Waka Glide Wing Foil Board | Can a Folding Foil Board Really Perform?

The amount of innovation we've seen lately in foilboarding makes our sport incredibly exciting. It wasn't too long ago that wings arrived as an alternate option to kites, and we're just starting to see parawings become popular for surf foiling. Lots of us love to explore new locations, but innovations like downwind and midi boards don't travel well, and we're forced to compromise with inflatables or smaller boards.

Nigel Thompson has spent the last two years trying to solve this problem for travelers. The challenge was to build a lightweight, high-performance board that could pack down to half its length. He joined Tucker in the MACkite video studio to talk about what the Waka Glide is.

What Is the Waka Glide Foilboard?

The Waka Glide is a hard board that folds in half. It uses a flexible carbon and kevlar composite in its top skin, which acts like a hinge. It's rated for a million folds, which is more sessions than we could ever hope for.

It includes a day bag, which fits inside the optional travel bag for extra padding on the plane. It's got a shoulder strap to make it comfortable for hiking to remote locations where you would hesitate to haul a regular full-length board.

Is the Waka Glide Actually a Good Board?

One of the first things Tucker noticed when he picked up the board in its bag was how light it was. It didn't feel like it weighed any more than a standard carbon board in spite of its two bulkheads in the center.

It also doesn't flex. Once unfolded, it's locked into position with three bolts through the bulkheads. That said, Nigel tested the board with just one bolt to hold it open, and it still didn't flex because the hinge was so strong. If you're familiar with board construction, you know that a lot of its structure is in the skin, and keeping the skin in one piece along the top makes it very rigid.

Features of the Waka Glide

Although it's a travel board, Nigel didn't want to compromise on materials. He wanted, first and foremost, a performance board. There were already inflatable boards out there that were pretty good, so he set out to make something great that you would even take out in your home spot.

It's a full carbon board, so it's stiff and light. The pad is flush with the deck so that it can fold flat. It still has a little kick tail, though, which doubles as a bumper to let the pad breathe if it's still a bit wet when you fold it up.

The deck doesn't have strap inserts. This saves on weight when every ounce can matter, and you'd need to remove the straps before folding the board up anyway. Many people don't ride mid-length boards with straps since they aren't jumping, but if you do need straps, remember that you can pick up stick-on straps.

On the bottom and sides of the board, the access areas for the bolts double as carry handles. You can leave the bag in your car and easily walk the board down to the beach with these handles. This fits right in with this board's mission as something that's easy to haul, but to be transparent, they weren't originally designed as handles. The positioning for the bolt cutouts just worked out so well that they were lengthened to become functional handles.

The bottom of the board has enough flat surface to give you stability, but there's also a V displacement that runs all the way back to the center handle. These features help the board glide though chop and give you lots of stability while you're getting up to speed. A lot a narrow boards add their volume as thickness, but Waka's boards add length instead since they can fold in half. This keeps your feet closer to the foil and lets you feel more connected to it.

The foil track is generously sized at 14 inches, so you should be able to find the sweet spot for your foil and riding style. The track is connected to the deck, so it's very rigid and you won't feel any flex between the board and your foil. The foil mounting and the deck are set at zero degrees of angle, so it'll play nice with a variety of styles and is easy to shim if you need something different.

The board was designed as a one-board quiver. Even folded in half, you aren't going to want to bring two or three boards on a trip, so you need something that will work in a variety of conditions. The board's shape takes that into consideration. It's efficient in light wind, yet narrow enough to have some versatility across sports like prone, kite or parawing.

The 77L size is a mid-length board, so it's floaty enough for days with marginal wind. The last thing you want on your vacation is to end up sitting on the beach. Because it's so efficient, you can probably get away with bringing just one or two front foil wings.

There will be a variety of volumes and lengths to choose from once the board enters production, so you'll be able to find one that suits your weight, riding style, and the conditions where you plan to ride.

Do I Need the Travel Bag for My Waka Glide?

The travel bag really is handy if you're going to take your wing kit on a trip. It's a roller bag and it fits your Glide board folded in half and packed inside the day bag, along with your foils and your wings. Nigel recently flew to La Ventana and his gear bag was right at 50lbs. There was no drama at the airline check-in counter, and when he arrived he was able to rent a small sedan instead of an SUV at twice the price. That's a significant cost savings for a week or two car rental. It's also much safer to walk away from your gear with it in the trunk instead of on the roof.

If you're staying local, you may not need the travel bag. The day bag has a foil slot, and you can pack your board away with your foil attached and still fit in into the back of a small SUV. The day bag also does a nice job of protecting your board from dings and scratches and keeps it looking great year after year.

Who Is the Waka Glide for?

The Glide was designed for people who travel 2-3 times a year and want to bring just one board with no stress or hassle. It's for experienced riders who want a performance board at their destination. It's really not a beginner's board since it is a bit narrower, so if you're still learning to get up on foil, you will want a more stable board. Advanced riders will find that it does everything they need with the feel of a regular high-performance board.

Summary

Tucker will be back soon with a full review, but at first glance he's excited to see these boards. He's been wishing for a high performance travel board option, and the Waka Glide looks promising indeed. The first production run will feature 5 sizes from 66L to 111L, with 55L boards arriving sometime in the future. That said, these boards are so light that they feel much smaller while turning, so even Foil Drive folks can be happy on the 66L.

The fit and finish of the first production boards is great, and just what you'd expect from a top factory like Cobra. The boards are stiff, lightweight, and tough, and the included day bag makes it a nice value. They're slim and will work across a variety of conditions, which is important when you're traveling and need to make the most of what you have while you're there.

The first Waka Glide folding boards are rolling out of the factory now, so they'll be shipping this summer. Stand by for a release date, and chat with us to figure out which size will be the one to join you on your travels.

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