The struggle is real.

I was teaching my friend how to wing and he described the learning period as the Struggle Bus. This is the period between getting on the board consistently and foiling in control. Much of the time is spent falling in the water and climbing back onto the rig, walking along the shore, and singing the F song. The frustration can be intense. Wingboarding is physically demanding and the most demanding part is getting on a foil. 

My friend is an excellent skier and pretty athletic. The time it took for him to consistently foil was 10 - 12 sessions. His first session was easy as he was on an inflatable SUP board and wing. He quickly mastered the wing and was able to stay upwind on the inflatable. I moved him to a large board and foil the following day. Unfortunately, the foil we acquired was pretty old and made for a windsurfer. He was able to stand on the board but couldn’t foil. This mismatch of equipment hindered his progress and frustrated him with the constant falling and remounting the board. At first, I felt that he wasn’t leaning forward enough and kept floating back which would raise the nose of the board at slow speeds and eventually breach. He spent most of his time heading downwind and in the water. I tried to foil it and found that the foil was difficult and unstable. It was a disaster. Lesson Learned, equipment matters. 

Once we moved him to a more modern foil set. He was able to quickly get it on foil and porpoise the board. This led to more time on the board and less time spent in the water. That said, he was on too small of a wing and spent a lot of time taxiing. Again, the attempts to get on foil pushed him downwind and a lot of time and energy was wasted. 

After the first couple of sessions, he was able to get to his feet pretty rapidly and taxi efficiently. The board was still pretty large so he took a risk and bought a 95ltr board and a set of used wings 4.0, 5.0, 6.0. Now that he had a modern foil, 1800sq cm, solid wings and a board that was a better fit, he was able to do sustained foil rides and stay upwind. Finally, we went to locations that had less chop, i.e. Candlestick or Haskins, which provided an opportunity for clean takeoffs. Progression was rapid and he would hit the water whenever the wind came up, so he spent a couple weeks focusing on getting over the hump and….it clicked. 

This “clicking” period is the point where the student figures out how to  get the foil on plane and keep it on plane staying upwind. This reduced the effort significantly and the student had far more control over where he’d land, leading to more productive learning sessions. Now he was full independent and having a great time. So keep at it, if you feel frustrated, take a break and evaluate the next steps. 

Mistakes made: 

• Starting on poor learning gear, wasted 2 critical sessions

• Underpowered on smaller wings

What went right

• Moving to a modern foil

• Time spent on water

• Getting better board 

• Going to spots with less chop 

Throughout the cycle the biggest gap was the equipment. If we hadn’t started on poor gear, he might have been progressing much faster with far less frustration. I was offering him advice on used gear, but I think I was blinded by low cost stuff that really wasn’t good. Luckily, he advanced to a level that allowed him to move to a fairly intermediate level of board and foil. So the money he spent was worth it, he will not need to replace that equipment for another season. 

It’s a good idea to start with solid beginner gear and move off it as rapidly as possible. Once you can taxi and stand and stay up wind comfortably, as this will lead to more productive sessions. Moving to good intermediate gear will then accelerate the learning curve and offer real progression rather than frustrations.