Riding Frontside

Wing flagged - with on hand at the neutral handle

There are two ways to ride waves frontside while wing foiling - with the wing flagged or powered up. Here you can see the flagged version with on hand at the neutral handle.

In this video, Mads Michel demonstrates how to ride a wave down the line. The front of your body faces the wave (hence the term “frontside”). A bottom turn (in front of the wave) and a cutback (top turn in the steep part of the wave) are strung together - you foil an S-shaped line along the wave.

As shown here, you can hold the wing neutrally with your back hand on the leading edge handle - this is called “flagged” - or with both hands on the boom - this is called “powered up” (as shown in this video example).

If you hold the wing by the leading edge handle, it flutters like a flag in the wind and drifts downwind from your body. However, during fast bottom turns in front of the wave, something interesting happens: The airflow can be stronger than the actual wind speed - and the wing then orients itself differently.

In the video, you can see that the wing is being towed behind the rider - —the wind and the airflow cancel each other out for a brief moment. It’s not until the rider makes a turn at the top of the wave (a top turn or cutback) that the wind pushes the wing back into its normal position.

So you have to get used to how the flagged wing reacts during frontside rides; depending on your speed and the force of the wind, the wing may behave differently.

In the video, you'll also see a turn to windward; Mads does a backside cutback and then brings the wing back up. Both hands grab the boom again, for example, to jibe out of the wave afterward.