Foiling Magazine

editorial

We all know that – with foil riding – we are engaging in a somewhat magical exploit. How many times have you been stopped on the way to the beach for a bemused dog walker to ask what that is you’re carrying? Or had surfers staring at you slack-jawed as you glide away on an impossibly fat shoulder? It’s pretty much a miracle. I’ll admit to being no expert in foil history over the decades, but the fact is these beautiful engineering feats that we so enjoy did not just appear out of nowhere. They came about through experimentation, application of theory, varied levels of engineering talent and, in no small part I’m sure, blind optimism and no doubt plenty of obscenely-fun-to-watch wipeouts. From the initial concepts, there were iterations, flaws, appropriations,…

exposure

RIDER Evan Netsch PHOTOGRAPHER Justin Bruns/Wavelength LOCATION Puerto Rico Evan: The evening glass-offs in Puerto Rico are always the best sessions. The crowd would thin out as the sun set, and as the heat of the day dissipated it seemed to energize you to be able to push a bit harder to connect a few more waves. I always would think to myself, okay last one, but as you look back from the inside and see a set appearing out the back, it would give you enough motivation to pump back out, and just as you feel like you can’t go any longer you get a new wave and recover enough while riding to go again and again… Here is one of those moments, on my last energy reserves, fighting to get to…

hydrofoil surf heaven in hawaii

Hey Keahi. So first up, let’s get a little background. How did you get into surf foiling and when? I guess I was pretty lucky that I had a little bit of background from kite foiling in the beginning. I remember towing into some waves on a kite foil once about five years ago then never trying it again for some reason. It wasn’t until I saw the Kai downwind foil clip that I decided to really get back into it. I’ve been addicted ever since! And what’s your preferred set up? It depends a little bit on the type of waves but I’ve been really enjoying the Neilpryde medium slim wing lately as an all-rounder. It’s a little more technical than the glide surf wings but it’s still lifty in small waves…

mala’e mcelheny

So Mala’e, we know you from your Instagram, but tell us a little more about yourself… My name is Mala’e McElheny. I just turned 12 years old and live on the North Shore of Oahu, and I first tried foiling in October of 2017 with John Amundson when I was nine years old. What’s your favorite discipline and set up? Right now I spend a lot of time wing foiling and also prone foiling. Luckily my 4’0 Amundson Customs Fire Bolt works great for both! For most conditions I will use the 29” Go Foil Mast (with a plate adapter) with the GL140 and a 12” flat tail wing. For wing foiling I use the Duotone Foilwing, usually the 4m here on Oahu and even sometimes the 5m. I recently went…

secret spot

Peyo Lizarazu is a local rider from the Basque Country and was by all accounts the first surfer to ride Belharra. He’s now a self-confessed surf foiling addict and spends a lot of time looking for the perfect foil spot. The wave in this particular shot has three main sections, and if you can connect everything together you might possibly get the longest wave of your life… It breaks all the way from the jetty to the beach and is perfectly adapted for foiling because the take-off zone has a little foam that gets you going, then the rolling swell doesn’t break but retains plenty of power, so you can cut those sweeping backside carves easily. So now you just have to find out where it is……

japan

I was in Japan a while back for the ISA Games, competing with Team Canada because I was born there. We were there doing the contest and then I flew down to Miyazaki to meet up with Tomoko Okazaki who was putting on The Butterfly Effect event in Miyazaki again. I’d premiered my film The Wave I Ride at the very first Butterfly Effect, so she invited me to come along to join again, and it just so happened to be right after the contest. So it was perfect timing. I flew down there, we did the event, and then I flew down to Okinawa to meet up with Hayato Maki who is a Patagonia Ambassador. I was in touch with him and Patagonia dialed it in to connect, so I…