X-15 Class: “getting youth into wingfoil racing” with Class Manager Fiona Wylde

The X-15 Class events are in full swing! After a very successful weekend at Lake Como, where 16 enthusiastic youths had the chance to try their hand at X-15 racing and benefit from the coaching provided by Fiona Wylde and Saskia Sills, the Class will be setting sail this weekend in Kiel, Germany, as well as at Foiling Week in Italy. And what’s more ? All events have equipment provided for free and free coaching! At TotalWing, we’ve been talking to you about the X-15 Class since its inception over a year ago. But we haven’t yet interviewed its Class Manager, none other than the talented, multi-medal-winning waterwoman Fiona Wylde! Today, she answers all our questions about the X-15 class, and in particular about the class’s wings, some of which use double-surface technology, and also tells us about her plans for the wingfoil racing season. (Pictures by Georgia Schofield at the Lake Como event)

X-15 Class One Design Wingfoil Training Camp in Dongo, Lake Como, Italy. Photo by Georgia Schofield.

Hi Fiona ! So first… you won the 2024 Défi Wing! Did you expect this result? How did you feel about it? Tell us everything!

Thank you! What a crazy experience DEFI was!! I did not expect to win the event at all. I grew up hearing about the event, but it was a legendary event and I never thought I would ever be one of the people to stand on the top of the podium there. The format was extremely fun. I love a challenging event, and the DEFI was definitely a challenge. However, whenever I found myself thinking it was such a big challenge, I would look around and 400 of my best friends were battling the exact same challenge. To be in a fleet like that, was so special. I hope to experience this event again!

Fiona Wylde

This year, 2024, you’re taking part in the Wingfoil Racing circuit: what are your goals?

The sky is the limit! This is my first year racing full-time on the Wingfoil Racing World Tour, so anything can happen. I recently came back from Turkey were I finished 5th. To be entirely honest, I did not have best race in Turkey and I think I can perform much better than I did in Turkey. However, this is racing and it presented a really great learning opportunity for me to sculpt my training around my weaknesses and improve my strengths. It’s really exciting to be in new sport at its infancy and I look forward to seeing where the sport goes!

You were nominated Class Manager of the X-15 Class at the start of the year. What exactly is your role?

I am very exited to step into the role as X-15 Class manager. X-15 Class is the first wingfoil one design class in the world and my responsibilities include organizing events, completing an application to World Sailing, overseeing distribution and development of the equipment with international partners.

This year we are focusing on developing youth and junior X-15 with events focused to promote inclusion and coaching for young wingfoilers. In order to do this, we are providing complete X-15 Class equipment sets free of charge for the sailors and supplying expert coaching to sailors at training events before regattas. For example, we have just finished out first X-15 Class even in Lago di Como, Italy. We had 16 youth wingfoiler from Italy, Spain, and Germany participate in training and racing. The equipment was provided for free and we provided skilled coaching from IQ Foil Champion, Saskia Sills. We have multiple events on the schedule and you can learn more about them here www.x-15class.org.

X-15 Class One Design Wingfoil Training Camp in Dongo, Lake Como, Italy. Photo by Georgia Schofield.

What is the goal of the X-15 Class?

There are two distinct goals with the X-15 Class. One, move the sport of wingfoiling forward towards the largest arena and two, simultaneously build an inclusive pathway for young athletes to enter the sport through supportive coaching and training opportunities. The X-15 Class is the first Wingfoil One-Design equipment and we have the opportunity to develop pathways alongside athletes, clubs, federations and nations. In 2024, our goal is to build a strong foundation and connection with wingfoilers around the world, specifically focusing on youth development. Yes, the final goal of the X-15 Class is Olympic inclusion for the sport of wingfoiling, but that will not happen overnight. X-15 Class offers a pathway into wingfoil racing and development for sailors once they have entered the wingfoil racing arena. The majority of the X-15 Class events in 2024, like Kiel Week and Foiling Week, are focused on the U19 age group and provide equipment and coaching free of charge for the sailors to use during the regatta.

X-15 Class One Design Wingfoil Training Camp in Dongo, Lake Como, Italy. Photo by Georgia Schofield.

