Wing foiling in light winds: Take off earlier, keep foiling for longer – the best tips

Anyone who’s just started wing foiling will be familiar with the situation: you’re bobbing about whilst others are gliding along effortlessly on their foils. The simplest solution would, of course, be to use larger equipment – but not everyone is kitted out accordingly and can switch between different wing sizes, Mid-length boards or use larger foils. Often, this isn’t even necessary, as the right tactics are just as crucial in light winds.

Gust-hopping

Especially on inland waters, the wind is often rather inconsistent. It’s only during the gusts that you’ll have enough lift to get airborne; in the lulls, you need to persevere. For this reason, you should ride tactically in light winds. Background: You need more wind to sail upwind than when on a half-wind or broad reach. So if you bear away too much in a lull, your speed drops and the board loses lift. You should therefore make strategic use of the gusts to switch to a close-hauled course. Build up a buffer during the gusts that you can draw on. If the wind dips to the lower limit between gusts, you can often save yourself by bearing away to a light broad reach until the next gust. In gusty light winds, you don’t foil in a straight line, but often in a zigzag pattern.

The more experience you have as a water sports enthusiast, the better you can anticipate the conditions when foiling, as the gusts don’t come out of the blue but are visible as dark streaks on the water. So always keep your eyes peeled and check the water’s surface to windward for shadows!

​​So, in light, gusty winds, you don’t foil in a straight line, but often in a zigzag pattern

Reducing the inflation pressure in light winds

Almost all wings have become significantly stiffer in recent years, not least thanks to special materials such as Aluula or high-strength fabric. The advantage of such taut designs is a wider wind range in strong gusts. At the other end of the scale, in very light winds, this advantage can sometimes turn into a disadvantage. This is because your wing needs a certain amount of flexibility to inflate efficiently. For this reason, it is advisable to inflate the wing to about one psi below the recommended pressure in borderline wind conditions.

This applies in particular to very light riders (<70 kilos), as the desired tread pattern often fails to form properly at normal tyre pressure.

Adjusting the foil setup

A larger foil is, of course, worth its weight in gold in light winds, but adjusting its position can also be beneficial. In light wind conditions, it makes sense to move the foil one to two centimetres forwards compared to the standard position – this provides a little more lift and can help you get airborne earlier.

Tacking cleverly in light winds

Are you struggling to maintain every bit of speed just to stay on the foil, but there’s not a gust in sight and the shore is getting closer and closer? Then you should quickly forget about tacking, because any manoeuvre into the wind inevitably results in a greater loss of speed than a jibe. Two tricks might help:

1. Make use of wave thrust

Even small waves can help you maintain your speed if you harness their energy. So try to time your gybes so that, as you come out of the manoeuvre – that is, at the end of it – you’re in front of a small wave crest. The ‘downhill run’ during this phase can be worth its weight in gold and prevent you from stalling.

2. Alternative jib variations

In light winds, you overtake the wind during a ‘normal’ jibe. At that moment, the relative wind (the wind you feel) is coming from ahead, which means your wing can act as a brake – you lose too much speed. However, there are alternative jibing techniques that get round this problem and make it easier to foil at the lower end of the wind range. These include, for example, the Heineken jibe, the race jibe and, above all, the duck jibe. The latter, in particular, is a simple and efficient technique for light winds. You can find a full tutorial on this HERE.