Just Wingin' It (Jibe Progression, Energy Conservation, Tack Intro, Other Nuances & Tips) Part 3

Welcome to part three of the series Just Wingin' It. If you have just begun your journey wing foiling then check out my previous two episodes of the series in the link above. If however you have a desire to become more efficient on the wing with improved proficiency in water starts, transitions, or some other nuances that I have encountered then give this episode a try. A timeline outline can be found here and also below in the description and also please consider subscribing to the OK Kiteboarder and likes and comments are always appreciated. Also don't forget to check out Green Hat Kiteboarding for all of your wind water sports needs. Okay let's get started. Currently my wind sports pie chart is made up of about 60% wing foiling, 30% kite foiling, and 10% observing twin tip kiteboarding. I'd really like to preserve the word kiteboarding for this YouTube channel. So wing foiling has opened up many more days on the water for myself, kind of the way that kite foiling has done for light wind days. But winging does it from the aspect of gusty friendly, non-directional wind dependence, and access to sketchy water entry exit locations. So I've progressed from a 1,900 square centimeter to a 1,500 square centimeter front wing which I now can ride in 12 to 13 mile per hour winds and with a five meter hand wing. I'm using the exact hydrofoil setup now as I use much of the time under my pocket board with a Peak 4 kite so it's an easy switch out. I've decided after observing Daniel's journey on a small volume board that it's just not the direction that I want to take at this time. I'm around 72 kilograms so I'm okay with riding board volumes around 75 liters and so the next step for travel and riding for me is to transition from that 90 liter rocket board to the Gong Heap 5.1 inflatable. And for that I am anxiously awaiting this board to arrive out of customs. Now this may not seem like material that should be in a third video of progression but it is a consideration that has had some positive feedback from beginners in the last few weeks. Just remember this is a highly opinionated perspective but one that has worked well for myself. My stance on a kite foil board and a wing board they're actually identical. I ride a Y front strap setup on the foil board and strapless on the wing board and prefer an offset stance with my feet. What this does is it puts me in a position of more forward facing on the board with my pelvis and I believe it also aids me in foot switches and transitions due to my angles being much decreased and movements much more abbreviated. But when on a wing foil board I believe it gives me another advantage and that is with negotiating leg swell and chop in the crosswind position. And this is a position that you're going to be in from the time you first engage the hand wing from your knees until the moment that you are riding on foil. Just consider this for a second. If riding the board with your feet in a linear setup in a straight line perpendicular to the legs turbulence you are limited to making large adjustments for balance through just ankle strategies. So now you have these small joints here that are responsible for correction of not falling forward or backwards off of the board in what may be two foot rollers coming in from behind you. With an offset stance however you are able to make larger balance modifications on the go through your knees and through your hips which are much larger joints through a much larger range of motion to recover in these unsteady waters. And it's a much more efficient sloshing position for a conservation of energy and effort. If you're not having any issues with the difficulties listed above then don't worry about giving it consideration. But if some of these hurdles are creating frustration then give it a try. What I have been observing in our local community of wing foilers is that when the wind is pumping everything is easier. But when the wind drops into those low to mid teens there's more sloshing and there's less foiling going on. That also means that there's a lot more frustration and expletives on the water. A common issue is not releasing the rail of the board downwind to flatten and then to gain speed to come up on foil. Going crosswind and stronger winds is usually sufficient but in lighter winds you have to release the edge of the board and point it more downwind to gain the speed needed to rise up on foil. Use the power of the small leg swell for speed. It's true the board is more slippery with the rail disengaged but you need to reach seven to eight miles per hour for lift. Don't pump the hand weighing 15 to 20 times trying to get up on foil. If you haven't experienced a burst of speed and power in the first three to four pumps then go back to sloshing and wait for that next gust. The great thing about inland lake riding is that if it's blowing 12 miles per hour then there's always going to be a 15 mile per hour gust in the imminent future. One thing that I really love about wing foiling is that not only is it a workout unlike my free ride kite foiling sessions but it's an activity that works my back musculature which is pretty foreign in the kiteboarding world. Posturally it's a really good offset to common postural problems associated with kiting especially with good form. You definitely don't want to ride using the hand wing in a fully extended arm position not only for these postural reasons but also for the shoulder joint and endurance implications. Riding in a taller non-flex position with the shoulder blades retracted and