Foil Life Podcast

On this episode of the Foil Life Podcast, we sit down with Noé Cantaloube, North team rider and big-wave foil charger, to talk about taking a foil into the legendary waves of Nazaré.'
Noé explains why Nazaré is one of the best places in Europe to train for serious big-wave foiling (consistent big conditions, not just chasing the single biggest wave), and how he approaches it differently from traditional tow surfing—using the foil’s speed and flow for big cutbacks and different lines. He walks through the evolution of his gear over multiple seasons: starting with mid-aspect foils that had too much lift, then ultra-low-aspect 400s that were almost too fast, and now settling on North low-aspect 600–700 front wings with an 85 cm mast and his regular strapless Surfle board (4.2 / 25 L). Everything is stock gear you can buy.
They cover the realities of the ride itself—averaging around 35 knots, the controlled but intense feeling of banking turns on a bomb, the limited margin for error with chop on an 85 cm mast, and why the biggest danger is actually the jet-ski safety recovery (flipping a foiled board onto the sled and getting back out), not the wave itself. Noé also shares his take on foil assist / Foil Drive in bigger conditions, the difference North’s trench boards and mini pods make for drag and travel, and the value of knowing one setup deeply instead of constantly switching.
Plus a look at growing up between Réunion and Bora Bora, life in Tarifa, winter prep (apnea, gym work, and training with the team), and heading back to Nazaré for the season.
Episode Highlights:
Why Nazaré is the ideal big-wave foiling training ground in Europe
Gear progression: from mid-aspect to low-aspect 600–700 North foils + 85 cm mast
Riding strapless on stock Surfle board (4.2 / 25 L) in serious waves
Speeds averaging ~35 knots and the feeling of banking turns on a bomb
The real danger: jet-ski safety recovery with a foil, not the wave itself
Chop, mast length trade-offs, and why shorter masts can make more sense in big waves
Foil Drive / foil assist place in medium-to-big waves (and why you still need jet skis)
North trench boards, mini pods, and integrated masts for reduced drag and travel
Growing up between Réunion and Bora Bora + life in Tarifa
Physical prep and team training before the Nazaré season
Advice: stick with one setup and learn it deeply
Follow Noé: @noe.cantaloube
Follow Foil Life Podcast: @foillifepodcast
Gear: @northfoils

On this episode of the Foil Life Podcast we sit down with Dane Gillett, the British expat who has spent more than 30 years in Japan and is widely known as the English-language voice of surfing in the country. From his base at Hebara Beach in Katsuura, Chiba, Dane has spent decades documenting breaks, building SurfingInJapan.com as a side project, and turning that knowledge into a full lifestyle around the water.
In this episode we talk about:
- Arriving in Japan on a short trip more than 30 years ago for the snow, then realizing he never wanted to leave
- Falling in love with Japanese powder (and the value), spending years in the mountains, then eventually shifting fully to the coast
- Meeting his Japanese wife, settling in Tokyo, and needing an escape, which became weekends chasing surf with almost zero English-language info available at the time
- Building SurfingInJapan.com from notebooks and word-of-mouth in the only foreigner pub in Tokyo, then driving the country for 25+ years to map breaks, beaches, and places to stay
- Turning a pure hobby into the thing that now supports his lifestyle after three decades of consistent work
- The reality of “living the dream”: staying humble for years, then realizing people benefit when he talks openly about the long road and the possibility
- Lessons from growing up in a family of 13 kids, work is life, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, and chase what you’re deeply passionate about so you never feel like you’re working a day in your life
- Why Japanese snow still stands out globally, and why the ocean life on the Chiba coast ended up being the better long-term fit
SurfingInJapan.com: https://www.surfinginjapan.com/ 
Splash Guest House: https://www.splashguesthouse.com/

On this episode of the Foil Life Podcast, we sit down with Clay Selby, Kai Lenny, and Whitney Johnson - the team behind Venturi, to talk about building the water-sports app they always wanted. What started as a foil-forecasting side project in the Philippines has grown into one place for wind, swell, tides, session tracking, gear, and community across wing, parawing, windsurf, kite, SUP, e-foil, and surf.
In this episode we talk about:
- The origin story: a side project about three years ago off Siargao, then Maui, and Kai pushing it from foil-only to every watersport
- The Today screen in wind or surf mode, and spot pages that read like a forecast article
- Live friend tracking from the Darwin soft launch and Maui downwinders, including Maliko runs
- Sport-specific session metrics: wave counts, parawing stash tracking, crash impact, and gear tagged to each session
- Auto-built downwind runs with instant leaderboards, plus the games and session replays
- Kai AI gear recommendations and the gear garage, what to pack for a trip like Mauritius
- Events and groups as a cleaner alternative to closed WhatsApp chats, including a look at Corzon Foil Festival
- Private pins and friend-only sharing for secret spots
- The safety beacon: Apple Watch, SOS, driver check-ins, and pings to nearby Venturi users
- The name that almost became Coconuts, the parawing giveaway, and the features they will not spoil yet
Venturi website: https://venturisports.com/
Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/venturi-sports/id6450483725

