Dylan Wichmann

Questions & Answers

What other water sports do you do and how long?

Surfing. For 18 years.

What do you like about wing foiling?

Cape Town has a really windy summer season and winging has allowed me to make the most of the windy days instead of not being able to get to the ocean in strong winds.

How did you learn and how long did it take you to wing foil?

I learnt on a sup foil and a relatively small wing. It took my about 10 sessions and then I was able to progress down onto my 30l surf-foil board. I credit the speed I was able to learn to the almost 2 years of surf-foil experience I had prior to my first try with the wing.

What is your favorite gear combination and why?

Ullman 4,2 wing and 150 Unifoil hyper. I love to ride super overpowered with the wing I'm using and use the smallest foil I have to reach my fastest speeds and do my biggest airs.

What was your favorite wing surfing session?

Every downwinder I've done has been my best sessions on the wing. I love the feeling of riding the raw power of the ocean and wing on a downwinder.

What do you want or believe will significantly improve the wing foiling gear?

I think the next frontier for gear development for wing foiling, will be the durability of the products. Every couple months as the limits are being pushed further and the jumps are getting higher and higher, putting more and more strain on the equipment. I also think that the foils for winging will begin to have even thinner profiles much like the windsurf foils which can reach insane speeds that aren't quite yet possible with the current wing foil gear on the market.

What tips or recommendations do you have for anyone who wants to start?

Use the biggest foil and board possible, combined with a relatively small wing makes it much easier to control your equipment and never be overpowered while learning.

What is your biggest water sport achievement?

2nd place SA Junior Surfing Champs 2014