I have a fair few friends who love a good Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP for fans of brevity) session, especially with the sunset behind them and a few hashtags thrown in for good measure.

Nothing wrong with that, and my guess is you SUP fans are about to get a little hot under the collar when you see this new gadget in action.

That chap is called Kai Lenny, and the professional SUP athlete is tearing it up over in Maui. Below from Huffington Post:

The Maui native is a waterman through and through. He is a six-time SUP world champion who also big-wave surfs, wind surfs and kite surfs. His first name even means “water“ in Hawaiian.

But the video below really highlights his stand-up paddleboarding skills. The foil board he’s on has a set of strategically angled “wings” attached to the bottom that allow the board to glide through the water while lifting the board up into the air. More speed equals more lift.

Hydro foils have been used on boats, kayaks and surfboards for a while now…but they typically rely on sails, tow-in methods and waves for propulsion.

Not Lenny. Lenny uses his incredible strength and skill with a paddle to get up to speed, timing his pace with the small waves for a little extra help.

I doubt we would all look as graceful as the man whose name means ‘water’, but at least we can enjoy him in action.

[source:huffingtonpost]

[imagesource:here]