Wingfoiling is considered an expensive trend sport. That is only half true. Getting started with a course is manageable, but your own set is a real statement. We do an honest calculation of what you really have to reckon with and where you can’t go wrong at the beginning.
The course is the best first euro
You learn wingfoiling fastest at a school, not from a video. A basic course over two to three days roughly costs around three hundred euros, wing, board and foil included. That is money well spent: you learn to handle the wing safely and to ride the first metres on the foil in the right order, instead of teaching it to yourself the hard way alone. How the start works, you can read under Learning to wingfoil.
Wing, board and foil, your own set
Your own set consists of three parts, and each one costs money on its own. The wing is usually in the mid three-digit range, the foil is the heart of the setup and often the most expensive item, plus the board. New and complete, you quickly land in the four-digit range. The good news: as a previous year’s model or second-hand, you easily save half, and for learning you don’t need top gear anyway. What really fits together is set out in our wingfoil buying guide.
Rent or buy, the honest calculation
Reckon honestly how often you go out per year. Anyone who rides a few weekends is better off with rental gear for a long time and has no transport and no bad purchase to deal with. Your own set only pays off once you want to go out regularly and in different wind strengths, because then you will need several wing sizes anyway. A rough ballpark for the first year: a course, plus a bit of rental gear, and you are in for a few hundred euros.
Our advice: put your money first into a good course, not into the shiniest foil. Skill lasts longer than any gear. Once you then know for sure that you are sticking with it, you buy your own set at your leisure, ideally with honest advice at the station.