The Generic Foiling Podcast — a second brain

S - Ep 003 a delve into Liam and Freddies winging careers

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S - Ep 003 a delve into Liam and Freddie’s winging careers

Recorded in Liam’s living room (duvets pinned to the wall to damp the echo after listener feedback). The hosts tell their winging backstories — the discipline the whole show was started to talk about — plus a listener Q on wake/boat-foil gear, and they tease the first run of guests.

In brief

The episode splits into three: (1) a detailed answer to a listener’s wake-foil gear question, drawn from Freddie’s summer learning to foil behind boats; (2) each host’s full winging progression — what they learned on, the gear they burned through, their mistakes and their favourite sessions; and (3) a run-down of the first guests they’ve lined up. Both hosts converge on the same lesson: don’t drop board volume and foil size too fast, and buy gear for what you’re actually trying to achieve.

Key topics & claims

  • Wake / boat foiling (Freddie): three factors decide gear choice behind a boat — (1) boat size / wake energy (he’s ridden a small rib, his dad’s 19ft inboard “baby Mastercraft” ski boat, and a friend’s powerful 28ft Axopar dubbed “HMS Basher”); (2) skill level — good riders position on the wave and pump so well they could “carry on with no wake”; (3) riding style / speed — most people wake-foil around 10 knots (pre-planing), where boats plough a good-sized wave. He runs the F-One Phantom 1480 behind the small ski boat and would drop to the 1080 behind a bigger wake; notes inboard props feel safer than staring at a big outboard.
  • Teaching his dad (Freddie): bought a Slingshot WF2 (~4’10”, ~20–25L) with a half-strap so a total beginner has something to hook a front foot into without being trapped; strong caution against two tight straps (ankle-twist injuries — he’s damaged his own).
  • Freddie’s winging journey: learned around late 2020; works in the industry (distributes Ozone kites in the UK and reps Axis foils). First glide came at a demo/instructor course run down by Andy Gratwick (~2020), with “Richie B” running circles around everyone. He was ~82kg on an SIC 115L board, a big Axis beginner front wing (~2000cm²), and an Ozone Wasp 5m. He then “dropped down too quickly” — a ~1500cm² pump-and-glide on an ultra-short fuse (which hurt his gybes/pitch control), then an 80L SIC Raptor. Now winging on the Axis ART 999 high-aspect wing. Admits he under-practised because he’d choose kiting whenever it got windy, and cramped up badly early on until he adapted (harness helped).
  • Liam’s winging journey: first session autumn 2020, sent out by his boss Steph Bridge (of Edge, Exmouth) “wind-with-tide” on an F-One Swing 5m on a Tarifa-made custom board (~90–100L, originally shaped for Guy Bridge to SUP-foil). Because he’d already kitefoiled, he “knew how a foil should ride.” First session was a disaster — he drifted a mile down Exmouth beach — but it “clicked straight away” on session two in flat water behind the sandbar. His first own kit was an RRD 5m wing + RRD universal foil (~1550) on a converted formula-kite raceboard; he later fell for the F-One Phantom 1080 (tried Steph’s setup) and rates it as one of the most accessible foils. He built his own board (~90L, 5’2”, a full-carbon copy of the Ride Engine Moon Buddy, drilled with holes to save weight). Rides front-strap-only after an ankle injury.
  • Shared philosophy / “willy-waving”: both push back on the industry hype of ever-smaller boards and foils. Liam relays a call with Adrian (Axis) about customers buying too-small boards, then wanting bigger ones two months later; Freddie, as the rep selling that gear, admits smaller boards were “good marketing.” Advice: maximise your current gear before stepping down, and keep a crossover period with two boards.
  • Style debate: Liam wants a critical, short-board surf style (turning hard, generating speed in the pocket); at Bantham they ride with Rich Boughton (“Richie B” / Kitebarn), described as “the endless summer of wing foiling” — drawn-out, controlled carves. This drives their disagreement over high-aspect wings (e.g. the Eagle) vs playful ones.
  • First pump-foil session: Liam (with “Steezy Pete”) tried it this week — hilarious, managing about one and a half board-lengths — on a Slingshot 1150 pump-and-glide; they reference the newer 1310 and Hugo Wigglesworth’s ~17-minute pump-foil record in New Zealand.

Gear / brands mentioned

  • F-One: Phantom (1080/1280/1480/1780), Swing 5m, Eagle.
  • Axis: ART 999, ~2000cm² beginner wing, ~1500cm² pump-and-glide.
  • Ozone: Wasp.
  • Slingshot: WF2 beginner board, 1150 / 1310 pump-and-glide.
  • SIC (115L board, Raptor 80L, Poacher 40L), RRD (5m wing + universal foil ~1550), Ride Engine Moon Buddy (copied for Liam’s DIY board). (SIC/RRD/Ride Engine not yet entity pages.)

Notable quotes or takes

  • On foil-obsession spreading across disciplines: “the foil is content-hungry” (Liam quoting a listener message).
  • Both agree freestyle “can go and… it’s just not my cup of tea” — waves are what they chase (Freddie), with Liam wanting a more critical surf turn.
  • Best sessions: Freddie — Avon Beach, Bournemouth, riding clean swell with Chris Burke (Poseidon Kiteschool); also an SE-swell day at Exmouth. Liam — a switch-stance wave “hack” at Exmouth, and scaring himself at Godrevy/Gwithian.

Mentioned

Liam · Freddie · Steph Bridge · Guy Bridge · Rich Boughton · Chris Burke · Adrian Roper · Kitebarn · Exmouth · Bantham · F-One · AXIS Foils · Ozone · Slingshot · Wing Foiling · Prone Foiling · Pumping · Masts

Ingested from the auto-transcribed episode (faster-whisper, unreviewed; no speaker labels — attributions by context). Uncertain/garbled in the raw text and flagged: “our ID”/“RID” = RRD; “Aven Beach” = Avon Beach; “OTC in Poland” and “Andy Gratwick“‘s course details are unclear; Guy Bridge’s “980 Kajira” foil model is uncertain (possibly Cabrinha or a model name); guest names teased include Richie B (technical editor, Foiling mag; wife Sarah, editor) and “Jack Galloway” plus a BKSA Wave Masters trip to Brandon Bay, Ireland.