The “future of foiling” or pure novelty? Watch this foil surf race in Florida and decide
There’s been a lot of talk about foil racing lately. Most of that has centred around “downwind foil racing” but we’ve been seeing more and more surf race-style events popping up. This latest one in Florida swept across Instagram yesterday and offered a little insight into the potential “future of foil racing”.
Last weekend, Maui foil freak and Austin “son of Dave” Kalama joined the locals in Florida for the Foil Surf Racing League, which can only be described as “Battle of the Paddle meets samurai swords,” with prone foilers pumping in and out through the surf break around a short, sharp, technical course.
What do you think? The future of foiling of a total novelty? 🤔
I think it’s pretty cool to see events trying new things. And while this race has its obvious limitations – the start is a little awkward, the water was often too shallow to pump and it looks pretty boring when they fall down and have to paddle – it’s definitely a format worth trying as the sport of foil racing quickly evolves. And as foil tech improves (rapidly) this kind of racing will become easier and easier. It’s also somewhat spectator-friendly and has just enough of a novelty value that it might attract wider attention as it evolves.
Hat tip: @gofoil via @james__casey
