Naish MK4 Wing 7.5m & Board Carbon 140L

Naish Hover Wing Ultra Carbon Foilboard 140L, 6’4” x 31” x 4.5”, Can add a Naish MK4 7.5m.  BOTH FOR $750.  Normal Use. Beginner on Naish Hover Inflatable 170L and was able to get on my knees and eventually stand up, then went to this hard board at 140L stood right up with control and able to foil regular foot and not turning yet. Now have the Naish Hover Wing Ultra Carbon 125 L and being 31” wide is still kinda stable. I am 111 kg.

From a friend:  Here’s my advice as a current learner in my early 40’s with 20+ years kiteboarding experience and 1 year kite foiling experience. 2 years SUP experience, to anyone starting out and thinking about buying equipment:

For starting out, get a wingfoil board that is 150L or more, and get one that is 31” wide or more.

Volume is only one half of the equation. 

Width is just as important as volume, but is always overlooked. 

Most boards are narrow (28” or less) and this is why boards are tippy. 

As a beginner you sit and stand on a board with very little forward speed on the board which is what makes this sport so difficult. The initial bit of sitting on the board, then standing, and getting enough planing speed to go on foil without falling over is the hardest part of this sport. You can always learn the wing on the beach or learn foiling behing a boat, but this initial bit of planing on the board can only be learnt in an easy way if you have a board that has enough volume AND has enough width (31″ or more).

The very first time I tried wing foiling, I used my 10’6 SUP board with anti drift fins and was up and riding the first time. Big board makes it easy.

Then, I followed advice given to me of “you’ve got plenty of water sports experience, so buy +20L in body weight and you’ll save money.” So I bought the 95L 5’4 Fanatic Sky Wing, but couldn’t get up on the board, even after multiple sessions.

Then I followed the advice of “Add +40L in body weight for your beginner board”, and I bought the Fanatic Sky Wing 5’8 (125L, 28″ wide). I was able to get up, but chop and stability issues means I can only go for about 20 meters at a time. The board is simply too tippy and unstable for a good learning experience. It’s too small. +40L in body weight means nothing if the board is too narrow!

Then I bought the Duotone Sky Start 6’7 board (155L, 31” wide) and finally things came together. 

The volume and width of this board means the board is very stable and makes wing foiling easy. Chop is no longer an issue. Stability is no longer an issue. 

Why, why, why does everyone advise people to go too small? My guess is because everyone struggled for way too long and very few people learnt on equipment that is big enough and therefore wrong advice is passed down from wing foiler to wing foiler.

If I was advised to buy the Sky Start 6’7 as a beginner board I would not only have saved myself from buying 3 boards, but I would have leapfrogged my learning process.

Every minute struggling on a smaller board is a minute you can be up and riding and learning on a bigger board. 

Just think about that for a minute. Why would anyone be struggling if they can be up and riding sooner?

Like most things in life, when you buy cheap or wrong, you end up buying twice or more.

Ask yourself: how long do you want to take to learn this sport?

A year? 18 months? 2 years?

How about a season or only a few sessions?

If a season or only a few sessions sounds good to you, go big on the board, wing and foil.

If the thought of taking a very long time to learn, and making the sport more difficult than it should be sounds like fun to you, then go ahead and “save money” by buying a smaller board, foil and wing.

Just browse through some posts on this group and you’ll come across a few posts of people saying they are just up and riding on the board after 1 year of learning. One has to wonder how many people gave up because they chose equipment that is too small to start on.

I came across another post of someone that is up and riding after 18 months.

In every other water sport, people accept that you go big on the board size to get started. Nobody starts surfing on a 5’6″ shortboard to save money. It’s ridiculous.

Nobody starts windsurfing on a small board. It’s ridiculous.

If you want to learn fast, forget about +40L in body weight. Go 31″ wide and 150L or more. Easy done.

Remember, you have the power to determine how difficult or easy, and how long or quick, you want learning wing foiling to be. 

Go big on equipment if you want to learn fast.