Flat Water Foiling - History Being Made

[Beasho]

This just in.

Austin Kalama becomes the first to break the Flat Water SUP Surfboard Foiling. 

• 10 Years ago it was Laird Foil boarding behind a JetSki in huge pacific surf - Audience of 10
• 1 Year ago it was Kai Downwinding - Audience of 1,000+
• 6 months ago it was Kai Foiling on a wave with a shortboard & back out to sea - Audience of 1,000,000+
• Today - Austin Kalama Foils from a stand-still in flat water - Audience  ? ? ?

[clay]

wow, foil applications keep surprising me.

i wonder if flat water foiling is faster than paddling a race board?

[digger71]

i wonder if flat water foiling is faster than paddling a race board?

Not sure but it sure looks like he is moving fast once he is up and in rhythm.  Can't say how efficient it is or how long he can keep it up - imagine there will be foils developed that are designed/optimized with this in mind.

[headmount]

A workout for sure.  The kid is solid muscle.  I enjoyed Dad hooting up on the breakwall filming him go like a skipping stone.

[headmount]

I went out at a well know south shore surf spot last weekend.  Memorial day crowd and waves were mostly closing. Was kinda depressed that I'd driven all the way for that.  But then Austin paddles out and puts on the clinic and I just sat down and watched the show.  He turned lemons into lemonade.  Aerial kick outs landed perfectly, long streaking runs across what would be unmakable sections and pumping back out like in the vid, without losing lift and re-entering next wave.  I went in stoked and hadn't even caught one good wave.

[SUP Sports ®]

It might catch on...different strokes for different folks...but, they have a little catching up to do in this segment of the market...;-)

7 years ago they were having Aqua Skipper freestyle contests...320,768 views...



This Aqua Skipper clip from 2007 has 1,868,966 views...



Reaches speeds of 17mph...new version coming soon...old version is sold out on Amazon...ships to your door from Bulgaria for $500 on eBay...

[supuk]

its a terrible video and I think there's a better one some were but people surf those things too

[PonoBill]

Good stuff. Some of the foils Gary Efferding has done could be optimized for pumping, but it's always going to be a very challenging thing. All the energy to lift yourself whatever height you fly at, plus all the energy to move forward against drag, plus all the energy required to accelerate comes from the paddler. No free lunch

[Beasho]

It might catch on...different strokes for different folks...

Will I ever paddle from Zero to foil on flat water - Probably Not! 

Will I benefit from what comes of this achievement?  - Most Likely Yes. 

A year ago we were amazed that Kai could get up under his own power in wind swell.  Then this video changed everything, igniting the imagination and possibility in early adopter's minds around the globe.

[SUP Sports ®]

For me, the guys at Horue in France had already sparked my curiosity with light air wind foiling...and, it's been fun...looking forward to more this summer...

Here is a slicker edit of flat water foiling...cable assist...

Self Propelled Foil Boarding AKA The Ultimate Leg Pumping Exercise

[kayadogg]

I don't understand the point or appeal of flat water foiling. Maybe I'm missing the obvious or I'm getting old and don't want to do anything that requires that much leg muscle but it looks like once he gets up, it's just pumping your legs constantly. I don't see how that could be much fun even if you're that young and in shape. I can appreciate that he's the first to do it and how hard it actually is but I'm missing the point.

[Night Wing]

If I tried flat water foiling which the young man was doing, within 5 minutes of time, I'd probably have a heart attack or stroke from exhaustion.

[headmount]

I don't understand the point or appeal of flat water foiling. Maybe I'm missing the obvious or I'm getting old and don't want to do anything that requires that much leg muscle but it looks like once he gets up, it's just pumping your legs constantly. I don't see how that could be much fun even if you're that young and in shape. I can appreciate that he's the first to do it and how hard it actually is but I'm missing the point.

I'm glad a young guy like you said this cuz I feel the same.

[peterp]

I don't understand the point or appeal of flat water foiling. Maybe I'm missing the obvious or I'm getting old and don't want to do anything that requires that much leg muscle but it looks like once he gets up, it's just pumping your legs constantly. I don't see how that could be much fun even if you're that young and in shape. I can appreciate that he's the first to do it and how hard it actually is but I'm missing the point.

I'm glad a young guy like you said this cuz I feel the same.

To me the appeal of that video is that it shows that the realm of foil-downwinding virtually without a touchdown is a real possibility. It's not about pumping away on flat water - that has about as much appeal as that Aquaskipper (to me at least).

But if you can get foiling on flatwater it suddenly made getting up and foiling on a downwinder seem so much more possible - Will I ever be able to do it, doubt it, will I give it a try, for sure....

[PonoBill]

Okay, no, seriously, no. This is a total effort, low return thing no matter how you do it. Those goofy aqua skippers are three times more efficient than what Austin is doing. Dave is all fired up on the promise of this and ignoring the simple fact that this kid, who has spent his life in the water, who is at the peak of his physical condition, can just barely fucking do it. Anyone who sees this as the door opening to a world of foiling everywhere is on crack.