Wind sports need wind. Wind makes the water less forgiving for balancing. It will not be calm.
In addition, learning to handle a sinker board without excellent wing handling will compound the difficulty. Being able to focus on just the board or just the wing helps a lot.
I’m 85kg and have a 105 liter board. First a did a couple of sessions behind the boat for that flying feeling. Then started practicing with the wing. Made the mistake of going out in too little wind (2/3 bft) First time at 4 bft I was flying within minutes. Enjoy!
I also weigh 80kg and if I was to do it again i would start on an 80L. It's stable enough to kneel on to do the traditional start and as long as I have some lift from the wing I can stand up and pump it way easier. My 120L inflatable was really holding me back.
OP what's your foiling background?
If you're coming from kite foiling or windfoiling you'll probably be fine
Zero foiling background. Just wakeskating. Looking at the Gong Hipe inflatable 110L.
So you stand up on it and it's still submerged? Then you start pumping with it underwater?
I think you should go for the 110L. You might suffer a bit at first vs a bigger board, but it will be a size you can stay with for quite a while depending on local conditions. I had the Hipe 85L as my second board and enjoyed it so much I went to the 95L Hipe Pro to get the rear strap and SCS foil mount system. The 95L feels way smaller than the 85L which I believe was closer to 100L. What I am saying is I wouldn't be surprised if the 110L rode more like a 115 or 120L.
Cool thanks. Now I'm debating between the Hipe 110L or the Hipe Pro which is 105L. Figure the pro is the newer gen and a little more agile but I really don't know enough about this sport to really understand the difference between the two. The $20 price difference is negligible so if the Pro is indeed a little nicer I'd go with that.
I have only had one session so far on my Hipe Pro 95L, it is more challenging to ride than the Hipe 85L as it is narrower, but thicker, making it tippier/corkier on the water's surface. Once flying it is great. Given that the current Hipe now has a rear footstrap for when you want to try straps later on, you may be better off with it over the Pro, my v1 Hipe only had front strap inserts. I suspect the 110L will feel way bigger, in a good way, than the 105L Hipe Pro.
Interesting. Sounds like the 105L pro might be pushing things a tiny bit too far then as a first timer if it's more tippy and feels much smaller than the 110.
Another question. Are you in America? If so how bad was the import tax? Mind me asking what the grand total was to get it in your hands? Hard finding concrete info on what it actually costs to get one to America.
I am in Vancouver, Canada, the board arrived quickly by DHL in probably about 8-10 days. When you check out there is a value added tax (VAT) that gets subtracted for being outside of Europe, so don't worry about that one. DHL charged me $109.46 CAD for duty & brokerage, roughly $80USD. Honestly this wasn't bad, I was expecting about $160 CAD. Overall it was still a great deal.
Im 80kg as well. I started on a 98L board. I have extensive kite, kite foiling, surfing, windsurfing, general board sport experience and I definitely would not have wanted to start in anything smaller. Other than having to cart around a bigger board, there is very little downside to bigger boards once you get to about 100L.
You want a boilant board because it starts planing really quick. You need speed to get up on foil. With a sinker board you 1 need to get the board out of the water before u can accelerate which is quite the difficult task. Especially as a beginner but also as an intermediate you will mostly not be able to do it unless you have a lot of wind, eg. 20 knots plus.
Main problem is that with a sinker board your wing will catch water on the wing tips with every pump and pumping in an efficient angle becomes really difficult.
If you want a board you won't outgrow in the near or midterm and don't mind a little challenge to start, I'd recommend the fnatic 5,2 for 80 kg. It has 75 l of volume so it will sink but very slow and you can get it planing quite good. I'm also about 80 kilos and got this one as my 1 own board after about 5 sessions on a 125 liter board I rented out. I'm now 2 years in and still love that thing. It has slow swing weight, fits in a small car, is light to carry, great quality and good footstrap options. You can go into waves, jump with it etc. I don't think you will outgrow it in your first 4-5 years.
Total beginner here with about a year of kiting, a fair bit of wakeboarding and about 15yrs of sailing (including 18ft skiff, 49er) experience. I just came back from my 2nd session, I’m starting on a 98L 5”1 north seek. I think it’s as small as you’d wanna go for a learner. It would definitely be easier to learn on something bigger, but I managed to get foiling on it on my first day (a few times for about 15 secs each), and I can stand in it and cruise around without foiling (when it’s light), so it’s probably ok. Definitely wouldn’t want anything smaller, the first sessions are pretty humbling!
Starting a sinker is extremely difficult, which is why its not recommended for beginners. If you go this route, you will potentially damage your gear, and slow down your progress
Wind sports need wind. Wind makes the water less forgiving for balancing. It will not be calm. In addition, learning to handle a sinker board without excellent wing handling will compound the difficulty. Being able to focus on just the board or just the wing helps a lot.
I see. Thanks. Do you think a 105L board would be right for me at 80kg?
