Winging it on the water, wingfoiling picks up in Singapore

SINGAPORE – Over the last 40 years, Felix Knick has sailed a wide range of boats including dinghies, keelboats and foiling catamarans, and competed in regattas like the world championships and transatlantic races that have taken him from New York to Hamburg.

These days, the seasoned sailor has swopped his sails for wings and can be found winging on the waters off East Coast Park and Changi Beach.

Winging, which is short for wingfoiling, is a water sport that is growing in popularity around the world. It combines elements of windsurfing, kitesurfing and foiling and the athlete – or winger – stands on a board while holding onto an inflatable wing which is typically 4-6 sq m in area.

The board is equipped with a hydrofoil, which lifts it above the water surface, allowing the wingers to go faster.

Knick, 46, picked up the sport in 2021 and is now part of a community of over 100 wingers in Singapore.

The chartering director in a shipping company said: “It’s still a relatively new sport so it’s very much in development. When I started with equipment that were differently shaped, they were huge and very heavy.

“Now the equipment is very light, you can foil in much lighter winds. In the beginning you needed 12 to 15 knots of wind, now we’re foiling with six knots.

“It’s good for Singapore because usually Singapore weather is light wind conditions.”

Wingers here can go as fast as 25 to 28 knots in Singapore, while experienced sailors overseas can hit 40 knots in strong winds.

The discipline is set for a larger stage in the future. Other foiling disciplines have already been included in the Olympic programme – kitefoiling and iQFoil will be making their debuts at the 2024 Paris Games.

The former requires athletes to use a kite and foilboard to navigate a course, while the latter is a format of windsurfing – unlike the former Olympic discipline RS:X, the daggerboard is replaced by a foil.

Winging was included in the 2023 World Beach Games and is set to be part of the 2024 Youth Sailing World Championships and the 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

It could find itself in the Olympic programme in the future after governing body World Sailing in 2022 recognised wingfoiling’s potential for inclusion.

In Singapore, the sport remains largely recreational and is mainly done by adults.

Businessman Chew Ker Wan recalled there were perhaps only four people in the sport when he picked it up in 2018 and said its appeal lies in its low entry barriers in terms of cost and transportability.

An entry-level set comprising a wing, board and foil costs about $3,000. As the wing is inflatable and the set-up can be dismantled, the equipment is compact and easy to bring around.

The 49-year-old, who started in windsurfing before going into windfoiling, noted that many wingers are people who have done various water sports such as windsurfing and wakeboarding.

He said: “It’s exciting as a sailing class because when you look at sailing, you will look at sailboats that are very big... so when you travel, you have to carry a lot of equipment so you either ship the equipment there or even windsurfing, you have to a very long board which some airlines don’t take.

“For winging the draw is that it’s very compact, you can fly regular airlines.”

Business unit manager Edmund Lim, who went into the sport about six months ago, enjoys the camaraderie in the local community.

The 57-year-old has gone on many overseas adventures with the friends he has made through windsurfing, windfoiling and kitefoiling, and has a winging trip planned to Indonesia’s Lombok island in August.

The group has also done snowboarding and mountain biking trips in places like Mauritius, Australia and Hawaii.

He said: “It gets us to keep evolving with the trends and it’s good for the mind too because we’re learning a new sport. Everybody’s nice to each other, you spread kindness and friendship.”

In 2023, Singapore Sailing began introducing windfoiling competitions and it is looking to introduce a programme to get more youth into the sport. This will support the training programmes that are currently being run by the national sports association’s affiliates.

Its general manager Rohaizan Mohamed Zain said: “The sport has evolved and from a performance point of view, from the federation, we align ourselves as much as possible with World Sailing’s... We have to adapt and change, keep ourselves updated through the times. This is not the only thing the federation is going to focus on, there’s going to be more.

“But we’re not neglecting foiling – we want to look into it while still focusing on our other classes that are in the Olympics.”