Complete Beginner's Guide to Wing Foiling in the UK (2026)

This seems like a very large and complex conversation to tackle - but we're going to give it a go! Feel free to take these words with a pinch of salt - they are only opinions after all - but we've been winging since the beginning, so you'd think we'd learnt something useful by now!

If you're looking to start wing foiling in the UK, getting the right beginner wing foil gear and finding the right coastal conditions is the first step. We've created this Blog for the 2026 season in mind - so all products discussed should be relevant for the foreseeable future!

Should I Get Wing Foil Lessons?

If you've not done any wind based sports before, you don't have any reliable friends who know their way around the sport or you don't have any access to proper beginner kit - do some lessons, simple as that. Its not a overly difficult sport to pick up in time, but that doesn't mean it isn't a massive brain fart to begin with. Schools own equipment best suited for absolute beginners - which may not necessarily be the equipment you're likely to purchase for yourself after a few lessons/renting.

Knowledge of the wind, water and tides are vital with these sports. Learning how to utilise the conditions and knowing when to go are super important - but even more important can be the knowledge of when and where NOT to go. Oddly enough, schools are set up in locations suitable for learning and are run by competent folk who can make the decisions on conditions for your while you're still in the learning phase. 

You can end up in difficult situations quickly with any water based sport - so we'd always suggest getting lessons to begin with. Winging has boomed since its inception, so theres plenty schools around and no doubt in your area.

Beginner Wing Foiling Spots and Conditions in the UK

Flat water and steady winds make a world of difference. Those of us who came from other windsports such as kitesurfing and windsurfing, tended to 'have a go' at learning winging when it wasn't suitable to do our previous top sports - which inevitably meant it also wasn't the right conditions or location to learn how to wing either. 

Beach break situations are out - so are high tidal areas such as river mouths with strong currents. You'll get into trouble to quickly. Choose somewhere as flat as possible with as little water movement - and maybe this simply means using slack water to your advantage at your home spot when its flat. Think lakes, lagoons or behind breakwaters. There are some great schools and clubs all around the UK, set on lakes who have taught dinghy sailing and windsurfing for decades that are turning to wingfoiling.

Wind wise, power is your friend to begin with. Nothing crazy - but wind strengths around 15-20 knots will give you plenty of power to utilise while your skills are weak. As you progress  your light wind skills will inevitably increase, but to begin with it can be difficult to struggle both with wing handling in light winds along with a wobbly foilboard all at the same time. 

It should be fairly obvious that going out in 20 knots+ is not likely to end well for beginner riders either, and is likely to be fairly intimidating until you are far more confident with your equipment.

For wind and swell information forecasts at your local spots, use the likes of Wind Guru and/or XC Weather

What Wing Foil Gear Do I Need to Start?

So, the real reason you're reading this - what should I be buying? Well - the words of advice we keep coming back to, over and over again are 'If you're not on foil, you're not foiling'

In other words - don't jump to far forwards technically with your gear purchases. These words can follow you through your entire foiling journey. If you change equipment to rapidly - whether that be wings or foils or boards - you're going to struggle, and this is especially important when you're starting out. Its a fine balance of making sure you're buying equipment that you'll be able to ride as a beginner but not outgrow to quickly. Thankfully if you're learning to Wing Foil ins 2026, the brands have had a good number of years of development under their belts and the newer equipment on the market will perform great.

Wings

The world of wings is relatively simple in comparison with foil systems which we'll come onto in a moment. Most established brands now each have a small family of wings that tends to look a bit like this, and we'll use our favoured wing brand Ozone as an example: 

• Beginner based School Wing - The Ozone Fly V1
• All-Round/Wave focussed Wing - The Ozone Flow V1
• Performance FreeRace focussed wing for high end blasting around - the Ozone Flux V2

Put simply - that All Round/Wave based wing is likely to be a great investment when you're looking at purchasing your own gear. The Fly V1 is a great wing for schools to use and those on a budget - and it will do an awesome job, but it lacks some of the more technical features of the higher end wings. At the other end of the spectrum, the Flux is likely to be to much to handle as a beginner - to stiff, to high performance to be useful to a beginner.

Size wise, 4.5m/5m wings have become a bit of a staple for the average weight (80kg-ish) rider here in UK conditions. We tend to get weaker winds through the summer months here and unless you've got a screw loose and you enjoy sub 10 degree waters, you're likely to be flailing around learning to wing somewhere between Spring and Autumn here.

