THE 2ND GENERATION
designing high-end harnesses and accessories has been a family tradition since 1992. now, this tradition is continued in the 2nd generation.
The very beginning
In the early ‘90s, Ronny Kiaulehn was part of the Fanatic/A.R.T. R&D Team. He worked many years with sail designer legend Monty Spindler, making sails and testing them with his test partner Klaus Baumann. It was during this time that Ronny began starting to get into harness design.
The Vertebra Harness Concept
In 1992, after a year of development, the revolutionary Vertebra Harness Concept was patented. It was the first hard shell harness on the market and went into mass production with huge success.
The New harness Generation
In October 1992, German surf-Magazin wrote an article about the Vertebra Harness Concept. The New Harness Generation: “The new anatomic construction of the Vertebra Harness has archived a never seen power transmission and comfort. Whoever surfed with it feels two times stronger, safer, and comfortable." This made it the best harness on the market at the time.
Relic of the past
During our latest R&D trip to Fuerteventura, we found this relic in the garage of a friend. It was the last prototype made of a super light version of the Vertebra Harness in 1996.
The Change
In 1997, Ronny switched from windsurfing R&D to photography and from in front of the camera to behind it. Today, he’s shooting for some of the major sports and outdoor brands in the business.
Back to the roots
In the summer of 2020, to Ronny's joy, his son Pietro Leon Kiaulehn switched from BMX Racing and mountain biking to wing foiling. This saw him improve rapidly, jumping higher and higher and seeing Pietro begin using his sewing skills to build his own foil-specific impact vests.
The 2nd generation
In February 2021, Pietro started working on a harness module that could be attached to his dad's impact vest as he was suffering from strong epicondylitis and could not go wing foiling anymore. With his dad’s harness design skills from 30 years ago, he started building the first prototype.
The birth of Wingman Products
In January 2022, the name "Wingman Products" was registered, and shortly after, the Wingman Harness Concept secured "Patent Pending". Now, Pietro is running his own business, building high-performance foiling accessories.
ION COLLABORATION
In summer 2022, the Wingman Concept got the attention of one of the market leaders: ION Products. Starting from the model year 2023, ION will launch special series of Wingman x ION worldwide.
Teamwork
With two generations of harness design, Pietro is carrying over family tradition, and his dad is helping him with design alongside photo and video creation.