SUP foiling is a fun and exciting new way of paddling. It offers impressive sensations with surprisingly small waves!
You’ve probably seen Kai Lenny gliding above the water on his foil or Zane Schweitzer carving beautiful lines in the surf. Top paddlers post pictures and videos of their SUP foil adventures on social media.
Downwind
Downwind foiling is a new discipline that requires a high level of fitness and knowledge to master. It allows you to fly on ocean swells (ground and wind fetch) at speeds unimaginable with a prone paddle board, OC, or surf ski.
A good starting point is to get a feel for the foil and to improve your paddling technique, particularly in choppy conditions. A hydrofoil consists of a mast and wings, with the front wing providing lift while the stabilizer wing provides stability and control. Typically, bigger hydrofoils are used for downwinding as they offer incredible speed and strength.
Pumping is essential for downwinding with a foil, as it is the best way to create forward momentum. Foiling is very sensitive, so it’s important to feel how the foil works and adjust your line when needed. It also takes time to learn how to ‘read’ the bumps; you need to find the power phase and stay on top of the energy.
Prone
While wing foiling is taking the lion’s share of attention, SUP surfing with a foil is also exploding in popularity. It allows surfers to ride waves that would otherwise be too small and crumbly for prone surfing and offers a whole new dimension to the sport. For more information about the SUP foiling, check this out.
You’ll need a special prone foil board that is typically shorter and narrower than a standard surfboard with a hydrofoil mounted towards the back of the board. The foil generates lift as you paddle through the water, which helps the board rise out of the water and glide over it.
The board needs to have enough volume for you to stand on comfortably, and the foil track mounting system should be challenging, well-manufactured and able to brush off knocks. As you get started, you also need a decent amount of width so it’s easier to control the lift during your initial learning phase.
The wing is generally shaped like an aeroplane wing with low take-off speed. This helps reduce the learning curve and allows you to progress faster.
Surf
Foils are not the most accessible kit to learn in the surf, especially in windy and wavy conditions. It takes real vision to bring the sport of surfing and fuse it with gliding and flying, and foil is a lethal weapon.
A good SUP board with a deep Tuttle fin box in the right place is essential to get started, and a custom shaper can put a foil in for you. The shorter foil mast is ideal for beginners as it can be towed behind a boat and requires no water start; just stand up with your feet in the correct position.
A paddle that delivers efficient power from the start is critical for foiling as you need heaps of vroom to catch and ride bumps. If your foil comes with foot straps, it’s best to leave these off, as they can be distracting when trying to gain control of the wing. For more information about the SUP foiling, check this out.
Safety
Foiling is a fun new water sport but poses some safety issues. Foils are large, pointy and have sharp trailing edges. They can quickly cut marine life in half and are dangerous to anyone they come close to. They can also be lethal to anyone not wearing a helmet and impact vest who is foil surfing or SUP flying and falls off their board.
Foil boards are generally multi-disciplined these days; however, I’d recommend choosing one dedicated to foiling for beginners.
You’ll find they are narrower and have less volume than a standard paddle board; however, this does help with stability as the feet can be positioned more accurately about where the foil generates the lift. I recommend avoiding boards with foot straps for beginners, as they can get in the way of learning to fly correctly. Longer boards can be great for speed when learning to fly and give riders more versatility once they have mastered the basics.