Advantages and disadvantages of using small wing boards for competent wing foilers

Currently I am into using much smaller wing boards, about 50% volume to body weight. This article is going to have a quick look at the benefit and draw backs of riding small boards for competent wing foilers. In loads of the online content you see riders on really small boards riding it up. Should you be looking at riding a tiny board ? They look cool, are fun to ride but there are significant draw backs to tiny wing boards.

Something to consider here is your weight. Weight is so important. I am about 70kgs and currently ride a 35 litre board when it is windy. If you are 90kgs  then 35l is going to be really small. So I think comparing what is a small board between rider is best done as a percentage of your body weight. Comparing me and my 90 kilo buddy, they ride a 45l and I ride 35l. Both are 50% the riders body weight so in practice for our weights are riding experience should be very similar.

Bare in mind volume is not everything . Other factors like length , width, shape and volume distribution make a big roll to play. But volume is a nice simple starting point for comparisons.

For this piece I am taking small board to be 15% below body weight or more. This is only relevant if you are a competent wing foiler making 90% of gybes.

What I like about small boards

They are a new challenge and I enjoy a challenge. I thought why not see how low I can go.  But the journey is not for everyone. You gotta be prepared for some frustration.

Despite a big disadvantage being they are harder to start one of the advantages I feel is that because the board sinks when you are starting you are under the chop and swell and are less affected by the sea state. I find, as long as it is windy I can start in rough sea start easier.

This is the big one. They are so much fun to ride. In almost every way. I feel I go faster with more control. Being smaller there is less drag from the board. I feel I can turn harder as board is smaller it catch’s less. Small boards are easier to pump making them great for linking waves and bumps. Once up on foil they ride better in almost every way.

I think I crash less..which is nice

They are so much fun BUT and there are quite a lot of BIG BUTS….

What I find a pain about small boards

They need more wind to get going. The smaller you go the more wind you need. The difficulty is not so much the knee starting but once you stand up you need enough power to get onto foil quickly or you start to sink and quickly end up well underwater.

Linked to then above you need to be powered up so you tend to need to take a slightly bigger hand wing. Which can be a handful if you don’t enjoy riding well powered up.

In gusty venues you can be sitting about waiting for a gust to get going for a while. I think in some locations small board is pointless as you are going to spend a lot of the time waiting for that gust. It can be pretty frustrating sitting on your board waiting when other people are flying about (literally). If you are not on foil you can’t do anything.

They are harder to get going, this can be a particular problem in breaking waves. If you are not powered up when you stand on the board it will start to sink and you are left praying for a gust and using your best balance skills. This problem is made harder in breaking waves as you just don’t have much time and often there is less wind between the waves.

All this pumping and balancing can use a lot of energy. They can be tiring if you crash a lot. That leads to frustration which can led to you not wanting to try some moves as you don’t want to crash again.

For most people a smaller board means learning a new way to start small boards. The bog standard knee start will not work for this sort of board. At first this can be a real pain. But as time goes on you may find that the new starting method is better all round.

You have to be prepared to swim back as you cannot just cruise in on your knees. Certainly not on a board at 50% below body weight. May be at 25%. So that is a really big consideration and possible constraint on your riding. You don’t want to need rescuing. Having had a long swim back once there is very little more frustrating than other other people winging about whilst you casually swim in.

Unless you are a hotshot that never falls off. If you go really low volume you need two boards. Simple as ! Otherwise you are really going to reduce the amount of time you can ride.

So should you think about trying a small board and how small ?

My answer is it is totally up to you. You have to decide whether the positives out way the negatives. 

When I get to the beach and it is not suitable for my 35l board I often feel a bit deflated but every single time I have then gone out on my bigger board I have had a ball and loved the session.

If you want one board I think something about 10% above body weight to 10% below is a good choice. If you can stretch to two boards things get more complicated and you are going need to experiment and decide based on your riding goals, style and location.

Main thing is it is about having fun. There is no point taking that away. I have certainly learnt some new language swearing with frustration trying to get going or swimming back.