More than 10 years ago in Newport, the foiling and levitating catamarans of the America's Cup World Series heralded a hydrofoil revolution.
A decade later, after lots of testing and refinement, that revolution has given birth to an entirely new era in ocean watersports.
Call it the foil era.
And it's already here in Rhode Island, in full foiling force, just in time for the summer of 2024.
"We are at an unbelievable stage in the evolution of foiling," says Denton Chase, an accomplished foilboarder whose surfing nickname is "Beasho."
Chase rides his foil in waves off Matunuck each summer before he returns home to Half Moon Bay, California, for another nine months of ocean play, frequently on the mammoth world-famous waves at a reef off Mavericks Beach, and sometimes with big-wave master Jeff Clark and other legends of surf.
Most of Rhode Island's foilboarders, or "foilers," remain in love with the traditional sensations of conventional surfing or paddle-surfing or wind sports such as kiteboarding or sailboarding.
But the magic of a hydrofoil can help a rider enjoy such "disciplines" far more frequently, according to Chase and other local foilers.
Plus, the foiling itself, which is yet another distinct water-sport sensation, is quite fun, too, they say, like "floating on a cloud" or snowboarding in the lightest of powder, Chase says.
"It's never too flat, too windy, too big or too perfect to foil," the 54-year-old says. "It's all great."
The number of people who ride foils are multiplying: If you didn't see one last summer, prepare for a first sighting this summer.
On a Sunday in early June, Chase is prowling through the outer reefs off Napatree Beach.
His eyes twinkle as he surveys the tops of messy ocean swells heaped by an incoming current.
He's riding in a boat. But he can't wait to get on his foilboard.
Just about everywhere he looks, Chase sees a free ride he can hitch.
Foilboards combine power of water and wings
A hydrofoil is basically a set of wings that interacts with water, providing lift and support like the wings of an airplane.
The physics of hydrofoiling allow a foil of much smaller size by comparison.
Modern foilboards are so efficient that some riders can generate enough lift and power to propel themselves with nothing but their own body movements.
A highly skilled pumping action generates lift and forward movement. Old-fashioned paddle-power can help, too.
Some foilers practice this type of foiling in place of a gym workout. But this typically isn't what motivated them to learn foiling in the first place.
Harnessing nature's gifts for fun in all conditions
The main objective for many foilers involves the energy that Mother Nature gifts to them in various combinations, especially in the Ocean State.
They've always harnessed these forces for the fun of it. But thanks to their new-fangled foils, they aren't as needy for one-of-a-kind weather events these days.
Foils offer fun in the lamest of surfing conditions, traditionally speaking, or in the lightest of breezes. It's possible for some people to ride a foil on the current.
"You can create a lot of energy out of nothing quickly," says Christian Schlebach, a foiler and oceaneering Newport businessman whose company, Hooley, sells foiling equipment.
"There's so many more places you can do this," Schlebach says.
"There's no days off," he adds.
Foil surfers, unlike traditional surfers, can catch and ride an ocean swell long before it breaks. In fact, some can ride a swell that doesn't break at all.
A foil surfer with a standup paddleboard might venture way out beyond the break at First Beach in Newport to capture and ride a shorebound swell long before it curls near the sandbar.
Another foil rider, averse to that much paddling, might choose a shorter board and stay in the breaking waves and whitewater.
In this discipline, the paddling part is on the tummy, or "prone," as they call it. But the most enthusiastic practitioners of prone foil surfing usually aren't prone for long.
They can ride a wave toward shore, exit with enough energy to carve a turn, and coast offshore – going against the surf – for another ride and a fresh burst of energy. With the pumping-type body movements and no paddle, some can keep their surfing stances from one wave ride to the next.
Winging it in Rhode Island on a foilboard
Other foilboarders – or quite possibly the very same people on some other day – might choose a "wing" for extra power generation.
It's a wing – not a sail – in the lingo.
Foilboarding wings are hand-held.
The leading edge of the canopy has an internal air-inflated bladder that provides structure and shape.
A central strut, somewhat akin to the boom of a sailboard, is inflated, too, with a simple air pump.
Such wings can capture wind, flying stably in the breeze held by just one hand. Wingboarders call it "flagging the wing."
