Andrew Gibbons has the perfect CV for his position as R&D Design Engineer at Naish, who have introduced their new designer in an interview. Growing up in a family that moved to Maui in the 90s for windsurfing, water is his natural element. "I've been doing water sports my whole life," Gibbons explains in the interview. After moving to Australia during his school years, his career in water sports started early: at the age of 14, he was already working in a local water sports shop on the Northern Beaches, where he taught himself how to kitesurf. Back on Maui, he studied mechanical engineering and spent a lot of time on the water - the perfect combination of technical understanding and practical experience for his new position.
From university straight to Naish
The path to Naish was almost seamless for Gibbons. While still at university, he recognised the potential of emerging downwind foiling and quickly got better at it. This combination of academic training and practical experience on the water made him the ideal candidate for Naish when the company advertised a vacancy after his graduation. "It's really the result of a lifetime in watersports and some careful planning and life choices that have allowed me to get here," Gibbons summarises his career.
What attracts an aspiring designer to working for Naish? For Gibbons, it is above all the creative freedom that the company offers him. "Naish is a company that has always been at the forefront, but now needs to catch up. I see a lot of opportunities for growth and innovation, especially as a new designer coming in, and the company is starting from scratch in some ways," he explains. This situation gives him the chance to bring in fresh ideas and develop his own design approach. "I have a lot of creative freedom... so I'm most excited about my creative freedom and the opportunity to design fresh things," emphasises Gibbons. His vision: to bring an exciting design perspective to the company.
Focus on wing and foil
As R&D Design Engineer, Gibbons works closely with Noah Hoffman, the Chief Foil Designer. "My responsibilities are a bit mixed, but I mainly work in the wing and foil area," he says, describing his role. He is particularly excited about the opportunity to develop a new downwind race foil - both for himself and for the market. "I'm really looking forward to getting the opportunity to develop equipment that I want to race on myself," he says. He is also working on the final design inputs for the new foil system, which is due to be launched on the market next year.
His experience as an active athlete is a decisive advantage for Gibbons in product development. "It definitely helps to have raced at a high level and to have ridden a lot of other good equipment," he explains. This practical experience gives him a clear understanding of what standards need to be achieved and how to get there. He summarises his design philosophy succinctly: "Definitely performance-orientated, but user-friendly. User-friendly performance is a good slogan."
Vision for the future: affordable foiling
Gibbons sees one of the biggest challenges and opportunities in reducing the cost of foil equipment. "Improving the geometry and material design to reduce the final cost to the consumer. Foiling is currently too expensive for every brand on the market," he explains. He sees opportunities to change the design to make products more stable with less expensive materials. "I think that will bring a real change in how we present foiling to the world and how accessible it is," he emphasises. This vision fits perfectly with his approach of developing high-performance but user-friendly products.
Inspiration from nature and sailing
For his designs, Gibbons looks beyond the confines of water sports. "Nature always has the answers," he explains. He studies other marine life and birds and uses biomimicry to get ideas for good outlines or shapes for objects that move through air or water. "Evolution has had millions of years to figure these things out, so that's a good starting point," he emphasises. He also draws inspiration from sailing - from Moths, WASZPs, the America's Cup and SailGP. "The top end of the foiling spectrum and what they do for different design aspects," he says, describing his sources of inspiration.
Gibbons cites Kane de Wilde as a personal role model when it comes to design. "I can often be on the water with him and see how he goes about his R&D process and the innovative products he brings to market," he explains. De Wilde has no formal training in engineering, but is self-taught and has a good feel for product design - an approach that inspires Gibbons. In addition to his work at Naish, he remains active as a competitor. The main competitions for him each year are the Hawaii race season with events such as the Wet Feet Voyager Challenge, the Voyager Downwind Challenge, Paddle Imua, Molokai to Oahu and Maui to Molokai. "The M2O is the world championship of downwind foiling, the biggest event every year," he explains. He also tries to take part in at least one international event, such as the Northern Beaches Downwind Race in Sydney or the Crozon Foil Festival in France.
