Philip, you're not entirely alone with the idea of your own wing brand - there's a gold-rush atmosphere in the industry at the moment. What made you decide to set up your own brand with Vayu?
I had my own brand in mind for a long time. I've been selling brands like the neoprene brand XCEL and F1 with my company Liquid Sports for years, but due to the supply bottlenecks, I didn't get any wing material at the time. Everyone around me started jumping all over me at the beginning of 2020 - only I didn't have the right equipment (laughs) and I was travelling around with my 7'0 SUP for a long time. We then looked around the market to see what boards were available and commissioned the first prototypes for ourselves in Portugal. Then one thing led to another. The designer of Liquid Force, William Hansen, was on the market, so we brought him into the team. Then a friend who had previously worked at Adidas joined us and our team came together bit by bit.
Would you say that the hurdles to developing a foil board are lower than in other water sports? Simply because foilboards don't normally come into contact with the water and the shape is therefore of secondary importance?
You can of course cobble together something that you can halfway drive with. Overall, however, I wouldn't say that it's that easy to make something really good. Loop positions and shape have to fit perfectly. You can see that everything is developing at breakneck speed and many things that are coming onto the market now are actually already outdated - especially when it comes to wings.
The trend will be towards booms and fixed grips, away from handles
Let's stay with the board for a moment. Would you say that newcomers should always choose a board and foil from the same brand so that everything fits together?
I don't think it necessarily has to be from the same brand. It's more important to choose the right type of foil and a suitable board size.
What are your recommendations for newcomers in this regard?
If you have previous experience in other water sports, a wingboard with 30 to 40 litres more volume than your body weight is a good place to start. This requires a foil with a "low aspect ratio", i.e. a front wing that is thickly profiled and has a wide wing shape. Such foils are somewhat slower, but they are very stable and take off early. As soon as you have more practice, you can switch to a foil with a "high aspect ratio", these then have slender front wings with a wider span and thinner profile. Although this makes them a little more sensitive to surf, they are faster and therefore offer more potential for jumps and tricks. A SUP can also be a really good way to get started. I had a lot of fun with it myself and if you live inland and don't always have 10-12 knots of wind, it's ideal.
The wings on the market also differ greatly in terms of their grip systems. You have developed your own concept. Why don't you briefly explain the advantages?
We have our own boom system. It is a boom that is split in the centre and firmly connected to the strut. This allows the wing to be folded at this point, which reduces the pack size. Nevertheless, you don't have any additional parts to install and a system where you have firm and direct contact with the wing, which means you can direct it much more precisely and directly during manoeuvres. I think that many brands will move away from soft handles in the future and switch to boom systems. As far as the profile is concerned, our wings have a very tight set-up and high speed potential so that you can also take off from time to time.
What does the Vayu product range currently look like?
Our Wing is available in four sizes - 3.4/4.4/5.4 & 6.4 square metres. In terms of boards, there is the beginner board FLY in three sizes as well as the advanced board FLYR and even a thoroughbred school board with a 6'2 length, 190 litre volume and insertable centre fins. You can then take your time to familiarise yourself with it in light winds and swap the fins for a foil at some point. And soon there will also be an inflatable wingsurf board.
You can find more information about the products from Vayu here