some slight flexion in the arms is a more sound posture. My favorite hand wing currently is the F1 Swing and I really don't even see the need for harnessing in ever because I'm currently able to stay out on the water in sessions of over an hour and a half with no rest. There are plenty of opportunities on the water to dump the pull and the power of the wing when you're going downwind or when you're performing transitions and even when going upwind you don't have to be juiced on the wing trying to drive hard angles. You can actually conserve a lot of energy going upwind in a tall posture with your elbows pretty close to your body and angling that leading edge of the wing slightly more into the wind. Now your speed will be less but you will be tracking upwind with very little pull at all through the wing. Another less conventional method to gain upwind angles, especially in lighter winds, is to pump the hand wing followed by a twist of the hips upwind using the yaw of the foil to reach greater upwind angles. This almost creates a tug-of-war effect where you're taking slack out of the rope with each turn and as you travel more upwind it definitely doesn't fall under conservation of energy but it may be a small tip that could benefit you to gain more upwind angles for small stretches in underpowered conditions. Now let's stop here for a few moments to discuss some wing nuances because what we have discovered with this technique and others in gusty inland riding conditions is that with a more rigid hand wing, for instance like the Duotone unit or the Insys wing, it's easy to get back winded and wind surfers are very familiar with this term but I was not. So with your less rigid wings like the F1, the Slingshot V2 or others, it's not as pronounced. Everything that I have seen on wing recommendations out there is the more rigid the better. Well I'm not for sure that that's a good blanketed statement so something to consider especially in those gusty shifty winds is decreasing the psi in these more rigid wings. In fact in significant winds I'm riding the four meter unit at a four psi and it's actually reacting perfectly and it's eliminating almost all of that backwinding while still holding great shape and performance. Now the great thing about a more rigid wing is that they do usually have more grunt and better low end at the recommended psi so on those lighter more consistent days pump it all the way up and enjoy what I would consider subjectively to be about another one meter of additional power. Here let's discuss some pointers that can hopefully help you in either getting started with your jibes or just making them more efficient. This won't be a step-by-step approach as I have already addressed this in part two. If you are having difficulty taking that step to initiate a jibe then start using the wing to direct more aggressively with downwind riding in short spurts. With speed and the wing low just pull in on the backhand follow that wing downwind and continue to reach greater and greater angles until you're ready to just then come around and follow it to the other side which would be your toe side. After feeling more comfortable coming out of this transition to the other side use the wing as a tool to maintain power in a couple of different ways. In lighter wind conditions I like to use the scoop method and this technique when changing hand positions overhead I drive the wing down and in front of me and below the level of the board almost like a kite dive. Then I may follow with a couple of other sine waves or wing pumps if necessary. This keeps a more constant flow of power in the wing in these underpowered conditions and it keeps you up on foil. In well-powered conditions you can use the push of the water to maintain speed and really all you have to do is just show the wing to the front position and under your board. This maneuver also aids you in getting your weight properly forward coming out of the transition. If you are having difficulty becoming efficient and your hand wing passes you can also buy additional time by the implementation of pumping the board through the turn when the wing is offering little to no additional power and also by choking the wing by pulling in on the backhand of the wing for an additional burst of downwind energy right before the switching of hands. If the switch foot jibe is what you are currently practicing don't forget to give your back foot a quick bump and bring the wing overhead for additional lift buying you time to switch feet as the board briefly rises. The wing foil board is much more stable than a kite foil board and it makes this easier to accomplish. As you progress have fun with increasing speeds on your jibes and increasing downwind angles when switching your feet. Okay I wish this segment was more substantial in fact I was holding off on part three hoping that I became proficient in this skill first but unfortunately my tacking currently is around a 10% success rate on my strong side. I would however like to recommend a couple of videos put out by Gong on the tack maneuver. There's a link for them also below in the video description. Production quality is not that great but I believe the content to be some of the best that I have found for this skill set and these tips are what I am currently attempting to implement in my own progression. So that concludes episode three of Just Winging It and I hope you maybe took a nugget or two away from this for your wing foiling journey. Let's try to avoid now the onset of seasonal depression with winter quickly approaching in the northern hemisphere and we'll see you next time on the OK Kite Boarder.