[@solentfoiler5969]

@@windaddict Yes, I'm a member of Coach Casey and I find it worth the money. Not only do you get the training videos, but you submit your own videos and he will give feedback so you really get a personal experience plus you learn from other people's videos and the FB page. Learning to DW takes some commitment and is hard so the feedback is valuable! There's a lot of technique to master...

[@windaddict]

Thanks. You get feedback on your videos with the basic package? Or only the premium?

[@henryhester1897]

Just learning on my 8x21 DW. Learning to stand up and wing in medium wind in a bay. I’ve been told our area (San Diego) is not good for DW but we do have surfing potential in remote spots. Following your journey. Good luck.

[@windaddict]

Wow that's already a very narrow shape. Let me know how it goes and good luck!

[@henryhester1897]

@@windaddictsold it and I’m going bigger 8’8”x26” pointed like a wide Barracuda. Oh, it’s 151 liter.

[@windaddict]

@@henryhester1897 oh cool! For SUP foil mainly? Was the other one too tippy for learning?

[@henryhester1897]

@@windaddictyes. Too tippy at 21”. You take on “for just the pros” is interesting. If you watch any one of 30 videos from #qbsuped in Hawaii. All in micro surf, all on sun 20” Kalamas. Here in San Diego we have low wind, Sup and winging (6m Nova2).

[@paddleboarddog]

My sup foil board is also 120L and your experiences mirror mine. I can navigate that volume all day long on flat water but being ~100KG it becomes quite the workout to balance on choppy swells. I do have a good amount of sup experience but I could also use a higher volume sup foil board for a downwinder.

[@windaddict]

Yeah balancing this thing in chop is so hard. Just gotta keep practicing but I usually run out of patience after 45 min of falling in 😄

[@fredodofre]

Better parking upwind, and comeback by train. By doing so you'll only have to carry a waterproof backpack with a screwdriver, a belt, a short and a t-shirt. Lighter and less bulky than a pump + you can stop at the train station you want. I'm very used to shuttle by train/bus/inch-hiking because I do whitewater SUP, and both way have pros and cons (for example if you have 3 trains a day, better taking the train first). By the way i gave up supfoil dw. With a wing, of with an hybrid kite, you can go kilometers downwind much more easily, and you can do the upwind first. You can as well go upwind with the wing, then deflate, but it's more difficult because you have to carry your wing on your back (deflate it dry at shore if you can, because you don't want to carry sea water in your backpack), and you start already a bit tired by the upwind ride. Same as with the train: if you can better downwind first (there are very small pumps for wings, it's not like the pumps for inflatable sup). Attaching the paddle to the wing works quite well, no issue on that point

[@windaddict]

Interesting thoughts! You are right, parking upwind may be the better option.

[@henrynordman]

Would it be possible to leave the pump and the bag at the upwind spot? Or is it too risky for somebody to steal them?

[@windaddict]

That's a good idea. It would probably be fine to leave a bag and a cheap pump at the beach. Downside is you have to drive there just to pick it up.

[@MrHUGOLADEIRA]

really nice video, congratz! is it possible to do downwind in a big wing board? I have a F-One Rocket Wing 5’10 110L board, is it possible or it will be very hard?

[@windaddict]

Thanks! You mean downwinding with a paddle? For that you need a narrow board, a big wide wing board won't allow you to paddle up. Downwinding with a wing you can do with any board in theory, but it's best if your wing is really small, i.e. narrow long boards also work best for that.

[@gerritraupach9059]

Interesting! Thanks! Where ist your spot? Seems to be good...regards from Germany 😊

[@windaddict]

Danke für dein Kommentar! Du meinst der Spot bei dem ich immer reinfalle im Video? Das ist El Masnou, ein Vorort von Barcelona. Da kriegen wir hin- und wieder Welle, aber oft ist es auch einfach nur choppy und damit komme ich gar nicht gut klar.

[@janschenk85]

All good ideas, achievable. You also need to invest time in pump training; it's incredibly important!

[@windaddict]

It would be good for sure but we don't have good docks here unfortunately

[@youdigsurf]

Like surf foil it's much harder than it look and they dont tell you of course. Some said even in wing it's was complicated because the board are very narrow. Carefull with thw hipe cruzader one guy reviewed it in the french forum he got the board while waiting for the hard version and he wasnt happy about it’s, those thing need to bounce properly on the water it’s how they fly earlier balancing back and forth.

