Hey guys,
My daughter thinks this sport is pretty cool and wants in (been playing her wingfoiling videos to get her to sleep). Thinking about getting her a hand wing to start playing with for Christmas. She's around 25 kg, what's my best bet for a wing? Just get a 2m something? Anyone been through this with their kids?
find a 1 M something. If you weigh 100kg that's half of half of your weight so the equivalent would be half of half of your area. So her being on an 2 would be like you on a 8. I've tried with my daughter on a 2.5 and it's way too big and unwieldy. Gonna try again in a few years.
I have a 6 yo and a 9yo who like to mess around with wings and have ambitions to wing. 2.0 is a good size that they can handle pretty easily. If they start to really charge high winds, they will need a smaller wing but for now 2.0 seems good even for my little guys who is only 20kg
So far they are just riding SUP boards, I got them one of these Naish inflatables that were on sale cheap: www.naish.com/products/s26-grom-inflatable?srsltid=AfmBOopszj85IloYKnR0LJYKJrtD1f5madV30HeOxgrv2o2XaJ2cqc11
Other considerations with kids is that things like knowing which way the wind is blowing are not obvious and take time to learn.
My 9yo is doing sailing class in optimists at the local YC and he's learning a ton about how to read the wind, tacking, going upwind etc. I think next summer we'll put in some real time with the wing and/or windsurfing.
They also do a lot better as they get stronger, he started messing around windsurfing at 6-7 and while I could set him up with the rig and he could blow downwind (fun!) he wasn't really strong or determined enough to really do it.
Good luck and keep it fun!
Cabrinha just launched the AER wing, which comes in 1, 1.3 and 1.6m sizes (and is relatively reasonably priced). Was thinking about getting one for my daughter too with the bonus that I can use it in hurricanes. Ive dragged her around in the air with a full sized wing. She enjoyed that until she didn't.
A lot of kids seems to prefer larger wing than expected. They are not super strong so pumping is is weak they then going up on foil sooner with larger wing. Do some test. On snow my daughter preferred rather large wing as well.
Imo at that age it's better to learn to windsurf first. It would be a much better and easier experience for her which mostly translates to wing and board handling later anyway.
Not so sure about screentime before bed but let's stick to wind topics here 
Select to expand quoteptsf1111 said..
Imo at that age it's better to learn to windsurf first. It would be a much better and easier experience for her which mostly translates to wing and board handling later anyway.
Not so sure about screentime before bed but let's stick to wind topics here
There are 8 year olds on wing foils doing backflips. 8 year olds on sailboards struggle to plane. You need a lot more physical strength to windsurf. IMO, it's almost pointless before 12. But by then they'll be doing backflips on wing foils.
Interesting, good to know and there's definitely 8-9 y/o's planing fwiw.
Disagree on the physical strength. If at all it'll be similar but actually think on correctly sized modern kids gear, windsurfing requires less muscle power.
Wingfoiling is far easier on the body than windsurfing and requires way less strength to get up and foiling. I can foil for hours at a time no harness. Arms and back are cooked after 5 minutes with no harness when windsurfing.
Get a wing that isn't going to have the tips dragging in the water when your daughter uses it (when she's not up on foil). Size her correctly for it if you can. No good getting a 2m, only to find the wingspan means she has to have her hands over her head to be able to keep the tips out of the water.
Cabrinha has a kids range that goes down to 1m? Maybe find some comments on those if possible?
Select to expand quotemartyj4 said..
Wingfoiling is far easier on the body than windsurfing and requires way less strength to get up and foiling. I can foil for hours at a time no harness. Arms and back are cooked after 5 minutes with no harness when windsurfing.
Good for you but it doesn't translate at all to an 8 y/o kid learning a new sport so not really relevant.
I'm teaching windsurfing to kids as young as 6 y/o and most kids last for more than an hour and a half on their first session including short breaks. A small sail is almost weightless in light winds when sailing. We help them with uphauling the first few times in all fairness.
I'm a beginner wing foiler and can't imagine a kid that age doing it for longer than 15 mins. Doesn't mean they can't learn it, but I really don't see how it's easier and requires less strength and imo that is not true.
Ensis Spin 1.8 works well for kids. Our lake is not the most beginner friendly, as the wind close to the shore is always really bad, but at least during the winter time the kids who are good with the skates have no problem with that size.
This is still not a special kids wing though, and you could well use it yourself on windier days. Here, in the beginning I'm on a 1.8, but changed to a 3.0 soon, because it turned out not so windy after all.