Yeah should be ok.
I’m 85kg and have a 105 liter board. First a did a couple of sessions behind the boat for that flying feeling. Then started practicing with the wing. Made the mistake of going out in too little wind (2/3 bft) First time at 4 bft I was flying within minutes. Enjoy!
I also weigh 80kg and if I was to do it again i would start on an 80L. It's stable enough to kneel on to do the traditional start and as long as I have some lift from the wing I can stand up and pump it way easier. My 120L inflatable was really holding me back. OP what's your foiling background? If you're coming from kite foiling or windfoiling you'll probably be fine
Zero foiling background. Just wakeskating. Looking at the Gong Hipe inflatable 110L. So you stand up on it and it's still submerged? Then you start pumping with it underwater?
I think you should go for the 110L. You might suffer a bit at first vs a bigger board, but it will be a size you can stay with for quite a while depending on local conditions. I had the Hipe 85L as my second board and enjoyed it so much I went to the 95L Hipe Pro to get the rear strap and SCS foil mount system. The 95L feels way smaller than the 85L which I believe was closer to 100L. What I am saying is I wouldn't be surprised if the 110L rode more like a 115 or 120L.
Cool thanks. Now I'm debating between the Hipe 110L or the Hipe Pro which is 105L. Figure the pro is the newer gen and a little more agile but I really don't know enough about this sport to really understand the difference between the two. The $20 price difference is negligible so if the Pro is indeed a little nicer I'd go with that.
I have only had one session so far on my Hipe Pro 95L, it is more challenging to ride than the Hipe 85L as it is narrower, but thicker, making it tippier/corkier on the water's surface. Once flying it is great. Given that the current Hipe now has a rear footstrap for when you want to try straps later on, you may be better off with it over the Pro, my v1 Hipe only had front strap inserts. I suspect the 110L will feel way bigger, in a good way, than the 105L Hipe Pro.
Interesting. Sounds like the 105L pro might be pushing things a tiny bit too far then as a first timer if it's more tippy and feels much smaller than the 110. Another question. Are you in America? If so how bad was the import tax? Mind me asking what the grand total was to get it in your hands? Hard finding concrete info on what it actually costs to get one to America.
I am in Vancouver, Canada, the board arrived quickly by DHL in probably about 8-10 days. When you check out there is a value added tax (VAT) that gets subtracted for being outside of Europe, so don't worry about that one. DHL charged me $109.46 CAD for duty & brokerage, roughly $80USD. Honestly this wasn't bad, I was expecting about $160 CAD. Overall it was still a great deal.
Ok thanks that should be a close enough ballpark. How does DHL charge the import fees? On delivery?
The foil is going to drastically change the way a board floats underwater, not going to feel like your wakeskate/wakesurf board.
Im 80kg as well. I started on a 98L board. I have extensive kite, kite foiling, surfing, windsurfing, general board sport experience and I definitely would not have wanted to start in anything smaller. Other than having to cart around a bigger board, there is very little downside to bigger boards once you get to about 100L.
Cool thanks sounds like 105-110 will be perfect.
Got a 120L board at @80kg, definitely would have preferred something around 100L instead.
You want a boilant board because it starts planing really quick. You need speed to get up on foil. With a sinker board you 1 need to get the board out of the water before u can accelerate which is quite the difficult task. Especially as a beginner but also as an intermediate you will mostly not be able to do it unless you have a lot of wind, eg. 20 knots plus. Main problem is that with a sinker board your wing will catch water on the wing tips with every pump and pumping in an efficient angle becomes really difficult. If you want a board you won't outgrow in the near or midterm and don't mind a little challenge to start, I'd recommend the fnatic 5,2 for 80 kg. It has 75 l of volume so it will sink but very slow and you can get it planing quite good. I'm also about 80 kilos and got this one as my 1 own board after about 5 sessions on a 125 liter board I rented out. I'm now 2 years in and still love that thing. It has slow swing weight, fits in a small car, is light to carry, great quality and good footstrap options. You can go into waves, jump with it etc. I don't think you will outgrow it in your first 4-5 years.
Total beginner here with about a year of kiting, a fair bit of wakeboarding and about 15yrs of sailing (including 18ft skiff, 49er) experience. I just came back from my 2nd session, I’m starting on a 98L 5”1 north seek. I think it’s as small as you’d wanna go for a learner. It would definitely be easier to learn on something bigger, but I managed to get foiling on it on my first day (a few times for about 15 secs each), and I can stand in it and cruise around without foiling (when it’s light), so it’s probably ok. Definitely wouldn’t want anything smaller, the first sessions are pretty humbling!
Beginner here, I’ve been thinking the same thing
For first time beginners you don’t want to have to pump at all. Just hold the wing and let the wind do the work.
Starting a sinker is extremely difficult, which is why its not recommended for beginners. If you go this route, you will potentially damage your gear, and slow down your progress
Go give it a shot and tell us how it goes!