[@windaddict]

Yeah you only see the nice stuff on youtube. Rarely people talk about the bad / challenging sides. That's why I wanted to make this video. Thanks for your information about the Hipe Cruzader. Yeah I have my doubts about the inflatable boards as well. Maybe the normal Cruzader or another rigid downwind board is better. Lately I was thinking that maybe I could even get a rigid board on the train. I could protect it with a "surfboard sock" that is lightweight and easy to pack into a backpack.

[@simoncossettini9680]

I am looking at the zuma6.0 95l for wingfoil ... I did a lot of kiteboarding and downwinders and we usually have a kite buddy, So we used to drop one car downwind and then drive to the spot together pump the kites and put all unneeded equipment in the car then launch, we would finish the downwinder and drive back to the other car. You can also ask your wife to take you upwind luanch there and then exit at your local beach. I think your over complicating things a little with the equipment. The zuma 6.6 should be good as a downwind board as it has volume and length for lulls. Maybe bigger front wing or taller mast will give you more room for error and reduce touching down all the time. Truthfully the reason we did the downwinder was to take advantage of the waves and ride without having to go upwind to the break again, sometime we were a little short of wind so going upwind was hard, once we got really good/or had good wind we found a spot and would were able to go downwind and upwind at will the downwinder was a little obsolete. You can also do smaller downwinders and given the wingfoil goes upwind well just head back to your beach of origin. From what I hear avoid inflatable boards they are harder to work with and get on foil...

[@simoncossettini9680]

also another good idea is to pack a shirt and dry clothes and take your wife to dinner at the beach restuarant at the end of the downwinder when she picks you up you can enjoy a meal and a drink..... win win

[@windaddict]

Thanks for your detailed comment. Interesting to read about your experiences. The Zuma is a nice beginner / intermediate wingfoil board. I will use mine for light wind wingfoiling also. It's so comfortable to get up on and you get up on foil quick when winging. My Zuma (6'6) will be fine for downwinders with the wing. But with a paddle (which is what I would like to learn) it's a different story. I think you need a much thinner board for that. Good suggestion with my wife dropping me off. :-) However our 2-year old twin girls are also part of the equation who would have to come as well. Then I would need to get a roof rack for the board as it won't fit in the car anymore. It's a possibility. Let's see if she reads this comment and has something to say about it. :-D

[@windaddict]

The dinner would definitely be a good incentive! She likes to go the beach with our girls so some days this could surely work. In general I like the option of not having to depend on someone else, but maybe getting an inflatable board just for that is overkill.

[@lucagabrielli6237]

Buy a foil drive!!!

[@windaddict]

Too expensive 😆

[@paulh.327]

Brands are Selling dream with DW as they do with winging. Winging avertissement and mag you see pro riders in very hollow wave in Maui, etc. Average winger ride Max shloulders high onshore waves.... DW communication is nearly all about riding open sea far from shore, big swell , Strong wind. Reslity will be big DW foil, 8 foot 19inch , dw board riders going to pour waves , Small near, where it is already crowded with blue foamy boards, paddles inflatable, in Beaches with parking lot Not far from spot😂 Only very fiew will go outside above 2km from shore.... Only fiew guys

[@windaddict]

Maybe you're right. Perception vs reality. I honestly don't want to go out really far anyway

[@paulh.327]

@@windaddict so far it is Side onshore not risk if coast shore has no cliffs with no Beach at high tide, rocks or heavy shorebreak.... Basicaly you should first do some homework, to figure out where you are going to endup If thinks get wrong... Dont forget a knife to cut fish net, do also take One winging , some guys put fish net with not obivious marks, to catch fish where it is forbiden.... A foil in a fishnet can ne impossible to free only with hands

[@windaddict]

Good advice, I haven't thought of that

[@ridewithandryx9382]

Find a friend 😂😂😂

[@windaddict]

The problem is I need to find a friend that wants to learn downwinding and is on the exact same skill level as me. Not easy. Barely anyone does it here. The ones that do are already on a high level and are mostly professionals and can dedicate a lot of time to it, owners of surf stores, surf schools, etc.

[@ridewithandryx9382]

@@windaddict yeah I know this problem!

[@Fred-nv8gf]

Just get an efoil problem solved 😊

[@windaddict]

Too expensive 😆

[@JustoCerda]

​@@windaddictit's worthy😈