So you’ve just got your first wing and are about to head out into the water for your first experience of wing surfing. As exciting as it may be to rush into the water, there are some important steps to take to ensure your wing’s longevity as well as your own safety on and off-shore.

It must be said that wing foiling can be a dangerous sport, should you not follow appropriate precautionary measures. With that being said, the first step to getting you out onto the water is to prep your wing!

Preparing Your Foil Wing

To rig your wing, you’ll want to find a nice piece of flat land ideally sheltered from the wind. This will prevent your wing catching wind and potentially being blown away.

IMPORTANT: avoid sharp objects such as rocks and sticks, as these may tear the canopy, or even cause punctures in the struts.

Once you have your area found, attach your leash to your wrist or any other immovable object, and lay your foil wing down onto the ground and unfold it with the canopy side facing down (i.e. the handles facing up!).

To inflate your foil wing, remove the valve protection caps and press/click the pins into the upward or outward closed position. Secure the end of your pump nozzle to the wing’s valve and begin to inflate to the recommended pressure. For the DOME V2 foil wing, the recommended pressure is 6 PSI.

It is important not to over-inflate your wing, as this may result in an explosive rupture (ka-boom! Trust me… it’s not fun…).

Once both struts are inflated, secure the nozzle caps back into their closed positions.

Walking With Your Wing

When walking with your wing, it is important to understand the direction of the wind. You don’t want the wing flying into your face!

To prevent this, always position the foil wing downwind of your body with the leading edge facing into the wind (orange arrow indicates wind direction).

Hold your wing in an inverted position and grab from either the leading or the first handle.

Please refer to the video for a visual representation of this.

Deflating & Repacking Your Wing

Deflating your wing is just as easy as inflating it.

Find a nice clear spot of land (ideally the same place as where you inflated) and lay your wing canopy-side down. If possible, now is the best time to rinse with fresh water. If not, rinse thoroughly as soon as possible post session.

Remove the nozzle caps and press the pins into the open position. The struts will deflate immediately and quickly. Press as much of the excess air out of the wing struts as possible.

Starting at one of the tips, fold each end of the struts halfway, as seen in the image below.

Then, whilst trying to avoid creases, you can begin rolling from one edge towards the centre. Repeat the process on the other end.

When you’ve rolled both sides into the central strut, fold your wing in half.

(Note: larger wings may require 3 folds.)

Once done, you can now put your wing back into your bag and head off!

Happy Surfing!

Team Ftero