Duotone Magazine No. 06

Matahi, fin surfing is the purest and most direct form of surfing a wave with a board. What does it feel like to surf on a foil? Surfing a wave on a foil is a very unique feeling, very different from surfing on a conventional surfboard. There’s a feeling of lightness and freedom at the same time that you get from foiling. The possibility of riding a wave forever is something that fascinates me and that is what got me hooked on foiling. How has prone foiling changed your surfing? I’ve always been a bit thinner than most of my friends and always thought I had chicken legs. When you surf you need strength in your legs to make good turns and big drops in critical waves. When I started foiling I immediately felt this gain in strength and muscle in my legs. I started foiling in 2018. In 2019 and 2020 I felt a huge evolution in my surfing and that year I got the best waves of my life at Teahupo’o. I was making waves I never thought I wouldmake. My routine in those years was prettymuch foilingwhen thewaves were under 3 ft and surfing on a normal board when the waves got over 4 ft. What are your favorite conditions for prone foiling? My favorite conditions for prone foiling are waves around head high with some backwash. You can just ride waves forever, doing loops, ridingwaves towards the beach and using the backwash to get back to the line up. And what’s your favorite spot? It’s a spot called Te ava ino, a wave right in front of my house. You start the ride on a real wave doing turns and then you can keep going on the same lump all the way to the beach. Such a fun place for foiling. Tahiti is known for its incredibly hollow and powerful waves. How comfortable do you feel riding these waves on a foil? Tahiti has a lot of powerful reef breaks. It’s funny because I was one of the first foilers on the island in 2018. I never really knew how to start learning the discipline or what was the limit of a foil as there was no one to watch around me. One day I took Benoit Carpentier’s foil set (a French foiler who left a stand up paddle with a foil on it at my house for a week) to Teahupo’o to learn how to foil. It’s funny to think that my first fewwaves as a beginner were on one of the gnarliest waves for foiling. I think that’s why I’m comfortable on hollow waves. Some more high profile surfers have taken up foiling - who do you foil with most when the surf is not really pumping? Usually I just foil with my friends. I used to foil a lot with Ben Thouard, a talented photographer, and Lorenzo Avvenenti, a pro surfer from here. You dislocated your shoulder while prone foiling. Is prone foiling dangerous? Prone foiling can be very dangerous... you’re pretty much flying 3 ft in the air with pretty sharp wings under your board. I usually only prone foil in empty areas with very few people in the water. I dislocated my shoulder trying to foil a barrel at Teahupo’o in 2021. It was my first experience of bigger waves on a foil. On my first wave I got a decent barrel but the exit was very tricky because therewas somuchwater sucking up the face of thewave. I was going so fast that I lost control, fell forward and hit the water so hard it felt like concrete. I immediately felt that my shoulder was out of place. It was a crazy experience and my only serious injury related to prone foil. You joined the Duotone team this year. What is your favorite setup for foling? I’m a big fan of downwind so I really like the 880cm2 and 680cm2 Hyperglide D/LAB with th e 84cmSlimD/LAB mast. They’re super fast wings and easy to pump. For prone surfing I choose the Glide 2.0 D/LAB in 620cm2 combined with the 76cmmast. This is the combo I use pretty much every time I go out. I use the same board for all conditions, the Duotone Crush SLS in 4′6″ . The Duotone Team and Foil R&D is pretty spread out over different places. Are you in contact with them for feedback - to work with them on refining the next upcoming products? I’m very enthusiastic to join the Duotone family and I’m looking forward to working with the team to refine the performance of the foils in all types of waves from 1 ft to 15 ft. I’mgoing to Japan next week to see Cyril Coste and test some new products. I’m very excited. DUOTONE 36 B L I S S