02/04/2020
Foot Strap or No Foot Strap: That is the question !
When we look at a new sport or a new activity we always ask ourselves : what is the goal of that new sport, what is the spirit of it, what should we be feeling and looking for ?
To answer those questions you first need to learn it and get to the level where you're able to analyse it and understand it.
Of course my first question was: do we really need these wings to have fun on the water and what does it bring to us? It's always the target at F.one, to develop products that we'll have fun with !
Today after one year of playing around in various conditions with wings and foils we really know where and when we enjoy the wings and what are their advantages. There are many basics that most of you know already : easy transport, easy to get ready, fun to glide over the water on a foil with a light rig in your hands, no danger, easy take off from anywhere, direct feel of the power.... But once you get better at it and get to the next step, there are other questions that come to our mind on what we're really after and that's where we focus to build our range.
Surfing :
For all our team the holy grale of wingsurfing is when you surf a chop, a swell or a wave in free fly mode !
The strange aspect about all this is that the biggest pleasure of wing riding is actually when you don't use the wing ! In fact in some conditions the wing only acts as a tow engine.
Of course I love the feeling of riding on a foil with a wing in all type of conditions but if we focus on what we're all looking for when we're on the water is : its to be in the pure surf foil mode without any traction from the wing.
Therefore all our wing equipment is built around that goal : surf foiling the ocean !
We don't need a perfect wave on a specific crowded spot, we just need a small swell and the sensations are unique. We can enjoy now a new discipline : Ocean Surfing. Before this was quite exclusive because only good SUP downwind paddlers had access to it. Now with a few weeks/months of wing usage, anyone can get to try this unique feeling of surfing the open sea!
Freedom :
It's what you feel when you are winging, a lot of freedom and you don't really know why you feel so much freedom compared to other water sports. Probably one of the reasons is that you don't have to use a harness. You feel more freedom not being attached to a rig and not wearing a harness. As well the weight of the rig is so light and its control so easy.
Our conclusion is that the main sensations and goals on a wing are : surf foiling the ocean with a lot of freedom.
Now that we defined what wingsurfing is all about, let's go back to the original question : Do we need footstraps ?
If you are using a board over 5'0, footstraps will bring you more problems than advantages :
They will always be in the way : while you take off, from your position on your knees, to when you set your feet a bit more forward to help the lift before actually flying.
They will give you one more things to focus on during jibes, changing your feet from one side to the other. During jibes you have enough things to concentrate on already.
Do they help while flying or surfing ? Not really because you can easily hold the board and control the foil without straps. The power from the wing is easy to control and quite gentle so you don't need to be strapped to have more control over your equipment.
Are you going to jump with a 5'10 or 80 liters board ? Not really, doing jumps with such a huge board, a (usually big) foil under it with a wing that doesn't have much support is a bit like asking a chicken to fly.
Placing footstraps inserts will increase the weight and price of our boards for no clear advantages. They will also make them more fragile because you have more power with footstraps so we would need to add reinforcements and again weight.
Are footstraps dangerous? Yes ! Falling full speed with straps on a big volume board can be dangerous for your ankles and knees and can make you fall right into the foil instead of going away from it.
If you're using a shorter than 5'0 boards :
If you're use full stand up water start mode then straps can help you to control the board under water.
Of course they will give you more work during jibes, tacks or other transitions.
They will allow you to jump and because of the smaller size of the board it might look quite ok.
They will give you more control at high speed.
They might give you more control when surfing.
They will not be too dangerous for your ankles because the board is having less volume and length.
What will you loose : you will loose that freedom feeling of the wing riding.
Foot placement is super important depending on your weight, your preference, the conditions of waves, chops, wind, the foil you are using, the stab you are using, the fuselage length.. That your straps will never be in the exact right place!
