What Size Wings Do You Need? Building the perfect Wing Foil Quiver

Which Size Wing Is Right for Me?

This is Ryan from MACkite, and today I am going to talk about how to select your inflatable wing size. Now, keep in mind that most people end up with two to three wings at some point, so we're going to go through what size you should select for your first wing, your second wing, and your third wing.

Your First Wing

When selecting that first wing, I would go with your medium-sized wing. This wing is going to be used in average wind speeds: above 15 mph all the way up to about 25 mph. For me at about 180 lbs, this is about a 5 or 5.5 meter wing.

There are two main reasons that you want to start with this wing. The waves are typically a little bit smaller than in those really high winds, like 30 mph, so you've got a lot less you're dealing with in the water, as far as turbulence goes. This allows you to get up on the board easier, get up to your knees, up to your feet, and up on foil easier.

Another reason to start with medium wind speed is you're going to have good power. When you have good power from the wing, it makes getting started without previous experience, technical skills and knowledge a lot easier. You don't have to be as proficient with the wing; small mistakes that lose power don't make as big of a difference. So choosing your first wing for that 15 - 25 mph range allows you to start in some milder wave conditions while having adequate power to allow for maximum learning potential while minimizing the effects of your mistakes as you're getting started.

Your Second Wing

Rolling into your second wing, for most people I would recommend your light wind, or large, wing. For me, this would be a 7 or 8 meter wing.

That is going to minimize the wave conditions and the turbulence in the water and, again, make it easier to get control of the wing, get up to your feet, and get up on foil. However, in those lighter conditions it does take a little bit more technical skill. It's not as forgiving because you don't have quite as much power, so that's where having that size wing as your second wing is really going to pay off. You've already developed some of those skills with that first wing as you were learning, so that's going to allow you to get up and utilize those light wind conditions more effectively and take advantage of that larger size wing to continue your riding and have fun.

Your Third Wing

Now, for the third wing for most people, I would recommend going with your high wind, or small size, wing. For me, this is about a 4 meter size. When you get to that high wind size wing you're dealing with larger waves, so it's typically going to be quite a bit rougher out there. You're going to have a little bit more to contend with trying to get everything together and under control. You want to be very efficient and quick at popping up to your feet, getting the power in the wing, and popping up on the foil so you can ride out and through those waves. Without those efficiencies and that technical skill developed, you're going to spend most of the time out there in the crashing waves getting tumbled around, which is not very much fun, so you definitely want to start with those other two larger sizes first and then move on to that small size wing last.

Exceptions to This Order

A couple exceptions here... One would be if you are fortunate enough to have a good riding location where you're learning in a harbor or behind a jetty and you can get some really strong winds with minimal to no waves or turbulence on the water. Those are ideal learning conditions for winging. It really accelerates the learning curve without having to deal with the waves and the turbulence. There you can take advantage of much higher winds, which is going to minimize the need for technical skill, and just accelerate your learning curve. In that situation--flat water in a location that gets high winds--you could go with that medium size and smaller size first. I would still start with the medium size just to get started, but maybe your second wing ends up being that small wing size.

Another exception would be if you are in a light wind location, or it's your light wind season. In this instance you might not get much wind that's in that 15-plus mph range. You might be lucky to find a 15-16 mph day. In this situation, you're definitely going to want to start with as big a wing as possible. You'll start with your 7 or 8 meter wing just because those are the conditions that you're dealing with, and from there you might move on to that mid-sized wing for your windier season as you progress and become more efficient.

Summary

To recap, when you're looking at which wing you should be starting with, I would recommend starting with that medium-sized wing. For me, that's about a 5 or 5.5 meter wing. I'm going to be using that in 15 mph up to about 25 mph wind speeds. From there, I'm going to go to my light wind wing, that 7 or 8 meter size, in around 15 mph and slightly under wind speeds. Then for the third wing, that's going to be my high wind wing, the wing that I pull out when it's blowing 25 plus.

As always, with any gear recommendation, it's dependent on a lot of specifics to your location, your experience, and your riding style, so feel free to give us a call at the shop or reach out to us via email or live chat. We're always ready to help answer those questions about which wing size might work best for you. Thanks for reading!

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