Photo: Kai Lenny // YouTube
If something is even vaguely surfable, Kai Lenny is taking it out at Jaws. Earlier this year, he was seen riding a perplexingly short 7’6″ mini gun, but he’s also ridden the famously heavy break with a foil, a wing, and even a motorized surfboard. However, in his most recent video, Lenny has taken his love of alternative surf craft to a new level, by riding the Maui break on a wakeboard, of all things.
“This is a wakeboard meant for flat water, so naturally, I wanted to see if I could ride it out at Jaws,” quips Lenny at the top of the video. “I mean, what could go wrong?”
However, as he goes on to explain, there was a little bit of method to his madness. Rather than just a pure novelty (though it certainly is novel), he thought he saw a unique opportunity with the craft.
“I was introduced to this board through kiteboarding,” he continues, “It allows you to do all these technical tricks and be able to land both ways. It handles insane speed, and that’s where the lights sort of went off. If I could go really fast on this kiteboard and go really high in the air, why can’t I do it on a giant wave?”
He started off by testing the waters in smaller surf, where he immediately found success – and a unique snowboard-like experience. From there, he quickly ramped up to taking the board out in a “small” Jaws swell that instantly pushed the limits of his abilities to control the craft. He soon adapted, though, and became determined to go even bigger.
Finally, the climax of the whole tale came when a full-on monster swell hit Maui. Jaws truly came to life, and Lenny decided to really put the board to the test. Shockingly, it worked, and immediately had Kai considering how this may be able to change big wave surfing forever.
Check out the full video below.
