Still kneeling, you need to shift to the correct position on your board, you should be in the center of the board, not too far forward or back. The Aria board’s foam deck pad is comfortable and will allow you to easily shift positions to find your balance, the aim being to keep the board as flat on the water as possible. Make sure your knees are equally spaced on either side of the central axis line of the board.

Still holding your Tahe Alizé wing with your wing-leash hand by the handle on the leading edge, lift your front knee/leg so your foot is flat on the board. At the same time, grab the control handle on the central batten nearest to the leading edge with your free hand. 

Keeping weight/pressure on your rear knee, raise the wing by lifting your hand holding the control handle. At the same time, release your other hand from the leading edge handle and bring it to join your rear hand on the control handle nearest the leading edge. 

At this point, your front/leash hand is going to “nudge” your rear hand along, until you’re holding the second, rear control handle of your Alizé wing. Keep the wing horizontal above your head so the wind is flowing steadily underneath it. Maintain your weight/pressure equally on your front foot and rear knee, with your front foot placed on the board’s central axis.

To help keep your balance, power the wing up gently by pulling downwards with your rear hand, which will in turn, pull you upwards. This pull/traction will enable you to stand up and place your feet in the correct stance.

As you feel the wing filling with power and with your board stable and flat on the water, slowly bring your rear leg into a standing position, maintaining power/lift in the wing with your rear hand. A big advantage of our Alizé wing is that the long tubular control handles allow you to change hand positions by sliding them along the handles, rather than having to completely let go of the wing.  

Keep your wing horizontal for as long as possible at this stage — the most common mistake is to plunge your wing into the vertical position too soon.

You need to feel the wing lifting you strongly upwards. Once you do, stand up fully on your board. Keep your torso straight and your arms stretched out, but with some ‘flex’ and the wing still as horizontal as possible above your head.

Make sure both your feet are on the central axis of your Aria board in a comfortably spread stance, with your rear foot positioned above the foil mast. 

Now, you’re ready to tackle the next phase: “pumping” your wing to help your board take off!