Our Complete Kitesurfing and Wing Foiling Gear Setup for a Family of Six
I say six people, but it’s mainly five because I’m still learning. But don’t worry, I still know exactly what gear we have because of the number of times I’ve helped fix it. So, curious what gear we have on board for when the wind is up? Let’s dive in.
Kitesurfing Gear
Starting with kitesurfing, which is Bella’s favourite wind sport. The others can all do it, and Pip is still learning, but Bella is definitely the lead charger when it comes to kiting. Pip is close behind, though, because she wants to get out there and do jumps like her older sister.
I believe we have enough gear and setups for four people to be out kiting at the same time, so let’s run through it!
The Kites
On board we have (from biggest to smallest):
- A 12m for Kris (and sometimes Finn)
- An 11m that is getting old and needs repairs, but we still have it
- Two 9m kites for Bella and Finn — we have a grey one that gets used the most and seems to be completely bulletproof
- And finally, a 7m that was once Bella’s but is now Pip’s (and it's pink!)
Oh, and we have a little trainer kite that is fun to take to the beach!
The Harnesses
Thankfully, these last a long time and you usually only have to buy them once. It’s also helpful that they can be adjusted as the kids grow.
We have four:
- One that fits Kris
- One for Finn
- One for Bella
- A seat harness that the two youngest can both use
The Boards
Right, boards. Kind of important. Also the hardest thing to store.
We have four of these too:
- Kris has the biggest
- Followed by Finn
- Pip rides Bella’s old board, which is great for learning
- Bella has the newest board, which we bought because she needed a little more performance. She still froths over it every time she rides.
To add to all this, we also have the bars and lines to go with the kites, two line-and-buoy setups for launching and landing off the boat, and a load of repair gear for when something inevitably leaks.
Want to know how we do the whole kite setup thing off the boat? Go read Bella's full guide here.
So, that’s all our kitesurfing gear. Shall we move on to wing foiling?
Oh, one last note: we’ve started taking up kitefoiling when the wind is light, so the foils you’ll read about below are also used for kiting.
Wing Foiling Gear
Righto, on to the winging!
This side of things has developed over the last few years and Archie, like Bella with kiting, is definitely the lead frother. He absolutely rips, in my biased opinion.
The Wings
The wings we have are (everyone rides all of them depending on the wind, but here’s a rough guide):
- 6m — generally ridden by Kris and Finn
- 5m — often used by Bella and Finn
- 4.2m — this might as well be called “Archie’s Wing” because it’s almost all he rides
- 3.4m — mostly used by the littlest person (although she’s getting bigger!). But Bella has also ridden it in 25 knots, so...
One of the big bonuses of wingfoiling is that everyone can ride whichever wing they want and swap them around whenever needed.
The Foils and Boards
I’m putting these together because our setup is based around three complete board-and-foil combinations. We don’t really swap foils between boards.
Here’s what we have, from biggest to smallest:
90L 5'2" Board
Matched with a foil we call “the truck” because it goes slow but is great for learning.
Kris and Finn ride this setup because they’re heavier and the board has more volume.
50L 5'0" Board
Roughly. We were given this board and it doesn’t actually have specs.
It’s paired with a middle-ground foil. This setup was originally given to us by a friend for prone foiling, but we’ve found it works great for wingfoiling too. You’ll most likely see Pip or Bella riding this one.
30L 4'2" Board
Matched with a FAST foil.
Guess whose this is? Yep, Archie’s.
Because the board is so small and the foil is so fast and twitchy (which is amazing for performance), he’s pretty much the only one who rides it. Bella has tried it, and it works well for kitefoiling, but for winging the others need more wind. Plus, Archie can’t really be separated from it anyway!
So there we have it. Our wingfoiling gear setup is a little simpler than our kite gear and definitely has its benefits.
Kitesurfing vs Wingfoiling on a Boat
You might be wondering what gear to get, or which sport is better suited to life on a boat. Here are some pros and cons of each.
Kitesurfing
Pros:
- Bigger jumps
- Can ride in shallow water
- Different learning curve since there isn’t a foil
- Can go faster
- More tricks and manoeuvres to learn
- (I’m sure there’s more I’m missing, but oh well)
Cons:
- More gear
- Trickier setup
- Needs more consistent wind
- Harder self-rescue
Wingfoiling
Pros:
- Easy setup
- Great self-rescue
- Works in shifty winds
- Almost silent when riding
- Less gear (kind of)
- Foil and board can be used for other sports, such as prone foiling
Cons:
- Only possible in deep water
- Tricky learning curve because of the foil
- Harder storage with the foil and board
I hope this helps give you an idea of what you might be more interested in. We’ve kited for longer than we’ve foiled, but now we love both and happily make room for all the gear that comes with them.
If you want to know how we store all of this gear on board, check out this blog post here.
Summary
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what our kitesurfing and wingfoiling gear setup looks like.
I know I could have gone into more detail about sizes and specifications, but the purpose of this post was simply to give you a rough idea of what we carry on board. Hopefully, I’ve done that.
For anyone wondering whether it’s worth learning these sports or carrying the gear on a boat, my answer is yes. Take it. Because, why not?
It means that when the wind is up, you can get outside and have some fun. Both kitesurfing and wingfoiling are amazing options.
Do you have more questions? Still wondering about something?
Please leave a comment and let me know!