It's just a beach toy

It was 4 years ago, we were on holiday at Daymer Bay on the north coast of Cornwall, our regular autumn holiday spot. We took our windsurfing gear as usual and prayed for some proper wind.

It didn't really happen, we had days of "almost enough" and our kit stayed in the van. Our kite surfing friends had better luck, the marginal conditions were fine for them - don't get me wrong, I was very happy for them, honest...

The thing is though, it wasn't just the kite surfers having a good time. There were also two wing foilers out on the water. I was vaguely aware of this newish watersport but, to be honest, I'd put it in the frivolous, beach toy category - I mean, an inflatable wing.. no mast.. it just didn't look right.

But, they were on the water and we weren't so I was curious enough to hang around until one of them came in. I collared the poor chap as he was walking up the beach with his kit. I asked him what wing foiling was like, what the attraction was. His eyes lit up and he was off for a solid 10 minute monologue. In summary (and it was pretty much one long sentence):

"I was a windsurfer, loved it but there were too many days when there wasn't quite enough wind, and you need so much kit, so I bought wing foiling gear for the marginal days, within 3 months I was just wing foiling, being on a foil is addictive, there is so much to learn, gybes, tacks, jumps, freestyle, flat water, downwinders (whatever they were), waves, did I mention how much fun wave riding is on a foil (yes, he did, quite a lot), any crappy piece of wind blown swell, you can ride it (ok, I get the idea), and I've got one board, two foil set ups and 3 wings and they all pack down in the boot of my van."

Ok, so I'll be honest, I might have tuned out a bit but that was the gist of it. Anyway, I thanked him for his very complete explanation of the benefits of wing foiling, turned away to walk back up the beach and thought to myself, "Nice guy, slightly obsessive, still a beach toy".

But, guess what... Four years later and I am that man. If you see me on the beach, I'd strongly recommend that you approach me with caution or, at least, with plenty of time on your hands. I can talk wing foiling at an Olympic level.

You see, in spite of my cynicism, my wife and I bought some wing foiling kit about three years ago. We shared the kit for about two months until things got a bit ugly, the digital timer suggesting that I had 7.2% more time on the water than my wife. However, once we both had our own kit, we quickly become fully signed up members of the wing foil obsessives club. Three years later, that obsession hasn't dimmed for either of us.

Why the change of heart? I suppose it's for all those reasons my friend on Daymer beach described. It seems to me that wing foiling is the ultimate "free" watersport - flat water, waves, upwind, downwind, freestyle, racing, cruising around, whatever you want to do, whatever is your thing, I guarantee that you'll have a heap of fun doing it.