On this episode of the Foil Life Podcast, we sit down with Kieran Sammon, founder of Exit Watersports — Irish kiter, 2006 national amateur freestyle champion, automation engineer by day, and the person who turned a broken kids’ trampoline into a wetsuit hanger.
He talks Rhodes 2002, a January lesson in 4°C Irish water, building the IKSA, bringing the KSP Wave Tour to Achill with Aer Lingus and Hertz, a cancer scare in 2010, and why he still prefers boosting and smacking waves on a kite even as he chips away at winging and foilable swell. Then he walks through the products that grew out of not being able to dry a suit properly: the wide hex-cut XRail, the SUX suction mount, the 70-litre oval BUX change bucket, the XTEND windchill layer Hannah Whiteley called a game changer, plus Mavericks, Dry Bell, and what’s coming next.
Kieran covers the path from a second-hand Whipica LTR to a shed prototype in 2014, finding industrial designer Rudo Enserink, launching in late 2019 just before COVID, and the retailer feedback that one product is not a brand. Luc covers multi-day van trips, Thule boxes that never dry, and why a hanger that actually stands off the wall (or the car window) matters when you’re camping, commuting, or trying to get a suit dry before the next session.
Episode Highlights:
- First kite lesson: instructor sat in the car and said go play
- Consistency beat raw talent for the 2006 Irish amateur title
- Original XRail built from 25 mm trampoline tubing cantilevered off a shower pole
- 75 mm width + hex holes so air reaches every surface, plus bungees for five accessories
- SUX Mark II: pump suction and an adjustable nut so the rail stays level on a sloped van window
- BUX: 70 L, watertight, stand-in oval stance, perforated removable base, XRail slot
- XTEND PU-coated lycra over the wetsuit to kill evaporative cooling
- Mavericks paddle trainer and Dry Bell sand-fill travel kettlebell already in the US
- XOVER change robe (overlap / trench-coat mode) and inflatable CORE bench still in prototype
- Stock from Dublin across Ireland, UK and Europe; limited US warehouse
- Code FOILLIFEEUROPE10 for 10% off at exitwatersports.com
- Open call: anyone flying Europe → Mauritius, Luc needs a BUX in the hold
Visit: https://exitwatersports.com

On this episode of the Foil Life Podcast, we sit down with Camille Delannoy and Fabian Muhmenthaler from North ASG — two former pro riders now inside the Netherlands office. Camille works across AI engineering, software, and business intelligence on internal systems. Fabian is moving from Brand Ambassador Manager into Foil Category Product Manager.
They talk Brazil and Tarifa roots, strapless comps and early wing years, internships that turned into real jobs, and the shift from photo-shoot travel to building the next boards, foils, and tools the team actually rides. Camille covers the path from F1 to North, studies between Madrid and Tarifa, and the data and software work that keeps operations moving. Fabian covers industrial design studies in Cádiz, the foil he designed as his thesis, the ambassador-manager stretch, and taking on foil systems, boards, wings, parawings, and what’s coming next.
Episode Highlights:
- Camille first as athlete; Fabian in via that intro around late 2021 / early 2022
- Brazil → Spain/Tarifa → Netherlands; beach-town studies that still left room to ride
- Favorite tricks: cat-coups and wave riding vs. 720s, backflip-to-360s, old-school forwards
- Favorite spots: home beaches, the Canaries, and Mauritius One Eye
- Office five to ten minutes from the water, prototypes on tap, sessions before and after work
- MIDI Pro board upgrade and all new SF Foils (details to come!)
- High-camber downwind foils staying on part of the range, not every model
- Athlete knowledge plus engineering or data skills in the same person
- Less free riding, more testing — Tarifa for foil R&D, Dutch winter kiting to stay sane
- Keep riding, work hard, and follow the thing that actually pulls you
Visit: https://northactionsports.com