Last year, we reviewed the Class’ boards and foils with Clément Colmas and Rémi Vila. But since then, there have been some new wings. So why did the X-15 class choose a double surface wing? What are its characteristics ?

Great question! The X-15 Class equipment has many age groups and two wing designs depending on the age group you are racing in. U13 uses a 4.5m X-15 Wing, U15 uses a 5.0m X-15 Wing, U17 uses a 5.5m X-15 Wing, U19 uses a 6.0m X-15 Wing. Senior Women use the 6m X-15 Wing, and Senior Men use the 6.5m X-15 Wing.

X-15 Class One Design Wingfoil Training Camp in Dongo, Lake Como, Italy. Photo by Georgia Schofield.

The U13 and U15 wings do not have the double surface technology. These wings are designed with a strong Dacron material, have a boom, and the X-15 reefing technology. The reason the younger age groups do not have the double surface is two fold. On one side we want to make sure the wing is high-performance while allowing entry into the class. Having a wing without the double surface allows for less experienced sailors to pop-up onto foil sooner and still allows for high performance as they advance. The second reason is the cost. We want to make sure the equipment is affordable for all who want to participate, so removing the double surface and making the wing out of Dacron, significantly helps keep the costs lower so the sailor doesn’t have to spend as much money on their one-design equipment, while still producing a very strong and durable wing.

X-15 Class One Design Wingfoil Training Camp in Dongo, Lake Como, Italy. Photo by Georgia Schofield.

Now, the U17, U19, Senior Women’s and Senior Men use the 5.5m, 6.0m, 6.5m and all of these X-15 Wings have the double surface, Ho’okipa Material, boom, and X-15 reefing technology. The double surface allows sailors to increase their upwind and downwind angle and maintain control at high speeds. The double surface also increases airflow over the wing, creating a powerful pocket in the wing to accelerate speed and performance. Even though there is more material added to the double surface X-15 Wing, the Ho’okipa material is very light and strong so the weight is not increased.

X-15 Class One Design Wingfoil Training Camp in Dongo, Lake Como, Italy. Photo by Georgia Schofield.

The X-15 Wings have the coveted X-15 Reefing Technology which means there is a removable panel on the canopy of the wing. This reduces all wing sizes by about one square meter, allowing for sailors to use the same wing in a much larger wind range.

All Youth and Junior Classes use an 82L Lite Tech X-15 Board. Senior Women also use an 82L X-15 Blue Carbon board Senior Men use a 95L X-15 Blue Carbon board. All age groups can pick three foil front wings, a 560, 820, 1200 and race whichever foil the sailors deems appropriate for the conditions.

A note for participants, sailors are allowed to sail up an age group, but they are not allowed to sail in a younger age group.

What are the future prospects for the X-15 class?

Right now, we are really focused on getting youth into wingfoil racing. That has to be step one. Without youth involvement in the sport, we won’t have a future. Fortunately there are so many talented kids learning to wingfoil and excited about racing!

The younger U13 and U15 Classes need an entry point into the sport. The X-15 wings designed for their age group provide a level playing field and allow youth not only to learn, but to excel into high performance racing. As the wingfoilers age, they mature into the high performance double surface X-15 wing technology. The 4.5m X-15 Wing and 5.0m X-15 Wing also provide a learning platform for new wingfoilers to learn the sport, regardless of age.

This is one of the big reasons why we did not develop the 100% double surface wing for the X-15 Class because we need to balance the fine line of a variety of performance levels, cost, and durability to make the sport as inclusive as possible. Every two years, we have the ability to change the equipment. We will not change the equipment within a two year period because we want to make it fair for all partners involved, but that allows the X-15 Class development time to evolve with the sport as it grows.

We want X-15 Class Wingfoil Racing to be fun, fast, inclusive, and high performance for all those involved!

What are your next events?

I have a big summer ahead of me with X-15 events, running Wylde Wind & Water (www.wyldewindandwater.org) and preparing for the next Wing Foil Racing World Cup event. However, I feel very fortunate that all of my work allows me to work with youth and build development pathways for youth in sport. It’s an exciting time to be in watersports! Thank you for your support and for the feature in TotalWing.

Thanks Fiona for your answers! You can find the next dates of the X-15 Class events on their official website.

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