Zane Schweitzer sets world record with SUP Foil

At the "M2M Crossing", the world's first SUP Foil Race, 26 miles, or around 43 kilometres, had to be paddled across the open sea from the island of Maui to Molokai (M2M) - on a SUP Foil. This board for stand-up paddling has a foil instead of a fin. Two hydrofoils lift the foil board out of the water at high speed and the paddler then virtually flies without any significant water resistance. Zane Schweitzer set a new record time in July with such a SUP board from Starboard: He negotiated the so-called Pailolo Channel faster than all the other water sports enthusiasts in the race, regardless of whether they were travelling with outriggers, surf skis or unlimited SUP boards. He reached Molokai in just 2:24 hours - around twice as fast as with a SUP board without a foil. Hawaiian Zane Schweitzer, who can regularly be found in Germany at the boot trade fair in Düsseldorf, has already made a name for himself as a 15-time SUP World Champion and two-time Ultimate Waterman. By winning the M2M Crossing, "Zaniac" has impressively cemented this.

Foiling for over two hours requires an unimaginable combination of experience, skill and strength. For an averagely trained stand-up paddler, even two minutes of foiling in the sea is a challenge. The participants in the race have to use the current's propulsion, the so-called ground swell and the wind swell, as skilfully as possible in order to use as little of their own energy as possible. This is because the phases between the swells must be bridged with energy-sapping "pumping". To do this, the rider paddles with maximum power from wave to wave and increases the board speed by moving the board up and down with the legs. Zane also made the race particularly exciting as he briefly followed the line of his mentor, SUP icon Dave Kalama, and lost speed. Fortunately, he remembered his own instincts and even managed to outpace his role model Kalama in the end.

You can read and see how Zane experienced the wild ride here. Field report and video: star-board-sup.com/2018/zaniac-wins-maui-molokai-crossing-sets-new-record-sup-hydrofoil/