Maui's big-wave star sees a big future for hydrofoil surfing. You may too after watching this.
Kai Lenny is now the surfing world's most prolific test pilot. There's nothing the Maui-born native won't ride, and ride well. While known mostly for his big-wave exploits within the surfing world, Lenny is a legend in the standup paddle and windsurfing communities. Now he's seriously rewriting the rules of wave riding on his hydrofoils.
There's little doubt he's already set speed records on this thing. But what's even more remarkable is his ability to keep riding where very little waves exist, milking every last drop of aquatic energy.
Whether we know it or not, we're already riding off our fins, but in the distant future they may look a bit different. - WSL
While he's been riding a hydrofoil for more than a decade, the work he and his fellow mad scientists have put in is just beginning to really blow minds, as Lenny begins to master this new form of riding.
"I'm excited to see where this is going to be in maybe 10 years," says Lenny. "I think it's going to be the extension of a shortboard and we're going to be doing similar maneuvers on it. This is only the beginning."
Kai Lenny's Reimagined Future of Wave Riding
WSL
Kai Lenny is now the surfing world's most prolific test pilot. There's nothing the Maui-born native won't ride, and ride well. While known mostly for his big-wave exploits within the surfing world, Lenny is a legend in the standup paddle and windsurfing communities. Now he's seriously rewriting the rules of wave riding on his hydrofoils.
There's little doubt he's already set speed records on this thing. But what's even more remarkable is his ability to keep riding where very little waves exist, milking every last drop of aquatic energy.
While he's been riding a hydrofoil for more than a decade, the work he and his fellow mad scientists have put in is just beginning to really blow minds, as Lenny begins to master this new form of riding.
"I'm excited to see where this is going to be in maybe 10 years," says Lenny. "I think it's going to be the extension of a shortboard and we're going to be doing similar maneuvers on it. This is only the beginning."
Kai Lenny
The evolution of big wave surfing has introduced a plethora of discussion topics.
2020 cbdMD Men's XXL Biggest Wave Nominee: Kai Lenny at Nazaré, Portugal on February 11, 2020. (Left.) Photo by André Botelho.
2020 cbdMD Men's XXL Biggest Wave Nominee: Kai Lenny at Nazaré, Portugal on February 11, 2020. (Right.) Photos by Helio Antonio, Pedro
2020 cbdMD Men's XXL Biggest Wave Nominee: Kai Lenny at Jaws, Maui, Hawaii on December 31, 2019.
Grant Baker, Russell Bierke, Lucas Chianca, Nathan Florence, Billy Kemper, Kai Lenny, Tom Lowe, Eli Olson, Nic Von Rupp, and Ian Walsh.
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