Duotone Magazine No. 06

How did you come up with the idea of developing an electric foil assist concept? My idea was to be able to foil on flat water without waves, anywhere in the world. How could we do that? With a kite you have to have some experience. So I came up with the idea of an electric foil support. It was not for the business, just because I was so passionate about the idea: Just to create my own small electric foil assist, very light and easy to use, for flat water or to catch more waves and play more in the conditions. I startedwith people towingme in thewave for foiling, but I wanted to towmyself in and that’s what the foil assist is all about. My idea was always: Let’s make something really light, small and easy to keep that good feeling of foiling. That’s where we are today. Now you live with your family in Japan. How did this happen? In the New Caledonian time, I was spending a lot of time in Asia for the R&D part, I was away from my family too much. So we decided to move to Japan. My wife, Yuri Takimoto, is Japanese. She was also a professional kiteboarder and is still a passionate water woman, foiler and surfer. Futuristic technological innovations are very present in Japan, which inspires me during development. We live in the very south of Japan, at a very good surf spot where there are waves every day. It’s not dream conditions like in Mauritius or Maui, but normal everyday conditions. This is much better for product development. The spot is not crowded at all, it’s a small community, super fun, surfers, foilers, everything is mixed. For me this is really important for my product development, to be connected to this scene and live on the beach and make sure the equipment works in all conditions. I can go out and test every day. And I can work in Japan in the morning, take a direct flight to the factory in China in the afternoon, and fly on to Taiwan, where we have an R&D lab, in the evening. All without any time difference. This is super- efficient development. I also fell in love with the Japanese culture, the people, how relaxed, respectful and organised everything is. I feel very comfortable living here. It suits my character very well. What is the composition of your team? Here in Asia we are a small but effective team: Imai Homare and his engineer team, who are based in the R&D lab in Taiwan. Terence Wang, our product manager. And myself. And then, of course, there is the whole combined group R&D team of Boards and More in Oberhaching, Germany. What is your motivation, what’s your drive to develop? My passion is to share with people this absolutely fascinating feeling of foiling. I was really hoping to share some watersports experience with my parents as well, who I left when I was 15. They were totally out of watersports. I have been saying for so many years that I would develop this for my parents. And now they’re doing it. Thanks to Duotone Foil Assist, they are now foilers at an advanced age. All my life they have seen how passionate I am about the sport and have always wondered why. Now that they are experiencing it for themselves, they understand. "My passion is to share with people this absolutely fascinating feeling of foiling". 61 F O I L A S S I S T DUOTONE