Why go near a lineup when you have miles of “wilderness surfing” in the open ocean? Photo: Lift Foils//Screenshot
There are a lot of things surfers don’t like. It’s a long list, and it’s full of contradictions that somehow make sense to us once we give enough days of our existence to flailing in the ocean. And I would argue that the most common thread in things that irk the everyday surfer is…people. Because at the end of every rule, written or unwritten, are people who break them.
One group of common offenders are foilers and e-foilers. There’s a general expectation that anybody on a foil isn’t going to steer their standing guillotine straight through a pack of 25 surfers huddled tightly around one peak. It seems like common sense, but then again, common sense isn’t so common, and even the best of us are guilty of getting greedy when we sniff the chance to snag a good wave before anybody else.
Even if a given guy or gal on a foil doesn’t actually commit any objectionable offenses, just their presence anywhere near a surfing lineup creates the expectation that they will. And in surfing that’s more than enough for a guilty verdict and a mild-mannered “request” to go elsewhere. One foiler bobbing out the back can probably get any surfer’s blood boiling hotter than looking up and seeing three or more people getting into the water together. And credit goes to the folks at Lift Foils for knowing all of this and putting together a little self-aware PSA. The company has been one of the driving forces behind foiling’s rise to prominence over the past 15-ish years. What they do creates access to places in the ocean we wouldn’t enjoy otherwise, but they’re clearly not blind to the fact that some foilers see the equipment as an invitation to nab waves near crowded lineups, too.
In the spirit of Uncle Ben, they reminded everybody that “with great power comes great responsibility. Respect the culture, respect the line up, and have fun.”
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