• I made a 3 month commitment to the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon, to learn how to Downwind SUP... or die trying. It took me 1 session. Now to be fair, I already knew how to downwind. I was a prone downwind sender before there was a Voyager crew. I would study Dave Kalama & Kai Lenny's early DW runs on Maui. I learnt through observation, trial, and  many errors. I started on an impossibly slow mid aspect foil and managed to accumulate a few hours of paddling 4'0's back to shore after falling out to sea. I was one of the first to ride a High Aspect wing on Kauai and find success down winding. 

  • I've ridden a few hundred miles doing shore runners, prone chip-in offshore runs, and heaps of down-wingers. So to say I learned DW SUP in one session is a bit of a stretch. My first SUP attempts, I sent a few shockers in Florida on a 7'0 SUP and a 1,000 HA race wing. I couldn't produce the speed needed to pop up in meagre conditions. So, after a handful of attempts at Jax Beach I put my DW SUP aspirations on ice. I slipped my DW board back in its coffin for a 6 month slumber. I decided to hedge my bets and wait for proper gear and the forgiving conditions ofHoodRiver.  

  • I arrived toHoodRiver armed with a Unifoil Progression quiver and a 7'5 proto Unifoil SUP. I started on the Progression 200, and despite my wretched paddle technique I was able to pop up every day. I had a few skunk runs, and many runs that I floated half way, but after 7 full days or so, I was able to crank up onto foil in fairly small conditions.

  • My first breakthrough was being able to pump and paddle the board simultaneously, this allowed me to force my way into bumps that previously would pass me by.The pump & paddle led me to my 2nd big breakthrough, patience. Now being able to catch and force my way into more bumps, I knew exactly what I was looking for, and learned to wait for it. 

  • Initially I needed a lot of planing speed to pace bumps and stroke down a steep face and onto foil.Once I could paddle and pump up onto foil, without the need of a steep drop, I could be patient, save energy, and wait for the easy entries. Such a game changer.

  • Fast-forward 6 weeks to this session with Josh Ku and Salty Brother photographer Dane Wilson. This was a pretty special session. I was amped! The guys are so talented at what they do, we had great wind into the sunset hour and the bumps were really user friendly. 

  • Just being in the water with Josh raises your foiling level and knowing Dane is there with his sniper skills fired me up to push my newfound 7'5 skills. By this time I had a few hundred SUP miles of experience and could finally do a little showing off. Dane, battling current, captured some great action and the overall stoke of this sunset session. 

  • Lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. I was over in America for my partner’s brothers wedding. It just so happened that a week after was the AWSI event. So I contacted the crew at Unifoil as I knew they were all going for the trade show and I weaselled my way into staying at their AirBnB. 

  • From what I herd September is a dicey month to head to Oregon to Downwind in the Columbus River. The wind can be patchy and some weeks there is no wind at all. So keeping an eye on the forecast and asking locals on the ground, the week of AWSI was looking to be a ripper. 

  • I flew into Portland where my team mate Erik Antonson was getting in the same time from Florida with his family. We all got in the rent a car and headed toHoodRiver.My first experience of downwinding in the river was at the famous section called Rufus. Wind was honking 20+ knots and the team all had their anxious looks asking “what are you riding” as a bit of a weigh in and flex to see where everyone’s skills were. 

  • The best thing about Unifoil is that we are all a family and even though a few of us had just met for the first time that trip, by the end I can confidently say we are all great mates now and can’t wait to catch up again.

  • I courageously threw on the 125 progression and stupidly felt way under foiled for the start of the run. I then rushed in changed to the 170 progression and then felt way overfoiled. It was all new terrain and I've never felt so much flow against my foil due to the river running against the direction of the wind. It’s such a surreal feeling as when you check the stats on your watch your going really slow due to the gps but the feels you get is that you’re flying!

  • After multiple runs day in and day out I soon landed on the 140 progression as my favourite foil for the river. I played around with multiple tails but also found the 13.5 progression tail to be ideal. The river in my opinion is a terrible place to test equipment as after time I felt every foil worked there. People were riding surf foils and also super high aspect foils. It is though a great place to learn your fundamental downwind skills like paddling up and learning what bump to take and what to let go. It also teaches you how to surf downwind as the river is so peaky like a skatepark bowl.

  • Working with amazing filmers like Dane Wilson is a pleasure. I love creating beautiful foiling content to showcase and when you have talented people like Dane with creative vision it makes it so rewarding when you nail a cool shot or angle that hasn’t been done before. He’s an amazing foiler and understands what lines you’re gonna take hence why his drone work is amazing.

  • AWSI was such a rad event. I've never been to a full scale trade show like that before and it was so cool to be apart of it. Unifoil were so supportive and were encouraging me to try all the gear from all the brands. I was like a kid in a candy store. I rode so many different foils and boards. It was incredible. I think it’s so important to feel what the industry is coming up with so we can all move forward in a healthy competitive way. It’s really exciting how the equipment is evolving and what the new trends are.