Pics: Oli Lane-Peirce, Steve West
Watersports of all types have seen huge growth through the COVID pandemic. In fact, all outdoor recreational pursuits have enjoyed an uptick in terms of hardware and accessory sales. One particular ‘new kid on the block’, however, is garnering startling amounts of interest (even if numbers of practitioners don’t yet reflect the trend of information seeking).
We’ve talked about wing foiling (or wing surfing if you prefer) before. Foiling in general makes an appearance on NCW’s website, both in article form and a knowledge based resource. We have good connections with a few riders who foil and of late NCW’s owners have partnered up on a new venture – Foilshop UK. (For anyone curious hit the link to find out more – https://foilshop.co.uk/)
But we digress. Wing foiling is a topic of much discussion within the world of watersports. Wind driven disciplines, such as kitesurfing and windsurfing, have been around for years. But wing foiling is serving to attract those not of a previous breezy disposition. Surfers, for instance (at least those with a progressive and forward thinking attitudes), are coming into the fold, seeing wingin’ as a way to tackle onshore blowy swells that wouldn’t be great for standard board sliding frolics. And/or use the wing to tow into waves.
Wings are touted as being easy to use. Once a rider nails down necessary foil skills adding a wing is supposedly effortless. It’s not quite this simple but isn’t far off. Plus, the safety angle of wing surfing is tangible. With an inflatable ‘engine’ should things awry it’s pretty simple to pack the wing down and paddle back to shore (as long as your board has enough float.
A spots on the UK’s south coast, wing wangin’ is seeing more and more uptake. Cornwall hasn’t had quite the same influx but with particular locations (such as Marazion) becoming more noticed for wingfoil possibilities it could just be a matter of time.
If you want to know more about wing foiling (or foiling in general) then hit up NCW’s hydrofoiling knowledge page or check out our sister site Foilshop UK. And if you already foil give NCW’s webshop a peruse as we provide all kinds of accessories fit for your flying antics. Any questions just holla.