Most experienced foilers will tell you this is the best way to start, especially if your end goal is (prone) surf foiling.  The good news is that you don’t need to know how to wakeboard to learn to foil behind a boat.  Here’s a few tips to make it easier:

• Go big! Start on a bigger foilboard and a bigger foil. If the board is big enough that you can stand on it without moving, then you can start getting towed and already be on your feet. The bigger foil generates lift easily but at a slower speed, so that makes it easier to control the foil.
• Use a long rope. Having a longer rope keeps you away from the aerated bubbles from the boat engine. You want to learn in smooth water without much current or turbulence.
• Ditch the rope. Right from the start, you’ll feel the energy of the boat’s wake. Learn to surf a never-ending wave, pumping and gliding your way all along the wake. Once you can foil for at least 100m behind the boat with the rope, start by letting the rope go slack as you generate your own momentum. Then practice letting go of the rope and pumping your foil to maintain your speed. This will take a lot of practice!

If you don’t have a boat or a jet ski, just find an adventurous friend with a boat or jet ski. We find enticing them with a foil board and a six pack works pretty well!

Learning Without a Boat

If you’re experienced in other water sports, it can be easy to learn on the craft that you know.  For example, experienced windsurfers will pick up windsurf foiling pretty easily because they already know how to control the sail and use the wind. And it’s the same for kite surfers.

Even if you end up shifting into another foil sport (eg, going into wing dinging/foiling), a few tries in a sport that you know well will still help you understand how to control the foil.

The one exception here is surfing. Prone surf foiling is probably the hardest (and most dangerous) of all the foil sports, so we do recommend you start behind a boat if you can.  It means you’ll be foiling on waves much faster than starting surf foiling from scratch.  Nothing is impossible though, you just need some solid determination!

The other way to view it is to look at your end goal in foiling. If you like the idea of wing dinging/foiling and you’ve got some experience in wind sports, you might be fine to just start with that.

Lessons are another great way to learn to foil really quickly. Quality instruction and suitable gear is provided and you could be up and foiling within a day. Check the wing foil lessons here.

Tips From Marcus Tardrew & Joseph Andrin

Aim to ‘not foil’ when getting started. Whatever form you are learning, make it your goal to keep the board on the surface of the water as much as possible at the start. As soon as the board lifts off the water, put your weight forward to send it back down. Allow yourself to slowly build time ‘flying’ instead of aiming to fly.

Keep your board between your body and the foil. You want to do everything you can to ensure the only thing the foil ever touches whist in use is water.

BAIL as soon as you are out of control. It can be pretty scary falling towards a foil. The last thing you want to do it keep trying to ride an out of control foil. As soon as you feel yourself losing control, just BAIL. It’s not a rodeo where the aim is to stay on as long as possible – things get ugly fast!