Youth Wing Lessons
Our youth wing lessons and courses are run on demand either on weekends, bank holidays or in the school holidays. They can be half-days, full days or multiple days and tailored to suit your busy schedule. Please contact us to discuss your needs and to get your children started with the latest, exciting sports of wingsurfing and wingfoiling.
​
Our wing school is at Queen Mary Sailing Club (QMSC) in Surrey on a clean, deep, 700 acre stretch of water raised high above the landscape. We are a separate RYA Training Centre for all levels of wingsurf and wingfoil with a unit right by the water with a large astroturf rigging area. We have our own equipment (boards, foils and wings from Starboard and Freewing), instructors, booking system and online shop for equipment, wetsuits, shoes, impact vests, helmets etc.
We work very closely with QMSC and run our youth lessons and courses only when the club is open and fully operational. The gives you access to QMSC’s excellent facilities (free onsite parking, large clubhouse, staffed reception, changing rooms, hot showers, café, comfortable seating area with fast wifi (great for busy parents!), large body of water and great winds) as well as their comprehensive welfare, safety and safeguarding network that underpins their successful youth sailing programmes.
Simon, who manages (and delivers some of) our youth wing lessons, was the QMSC Sailing Manager for 10 years, runs regular coaching at QMSC and knows the location inside-out, so you can be assured of a safe, fun and professional course or lesson for your children.
​
As well as bespoke lessons, we offer 2 courses: Youth Learn To Wing and Youth Improver Winging​​.
Typical Course: Youth Learn to Wing £220
An introduction to winging which will start with learning the basics of wing control on land and on a non-foiling board (wingsurfing). This course covers wing control, moving around on all points of sail, static turns, tacking, gybing, safety, self-rescue and a little essential theory to help with understanding.
​​
We will do our best to run courses in all weather and wind conditions. If the wind is too light to foil (or to hold up the wing) at certain times, then we will revert to building skills in other ways. Very low wind may require some or all of the course to be rescheduled.
We get asked a lot, "How soon can we go foiling?" On this Youth Learn to Wing course we will progress each participant onto a foiling board (wingfoiling) as soon as they are ready and are able to make progress upwind and tack and gybe. This could happen on day 2 of the course or it could take longer, according to wind conditions, personal ability, balance, wind awareness and/or previous sailing or windsurfing experience. Some candidates may not be ready to foil by the end of the course. We will neither rush anyone into foiling nor hold them back from it.
-
Duration: 2 days
-
Timings: 0930-1630
-
Age: 12-16
-
Minimum level of experience to join: intermediate level in either dinghy sailing or windsurfing, ideally with RYA Stage 3. We believe that the best way for a young person to learn the wind from scratch is to learn to dinghy sail or windsurf first before moving over to wingsurfing and wingfoiling. Queen Mary Sailing Club offer regular youth dinghy and windsurf courses
​
Kit allocation, as per RYA guidance:​​
-
Wingsurfing - each participant will be given their own non-foiling board and wing to use
-
Wingfoiling - each participant will share a board, foil and wing with one other person (rotating regularly between board and powerboat or shore) until they are successfully foiling under control for sustained periods of time. At this point they will be allocated their own board, foil and wing​​
Typical Course: Youth Improver Winging £220
A development of wingfoiling for those who can already wingfoil at least a little for short periods of time and can make their way upwind. This course covers foil setup and types of foils, wing control, pumping, improved foiling control and longer flight times, turns (from basic static turns all the way though to foiling tacks and gybes, according to ability), safety, self-rescue and a little essential theory to help with understanding.
With this course we will work to develop the skills of the individual with no limit to how far we can take them. As such, this course can be booked onto multiple times to receive coaching at an increasingly advanced level. We will do our best to run courses in all weather and wind conditions. If the wind is too light to foil (or to hold up the wing) at certain times, then we will revert to building skills in other ways. Very low wind may require some or all of the course to be rescheduled.
​
-
Duration: 2 days
-
Timings: 0930-1630
-
Age: 12-16
-
Minimum level of experience to join: ability to stay upwind and to wingfoil a little
Kit allocation, as per RYA guidance:
-
Wingsurfing - each participant will be given their own non-foiling board and wing to use
-
Wingfoiling - each participant will share a board, foil and wing with one other person (rotating regularly between board and powerboat or shore) until they are successfully foiling under control for sustained periods of time. At this point they will be allocated their own board, foil and wing
Wind speed & equipment
-
WingSURFing is best learned in approximately 7-27 knots (Beaufort low-force 3 to upper-force 6)
-
WingFOILing for beginners (who are not yet able to pump the wing and foil) is best learned in approximately 14-30 knots (Beaufort mid-force 4 to mid-force 7)
-
WingFOILing for those with experience (who are able to pump the wing and foil) can be in as little as 8 knots
-
We have Starboard Freewing GO wings (2 soft handles) and LIFE wings (boom) of the following sizes: 2.5m, 3.5m, 4.5m, 5.5m, 6.5m. The boards used for wingSURF are windsurf boards with daggerboards or SUPs with EZY Wing side fins. The boards used for beginner wingFOIL are 160, 140 & 115 litre Starboard Wingboards. Advanced sessions have access to sub-100 litre Starboard Wingboards. Foils are Starboard, using 72 or 82cm masts with front wings: S-Type 2200 or 1800 (low aspect).
​Notes for all our youth wing lessons and courses
-
The courses will run in most weather and wind conditions. In the event that the wind is too light to wingsurf or wingfoil at certain times, then we will revert back to building skills in other ways. Very low wind may require some or all of the course to be rescheduled
-
The equipment we provide: board, wing, foil, wetsuit, helmet, 50N buoyancy impact vest
-
The equipment you provide: watersports shoes, swimwear (for under the wetsuit), towel, water bottle etc.
-
We have wetsuits, watersports shoes etc. available to purchase from our online shop, for click and collect from QMSC either before your course or on the first day. We also have new and used wing boards, wings and foils for sale and can advise on beginner, improver and advanced packages
-
Each of our courses follow the RYA Wingsurfing and Wingfoiling Schemes and certification can be made as and when certificate levels are achieved. The four RYA levels are:
-
Learn to Wingsurf
-
Improve Your Wingsurfing​
-
First Flights
-
Sustained Flights
Previous experience that may contribute towards a quicker progression includes:
-
Sailing, windsurfing or kiting - for wind awareness
-
Stand-up paddleboarding, wakeboarding, skateboarding, scooter riding or snowboarding - for balance and control
-
Windfoiling (foiling on a windsurf board)​
