Cold Water Lessons Wingfoiling
First Off I want to congratulate Idani Edwards for winning the Antigua Wingfoil Championship. Idani is a real talent and very nice young man, so happy to see him at the top in his home regatta. I was lucky to grab a few shots of Idani one morning in Antigua Dutchman’s Bay. Surprised North has not picked up this talent for their team. See some fun pictures of Idani here.
Ok, now to the old people wingfoiling. We have been out on the water starting 20 March after coming back from Antigua. Here are a few lessons learned, and some gear changes.
Lets start off with some lessons I have learned wingfoiling this spring in cold water. When we started the water was 42 F, with a few days of bitter NW wind, even the SW was cold since the water outside the bay is colder.
I have always been cold easily. As we know from Safety at Sea and physics class extra weight on the body helps keep you warm, well I don’t have much extra. And my hands, and feet have always had a hard time staying warm. Years ago racing on a J70 a crew member turned me onto Showerpass socks. They are Merino wool with waterproof lining. They work, and inside my 3 mm booties my feet stay warm. Yes, I could go 5 mm and will in the fall, but for this spring my feet were warm.
Now the hands and core is a different story, we should have been in 5/4 or even 6/5 wetsuits, but we own great 4/3’s and that is what we have used. A good spray top helps a lot, and we have Forward Wip Wing Flow Neo 50 N impact vest which helps the core stay warm, a bonus harness is part of the vest. Our wetsuits do not have hoods, so we wear fleece hoods under our helmets. That seems to work well.
With the hands I had three problems. First, a day with Mystic 3 mm gloves I had a big problem, they cut off my circulation. Overlapping the on top of my wetsuit, my hands went numb right away. It was windy with puffs 30, 43 F water. It was so bad I only had one 200 meter run. Luckily I did a self rescue with friends checking as they sailed by making sure I was ok. So those gloves where problem number one over the wetsuit. Next problem was my wetsuit wrist, having big hands, and thick wrist the next time out I had the same problem with loose gloves on the wrist. I kept pulling at the wetsuit wrist feeling too tight. So, after that session I took large plastic bottles and put them in the wrist of the wetsuit to stretch them out. Next time out presto, it worked fantastic. Still cold hands but that was expected after the 40 min session. I have kept doing the wetsuit stretching and now my hands are not a problem except just normal getting cold. Foiled next time 75 min and only took a 5 min break on the beach to warm the hands mid session.
Now the third problem was the board choice. Do not let people tell you boards don’t matter since when flying anything works, that is wrong. Having owned four foil boards in our learning progression we kept going smaller except for the last one. All have been Armstrong FG boards, first 2021, FG132 ltr learner board, next 2022 FG Wing/SUP 99 ltr board that I loved, but sold it in Antigua as did Carol with her 88 ltr. We felt the new 2024 Armstrong FG Wing boards where a great step forward so we went with 90 and 80 liters.
After eight session on the 90 ltr board which is a lot narrower and 4” shorter than my last board. I was ok in flat water, but getting up was not the easiest in waves, my legs don’t bend all the way with six knee surgeries, but no excuses. I kept pushing loving how the board flew. But in waves it was tough, and my hands would get cold spending so much time in the water. I was learning the hard way that you need either a board that sinks, with foot straps, well not for me for reasons above. Or a board that floats you enough to be just above the water. I was right at the water level and it beat me up. So after eight days of frustration I ordered the Armstrong 2024 FG Wing 105 liter board. It is the same length as my old one but 3.25” narrower due to the new very efficient shape, for getting out of the water. Also with most of the volume in the middle under your feet there is a lot less swing weight. I now have three days on the board. Right off I was foiling as well as any day in the last two years in waves. It also gets out of the water just as easy as the 2024 FG 90 ltr, which is so much easier than the previous versions. So the board is a huge factor. And don’t just go small because it is cool, go to the size that fits your foiling. Carol moved to my 90 ltr board and felt the same huge difference. So the 80 ltr is for sale. Some great lessons to have learned in just a month.
We are now using either Armstrong CF 1600 foil in up to 12 kts and then go to the CF 1200 front foil. Again don’t just go high aspect because it is cool, pick a foil that suits your foil style. We free ride and play in small waves. The CF1200 is in a lot of pro’s quiver, it is such an amazing do it all foil.
As for tail stabilizer we use the Flow 235, having come from the CF 300 V2 to start, then HS 232 V2. The Flow 235 is just what it says, it encourages you to get in the flow and be smooth. We do have 1/2 degree shim in the tail for a little looser and faster ride.
From the beginning we have been on the 60 cm fuselage and see no reason to change. The mast are 72 cm that we purchased when we started. But as of this past week playing in waves again a 86.5 cm performance mast is on the way. If we like it, and the length is good for Carol we will get a second one. So cool we both ride the same gear, just 15 ltrs different in board, and one size different on wings so we have cross over and never need the same size wing.
Foiling yesterday the water was 50 today, sounds cold, but feels warm when you started at 42.
Get out on the water, be safe, kind, and have fun.
See you soon, Paul