Pump Start

Pumping with board and wing to get onto the foil

Effective pumping is particularly important if you want to ride smaller wings. The wind in the wing alone is not enough to get you foiling.

An effective pumping technique requires coordination of the movements you make with the wing and board. Pay close attention to the up and down movement of the board in slow motion.

And this is how it starts: With a bit of experience, you can tell from the windforce in the held wing whether the gust is sufficient for a pump start. Then everything has to happen quickly, two wing pumping strokes accelerate the board on a slight downwind course, followed by the pumping motion of the board.

As follows: The pumping motion with the wing always takes place when the board is steered downwards with the nose. Let's just call this the acceleration phase. Downhill + maximum power in the wing + legs push the board down (more pressure on the front foot).

Then comes the recovery phase: the board is steered upwards again at the speed you have reached. At the same time, the arms push the wing forward and the legs stretch to take the weight off the board.

When the maximum outhaul position is reached, you tilt the board down over the apex and the next wing pump stroke starts. Your body weight is used to accelerate the descent.

With each repetition, the board gets faster and can be taken a little further out of the water in each cycle.

As soon as you are fast enough, you can stop pumping.

Basics Starting in lightwinds Level ★★☆☆ Rider: Jürgen Schall Text: Jürgen Schall Photos/Videos: Jürgen Schall DE

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