FOILS
I love to be involved with new innovations like this. Before 2000 I came to Maui and saw Kevin Ozee and Rush Randle trying out windsurfing foils. I was already crazy about the idea and wanted to try. I could do it straight away, it was so much fun. I brought back a board and foil to France and was foiling in the summer at my centre. It was great for sea breezes when the weather was nice. Now foiling has taken off again it’s strange. Before it was too early. Not so many people were interested so the brands did not get involved. Last year it just took off and everybody wanted to try foiling. With Neil Pryde and F4 we worked on the carbon foil which is super light and very efficient. I think that is the best foil. We are now sailing double the speed of the earlier foils. Now we can reach 30 knots! In very light conditions foils are very competitive with slalom boards; as soon as the wind picks up, let’s say 12-15 knots, then slalom boards will have a better top speed. When the wind is very strong then for sure slalom boards are faster. This is only the beginning, with F4 we are working on the wings and now we are already on the 4th generation. I want to work more on this. I would like to adapt this to a speed board as well.
NEED FOR SPEED
Speed is still on my agenda. My record is 53.27 knots and I have a peak over 100km per hour! They are reopening Lüderitz this year in Namibia in October and November but the problem is that it is during New Caledonia. I wanted to go but now I am not sure if it is possible. There is a location as well in France where they are trying to make it happen. It is close to Leucate. They are not going so fast there yet but there have been a few good times so it has potential. I would like to try over there as well. In France for sure we can break the record. There are so many days of Tramontane in Leucate. It is unbelievable how strong the wind is there! It will be cheaper and easier than going for one month in Namibia.
