Dave Kalama

Legendary waterman who, to the hosts’ disbelief, turned out to be a semi-regular listener and asked to come on (Ep 142) — introduced via Gabriella Bella. One of the show’s marquee guest bookings.

• Ep 142: Maui-based board shaper and one of the earliest hydrofoil pioneers (self-credited only with “the original version” of foiling; credits “Alex” of Go Foil, surname not given, with making the sport accessible). Toe-surfed for Die Another Day alongside Laird Hamilton, and did stunt/support work on a Molson beer commercial and the surf film In God’s Hands (which he pulled out of over the script).
• Design philosophy: prioritises efficiency-to-foil above all else in a board; sees himself as a problem-solving “engineer” rather than an artist, self-taught with no formal design training. Believes big-brand design is constrained by economics/risk-aversion in a way his small operation isn’t.
• Created the Barracuda and later the Gator board shapes — the Gator’s blunt nose came from extensive (60–70 run) blind scale-model testing that disproved his own assumption that a pointed nose was faster. Now rides Gator exclusively; smallest is the Gator Compact (winging/pump-wing/prone).
• Has switched from a lifetime on Go Foil to riding F4 (Orca, mainly the 685) for downwind; has been downwinding for close to 10 years.
• Developed and is still testing a magnetic on-body-to-on-board weight-transfer system, arguing (heavily caveated) that added weight improves high-speed foil control on open-ocean Maui downwinders even though lightness helps getting up on foil — contrary to prevailing industry “lighter is always better” orthodoxy.
• Has come around against Tuttle (“total”) mast/box connections, mainly over limited fore/aft adjustability versus a plate system — picked Tuttle boxes for his Room 101. This is a direct counterpoint to Fred Hope’s pro-Tuttle Project Drag pitch on Ep 144.
• Runs no marketing department; relies on word-of-mouth. Business is small relative to majors like Armstrong but the Gator has “kept me in business” through a difficult US market.
• View on beginner gear: short “crossover” boards aimed at pump-wingers hinder beginners’ progression; recommends longer boards while learning fundamentals.
• On Parawing: tried winging early and found it felt like windsurfing, lost interest; sees the parawing as a better fit for downwinding and is taking it up partly to bring his smaller 530cm² foil back into rotation.

Ripple additions (batch 2, 2026-07-20)

• Ep 38 (Armie Armstrong) jokingly frames his M2O race goal as ‘beat Dave Kalama’.