If you're a bit lighter bodyweight, perhaps look at 4m size wings and if you're heavier - 5m+.

Hard handles have taken over as the most popular option in recent years, but they're being closely followed up by full length booms. Those learners with windsurf backgrounds may well find the booms a more familiar feel. (The Ozone Flow V2 is being released as a Boomed wing). It is worth considering that despite having softer ends on the tips of the hard handles or boom, it is still relatively easy to make a mess of you board while learning and falling over.... don't say we didn't warn you!

Once you get up on foil and riding around you may want to add a second, smaller size wing for higher wind conditions - but they're generally not ideal for learning in unless you are at a lighter weight.

Boards

Board size is a difficult journey to navigate at the beginning of your wing foil journey. Body weight and boardsports/watersports experience can make a lot of difference - but jump down to soon and you'll spend a lot of time swimming. Literage is a big factor here - put simply the more litres the board has, the more stable it is - and this is key to begin with.

Most schools teach on boards now 1.5x to 2x bodyweight in literage. An average weight (80kg) rider may learn on anything from 120L up to 160L foil boards once you've progressed from wing handling on a normal paddleboard with a daggerboard  - which a lot of schools use in the first lessons.

In most cases, you wouldn't aim to purchase a board those sizes as your first board, as you may progress past them quickly and it'd be surplus to requirements in a matter of sessions. First boards may tend sit somewhere between 1.1x and 1.5x your bodyweight in terms of literage - previous experience and success rate play heavily in the choices. Thankfully, as board technology and shape have gotten better and better - these size boards don't feel as big of a lump as they used to - so going bigger is not usually to big a detriment.

As an example, as an 80kg person with some previous watersports experience and a good rate of learning in my lessons - I may choose to purchase a 100/110L board to continue my learnings on outside of a lesson. If I had less previous experience or was finding learning more difficult I may choose something around 120L instead.

'Midlength' style boards have become popular for more complex reasons over the last couple years - and its worth staying away from these when choosing a beginner/intermediate board. They're generally similar literages, but slimmer than a more 'standard' wing board design and would be way more tippy to learn on. Use the likes of the AXIS Blast and the Appletree Appleslice dimensions as a basis when choosing boards - two progressively designed wing boards that would perfectly suit beginner and intermediate riders upwards. Anything much slimmer than these boards in similar literages is worth staying away from until you're more confident.

Inflatable boards are a thing. They're softer to fall on, and are often well priced. Performance is generally less than that of a composite board though and often their main advantage gain is packability for travel. 

Foils

This section doesn't have to be as complicated as it looks. Again, most reputable brands have a more beginner/intermediate focussed setup that comes complete as a package.

The most important decision can be which brand do you choose first - as if you choose correctly to begin with, it's possible to save yourself money as your progress - sticking with the same brand and simply upgrading parts slowly and steadily as you go.

We've worked alongside AXIS here in the UK for over 10 years - firstly while they were producing some of the finest kitesurf boards and now that they're producing some of the best foils and boards on the market. You can read more on why we like the brand so much in another Blog Post, but the main reason comes down to the engineering behind connections, which Adrian got right at the beginning, and hasn't had to adjust over the years. Brands that do so can alienate customers with previous generation foils if they don't fit the latest mast/baseplate/fuselage connections - which AXIS has never had to do. You couple that engineering with progressive foil designs and we have a winning combination.

AXIS have had the aptly named Super Easy Starter package available for a couple of years now, suited perfectly for those learning the sport - and giving them the basis to build from as they progress. We might see an upgrade to this system in the coming months but its still likely to be the best option for us and our customers.

Extra's

We're in the UK - the waters cold and the wind can be relentless. Read up on what thickness wetsuits you should be looking at if you don't own one and check out the Sooruz range we stock while you're at it.

Wear a board leash. This can be a straight or coiled leash, connected to your ankle or knee or waist. Its personal preference - but a simple straight ankle surf leash will be the simplest product.

A wing should come with a leash - but check on this, depending on the brand. This can be wrist or waist leash. Each have their pro's and con's, but both work. Out Ozone and Flysurfer wings both come as standard with waist leashes - and this has long been our prefered method.

You're going to fall over a lot - and not just at the beginning, but throughout your foiling progression. Its always a good idea to wear a helmet and Buoyancy aid/impact vest of some description. Boards are hard, foils are sharp - be safe.