As wingfoiling has been evolving as a sport, its very normal that new accessories, shapes and ideas get added to gear over time. One such development is the full boom on a wing. A development now adding to the old question between hard and soft handles, now giving you the choice of a FULL BOOM system, which is a single long carbon handle spanning the full length of where your handles would be.
Do you need a full boom?
The short answer? No, you don't NEED one.
Now does that mean you shouldn't have one? I would disagree with not getting something just because you don't NEED it in general. I mean we do these sports for fun and sometimes that means just having stuff for the sake of it or because we like how the feel or even look! Now that is not to say that the full boom or any other aspect of wing foiling that you might be skeptical about doesn't have something to offer, or else it probably wouldn't have been created in the first place, Right? To be honest it is simply a matter of preference and maybe also what style you like to ride. But let me just point out some pros and cons of the full boom system and you can decide yourself:
Lets start with the pros and personally I think they are a lot of them! But I will try to stick to specifics and not personal preference!
The obvious one is absolute freedom on hand placement. I say obvious because what a full boom essentially does it bridge the gap that was between your handles allowing you to move freely up and down the boom without having to fumble for where the handle is. This helps when playing around with a wing, whether that is on your turns and cruising, to more hardcore wave riding and everything in between. If you like to play around and man handle your wing this is a tool for you!
Next I would probably mention rigidity! Even the hard handles make the wing feel more rigid and stiff (at least to those that try and feel all those little details) but now with the full boom that rigidity has been increased even further. I mean a solid piece of carbon going across the strut can only add to the rigidness of a wing obviously, but I would say that you can really feel the difference. This is especially good for racing, speed, power reaching etc. I also feel more control and power coming from my pumping, a good thing for a heavy chap like me! Stiff wings is something every company tries to make and the stiffer the better. So if an extra accessory can add to that factor as well, then that is great!
The fact that you have and can easily find the exact central point of your boom, meaning the centre of power, should also be mentioned. Now many wings that have hard handles have a longer front one in order to accommodated for this, but not all of them. And many times this can be annoying especially if like me you like to ride one handed. This point is probably even more important for setting harness lines on your wing. Even more so if you come from windsurfing and prefer to use old windsurf lines rather than buy some new fancy specialised wing ones. There are probably more advantages to having easy access to that central point but lets leave it at these for now! And yes I realise this point could probably have been included in some of the other ones already mentioned but I thought it deserved a section of its own!
This one is a bit one sided towards windsurfers. But seeing as how there are plenty of windsurfers like myself that have now turned to wingfoiling, I thought I would give it a quick mention. Its that feeling of familiarity of having a full boom. After years of windsurfing it just feels right! And in many aspects of your riding it allows you to bring in some of your old windsurf style that is personal to you and you spent so long developing.
Now this last one that I will be mentioning, might not be for the majority of riders out there, but if you are into aerial freestyle or thinking of taking that route, a full boom has become the must have. Not only for the added control but because there are so many one handed maneuvers now (and probably more to come) that the single long boom that covers the whole span of the handle area just makes things much easier! Take a look at any of the freestyle competitions out there, world class or even less, it will be hard to spot a rider without a full boom!
We could have left this article here and called it a day. Not much more that you need to know on the subject! But in the sake of being fair I guess I should mention some cons to having a full boom, even if I don't think there are many at all:
First point I will bring up is one I have had a lot of other people ask me about but not paid attention to much myself to be honest. WEIGHT! Everyone asks me about the added weight and if you feel it. Now I believe that there is a huge difference between brands when it comes to the weight of their full booms so its very hard to speak on this. I think the simplest way to put it that covers most cases, is that while there may be some extra weight added with a full boom, current tech and materials (full carbon booms etc) make that weight very small and practically insignificant unless you are counting grams! Keep in mind that although you are adding more boom, which is only a carbon tube, you are loosing two connection points. So add some and loose some. So the extra weight is very small, if any and its balanced out in such a nice way that you do not feel it! At least not on my wings anyway.
Another negative point I can think of, and this one doesn't really matter in all cases, is that there are more hard parts to deal with. What do I mean? Well if you have ever been caught in shore break or in a weird crash with all your gear involved, you would like the least possible amount of hard things for you or the gear itself to hit and cause damage!
Last con I can think of is probable packing and traveling with booms. Of course, the boom is one piece of material and cannot be packed down smaller. So whether its for storage at home or to travel with you will have a long stick to try and pack along with all the other stuff!
Personally, I would go boom every single time! I like the feeling, the control and power and my style just suits it well!
For you? Give it a try and find out! That's really the only way to know what you like, but I have a feeling you will love it! But if not, remember its all about what you like, there is no right or wrong. So, give it a go if you can get your hands on one and tell us what you think! I know where I stand on the subject!
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