Your first wingfoil session, start to finish
What actually happens the first time you pick up a wing, step by step.
Handling the wing on land
Your first session starts on the beach, learning to hold and steer the wing before any board is involved. This builds the instinct you will rely on later.
On the water
Next comes board control on flat water, then short runs. The forgiving conditions in Cabarete make this stage far less frustrating than most places.
The first glide
With steady coaching, many beginners feel the board lift for the first time within a few sessions.
Clare Mutsaars is the co-founder of Swell Active, the adult surf and wingfoil retreat she and Jeroen Mutsaars built from scratch in 2009 on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. They opened it after travelling the world in search of the ideal place for busy grown-ups, with no board-sports background, to learn a watersport safely and quickly. Fifteen years on, Clare still runs the guest side of the retreat and answers enquiries herself, usually within a day. Her expertise is experience, not theory: she has spent more than a decade watching first-time adults go from nervous on the beach to flying on a foil or riding their first green wave, which means she knows the real questions people have before they book.
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