First Time Foiling

If you are new to ‘flying’ on a foil then read on, as Wyatt Miller gives us tips for first time foiling.

- Wyatt Miller

I teach windfoiling at my La Ventana windsurf centre, Pro-Windsurf La Ventana, Baja, Mexico every day. Most people are getting 50 metre flights on their first session. If you can jibe a normal windsurfer, you can learn to windfoil quickly. The crashes are nothing we haven’t all experienced a hundred times….and usually they happen at a much lower speed than we are used to. Here are my tips for getting started.

TWO PITFALLS OF THE FIRST TIME FOILER

1 Don’t go out totally underpowered.

Wind foiling is for light wind…but only once you have some technique. When you first start out you want to have enough wind to get planing on your normal gear. For their first time, I send people out on a half metre smaller than they would use on a regular board. You can eliminate a lot of variables if you are not completely underpowered.

2 Do not push against the foil mast, as if it were a regular fin.

The biggest problem I see with first time foilers is they push downwind, against the foil’s mast like they would their normal fin. Instead, all their foot pressure needs to be going straight down to the bottom of the ocean and into their front wing. Any pressure against the “fin” like a classic windsurfer will cause them to swing wildly upwind and downwind once they take flight.

“WIND FOILING IS FOR LIGHT WIND…BUT ONLY ONCE YOU HAVE SOME TECHNIQUE.”