A new era in water sport means new sporting feats
In Rhode Island, such foils and wings have opened up vast new riding territory, depending on the conditions and the desired type of riding.
One popular combination involves an incoming tide and a north wind blustering down Narragansett Bay in the opposite direction.
The wind adds some extra shape to an incoming current-driven swell.
Wing-wielding foilers target such swells, launching from points along the southern passages and reaching out into the Bay on the north wind.
Then they catch the incoming swell and release the wing.
Wing foilers launching in Saunderstown near the Jamestown Bridge, or at Fort Getty in Jamestown, will ride a north wind south to Beavertail. Then, they'll catch the incoming swells and ride them back.
Trailing behind them, their leashed wings glide gently in the breeze like pet seagulls as the swell propels them northbound on the foil. When that gets boring, it's an easy downwind sail back to where they came from.
At the moment, some of the sports pioneers are testing their abilities in extreme ways. In April, says Chase, a Californian named Kyle Pemberton rode a foil 55 miles from Mavericks to Santa Cruz on a wind-driven swell.
The skill and confidence that's necessary for adventures of such magnitude don't come easily. Also, foils have lots of hard edges, which raises the stakes of wipeouts in crowded surfing breaks.
But as Chase points out, foiling is possible in lots of different places. That includes some pretty safe environments for learners.
What's it like learning to foil?
Many foilers start out water-ski style, behind a boat with a tow rope, before they move on to riding foils with help from waves, swells, current or wind.
Schlebach strongly recommends learning the balancing of riding a foil on an electrically powered foil board, or eFoil, which he rents.
"It's like an airplane running down a runway," he said. "When the foil hits a certain speed, it lifts."
At about 5 miles per hour of speed, the foil begins to lift, Schlebach said. At 8 miles per hour, it's "fully loaded."
Handling the lift, which is instantaneous, is a big part of the early learning curve.
Novice foilboarders learn to keep their body steady and forward to leverage their own weight against the lift of the foil, which wants to lift right out of the water. Without proper correction and balance, the outcome is a wipeout.
Once a foil is underway, it moves through the water with far less drag than a paddleboard, kayak or sailboard.
A rider can coast through a lull if the wind cuts out briefly or a swell fades for a moment.
"You can literally glide through the lulls," Schlebach said.
How does foiling in Matunuck compare with California's Mavericks Beach?
To date, only a few people have ever foilsurfed anywhere near the most forceful "Outer Bowl" section of the reef at Mavericks, according to Chase.
Citing evidence that includes a 2018 video, Chase claims he was the first foilsurfer to catch and ride waves on the reef on a standup foil board and under his own paddle power without any tow-in.
He estimates that he rides Mavericks and other nearby terrain in the Pillar Point area 200 times a year.
Chase, whose middle name is "Summers," also summers with his family each year on Groton Long Point in eastern Connecticut.
And these days, the Mavericks surfer says his fun flows right through his annual East Coast sojourn, thanks to "exhilarating" local foiling opportunities.
He talks with a sense of fulfillment about stalking the most paltry movements of saltwater on Long Island Sound near Groton Long Point.
He figures he foiled off Matunuck 100 times last year. Compared with his hometown turf, he says, the Rhode Island conditions are glassier and less messy with greater frequency.
"I'm out when no one else is," he says, "because it's too flat or too bumpy or imperfect. But these are dreamy welcome conditions compared to Northern California."
Foiling near a Rhode Island house owned by Taylor Swift
Indeed, no one else is at play in the heaving swells just east of Watch Hill's lighthouse, and just south of "Holiday House" – Taylor Swift's vacation home up on the bluff.
The small center console boat bobs dramatically in the chop. Nothing about the conditions looks very promising for boarding. But Chase raves.
He pulls out a hand tool. Then, he bolts a sharp-edged foil to his experts-only board, which he built himself.
His hair is wet from rain and spray. In a metaphorical way, Chase says he intends to keep it dry. In other words, no wipeouts or even light falls. From the boat, he carefully sits himself on the floating foil board.
A short distance away, he paddles furiously. His foil takes off. The ride lasts more than a minute and whisks him a distance of almost three football fields. The course zigs extensively and then it zags just off the pop-singer's beach. Soon, Chase will joke that he's seen her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
But first, he paddles out again for another magic carpet ride.
