Windsurfing, wakeboarding and SUP still on the rise,
Wingsurfing and wingfoiling are booming
After a surprisingly successful season, the surfing and fun sport industry is starting in a year full of challenges but with very good prospects for the 2021 season. The mood in the industry is optimistic for good reasons, despite constantly demanding tasks.
Trend: Wingsurfing and Wingfoiling
Surfing with wings goes "through the roof" in 2021
Already at the last editions of boot Duesseldorf, wingsurfing and wingfoiling were topics of interest for exhibitors and visitors. But after this sunny summer of 2020, all the experts, based on their experience, expect these young sports to get off to a brilliant start in the coming season. "Wingsurfing is the outshining trend", says Tom Eierding from TPE Sport Distribution and Trade Agency in Flensburg, "it's been growing for a few years now, but now it's going through the roof". Florian Brunner, member of the trade fair advisory board of boot Duesseldorf and Managing Director of APM Marketing, also says: "Wingsurfing and wingfoiling are the hot topics. This has already become apparent in discussions with our dealers and sales force".
There are several reasons for the expected boom of surfing with a wing in your hands: While many people stayed at home this summer and experienced an exceptionally sunny time on and around the water, they found time not only to discover the exciting sports, but to try them out for themselves. "Having a wing in your hands and being on the water close to your home, that's something new," explains Tom Eierding, "so two factors came together in perfect weather. Now that the first generation of boards and wings are in use, Eierding said, there will be a lot of activity, especially in the wingboard sector. Sales are expected to multiply due to the forcasted rapid increase in demand. You can imagine it to be like the windsurfing boom in the 80s and 90s or the kite boom at the turn of the millennium." Whereby these two sports remain popular classics.
Trend: Learning new skills in watersports schools
VDWS with wings at the pulse of time
The first watersports schools have already offered wingsurfing and wingfoiling in the 2020 season. Very early on the Association of German Windsurfing and Watersport Schools (VDWS) had already trained the first wingsurfing instructors in an intensive course on Cyprus in 2019 and provided them with a curriculum to train newcomers in the watersports season 2020. "The curriculum was developed at the same time. In the meantime, the demand for training in foilwindsurfing is also increasing, which was even more intensified by the new Olympic discipline", says VDWS managing director Dirk Muschenich. The photoshooting for the corresponding workbook around the topics of wingsurfing with all accompanying measures for the well-known VDWS series is currently taking place in Tarifa with a local Spanish production team.
Trend: comeback of local watersports spots
How the young attractive sports of wingsurfing enliven the scene
The wingsurfing trend is generating another wave of enthusiasm: the rediscovery or revitalization of native hunting grounds, which for various reasons took place intensively during the extraordinary 2020 season. "Wingfoiling is fun with less wind than windsurfing. This also brings new, less windy but beautiful spots into play. For example, at Altmuehlsee (Bavaria), I experienced what is suddenly going on there and how many trendsetters there are in action with wings", says Dirk Muschenich. In Germany alone, around 200 member schools are organized through the VDWS, with an additional 325 locations worldwide. "The fact that wingsurfing is taking off right now puts not only the classic spots in the spotlight, but also less frequented areas. Another part of the fascination of wingsurfing is that it is so easy to get started. Tom Eierding explains: "It's easy to learn and you can use what you have: an old windsurfboard, a SUP board or something inflatable. You buy a wing and off you go."
Trend: individual sports & newcomers
The luck of the soloists on the water
After a good summer in challenging times, the surf and fun sports industry is looking optimistically to the future. "We sell products for individual outdoor sports. The signals for the industry have been extremely positive in recent months," explains Florian Brunner. Waterski Langenfeld's manager Karsten Krey also confirms: "The summer business went well. Individual sports were possible and feasible". While wakeboarding and waterskiing remain highly popular, Krey has identified another general trend that he believes will continue: "We had an incredible number of newcomers. This may have had something to do with the pandemic and the people who stayed at home in search of a sporting leisure activity. But above all it was the outstanding summer that brought so many newcomers to the water. This trend will continue on a massive scale. And that's why it's important for all of us, the entire industry, to take care of it. While radical new material developments in the water ski and wakeboarding sector are currently not pending, the system operators are taking care of the regional offer with a lot of creativity. Krey explains: "This is also a trend. One with entertainment character: At least once a year the water parks are redesigned with new kickers and sliders".
About boot Düsseldorf 2022:
boot Düsseldorf will take place from 22 to 30 January 2022 in 17 halls of the Düsseldorf fairground. Under the motto "Reboot your business", exhibitors will present exciting new boat models as well as innovative technological developments.
