VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Hi,

I just decided today to buy a Neil Pryde Glide Surf 19 to be able to ride behind out wakeboard boat since my old kite board (LF original rocket style) can not be used under 17mph and I wanted to ride ropeless and have fun playing in the wake. I still plan to use the 5' LF Rocket Fish board with the new foil until I decide I want to get a new smaller board or one I could surf up in Tofino with as well.

Then I started thinking it would be a lot of fun to also wing foil up at our cabin on Sproat Lake. I have kited there before but the launch is super sketchy going off our wharf as if anything happens your kite is right into trees and its always a odd side/onshore but gusty and not super constant wind.

It usually gets windy every day though in the lighter range of 10-15 knots and some days like when I have kited before its over 15. The issue is it is gusty and not filled in until you get further out in the lake.

This is why wing foiling sounds like it would be a fun idea and I thought I would reach out to see if anyone has recommendations on which size to go with. I'm 190lbs and was thinking somewhere around a 6M. I have paid 0 attention to wing foiling so I have not been up to speed on the latest advances or if older models are that much worse off etc so wanted to reach out to ask for info.

I guess I should also ask, will it be boring riding a 6M? I hated riding anything over a 12m kiting to be honest which is why I sold my 14 and 15m kites and never went back to them. I just found you couldnt jump very well and they were slow AF. Is a 6M and that light of wind going to be like riding a tank or can I work towards jumping etc and having fun or will it just be cruising around at that speed?

Thank you in advance!

You are correct that wing is antidote to sketch launches and gusty barely doable conditions. You can just paddle out to the windline and paddle back in if need be.

But light wind winging is not ripping...you can get up and have a ride, but that's it. It is harder work than light wind kiting and slower.

My limited experience kiting sproat is it needed a 17m and foil. This week I tried winging...just barely doable with 6m. Fun novelty but not really optimizing time when the wind is 30kt just 15mins away. The other 2 wingers I know of on fhe lake didn't seem interested...they focus on canal beach.

If you want to chase it you'll need a 6m for sure, would be better off with a 7m or maybe even the 9m gong.

We have a small houseboat we take up to sproat and 6M with large foil is very doable most afternoons when wind comes up. I have the Neil pryde glide surf 2000cm foil. Will be headed up next weekend for a week . Great place to practice in super warm water and still plenty of fun. I think it really depends what part of the lake your on,I imagine Taylor arm even gets some decent small waves to play on.

On the light wind winging note: I'm having a ton of fun goofing around in light wind (10-12ish) trying tacks, 360s, freestyle stuff. Perfect wind strength for trying new stuff on the right foil (I'm mainly using axis 1010-1430cm2 on a 90l board with a 5m wing, weigh 75kg). Definitely more work to pump up onto the foil but a good work out and surprisingly fast - still going 20-25km/h in those winds. Love it! My .02$. But yeah once you are below your foilable minimums it is not fun schlogging around waiting for a puff. I don't know what the wind is like at Sproat. I've sailed Cowichan South arm a bit and it is really gusty and shifty.

We are on Taylor Arm, that stretch of 11 cabins without power so the wind gets into there every afternoon normally. We always wind surfed it as kids, I think there and further down the arm past battle ship island (Taylor Arm Provincial Park) are the places that really get wind in the afternoons.

The wind is gusty though and it also can have pockets where the wind dies out it seems.

Windjunky, I ended up getting a Slingshot 84 vs the Neil Pryde as I could buy one used and it came with another naish foil I can use for kiting. Ive been having a blast learning ropeless behind the boat with it, I have noticed you can even go out when the wind is up a little and wake foil as long as you head the direction of the wave. Are you the guys with the winebago houseboat? I saw one last year at the boat launch and this year I saw them cruising what would be when you said you were up there. Too bad I didnt read this sooner or I would have asked to meet up and try it out . There was some CRAZY wind that Saturday like 20/25+knots and big waves.

I do think it would be fun to wing it though. Yes I know canal is just around the corner but with a new born its not the same as just jumping on the foil and going out for a hour on a before dinner session ;)

I have kited it launching from my neighbor's on a 14m, ended up getting stuck on a beach later as the wind came down.
My neighbor has tried various times to kite but not successfully. I think its best to head further down the arm of the lake and launch off a jetski then have fun down winding home.

I might just go get a hobie cat and call it a day for trying to find another sport to do up there haha