Jason Hall

Questions & Answers

What other water sports do you do and how long?

Prone Foil, SUP Foil, Bodysurf, Mat rider, Water photography, Surf, SUP

What do you like about wing foiling?

The freedom to go where ever you want. You can down wind with it covering miles of coastline or you can power out for a surf session, riding dozens of waves in an hour.

How did you learn and how long did it take you to wing foil?

I learned to wing foil at Kanaha here on Maui. Alex Aguera from Go Foil let me borrow his setup. I'd never done any wind sports before so everything other than foiling was new. Alex was a great teacher, he said "head that way, and come back" LOL! I was able to get up on foil on my first session on my strong side. But like everyone, I got blown down the beach and had to do the walk back up. After about a week of daily sessions I was able to jibe and stay on foil most of the time.

What is your favorite gear combination and why?

Go Foil https://www.gofoil.com/ have been my foils from the beginning, about 3 years ago. Also a local Maui brand, Alex and Karla have been great to work with and test new wings over the years. Alex is always designing and testing something new. It's been exciting seeing the progression from the epicenter of foiling. Kalama Performance foil boards https://kalamaperformance.com/ are the boards I ride. Dave is also a tinker'er with designs and it shows. From foil SUP to prone foil to downwind prone foil to wing foil he's always working on new ideas. I've tried a couple different wing brands, I'm currently winging BRM (Board Riding Maui http://boardridingmaui.com ) and love them. Durable, powerful, and the creators of the wing are right here on Maui. Tons of years experience in their wings.

What was your favorite wing surfing session?

There have been many here on Maui. The summertime down wind wing groups were a blast. There would be vanloads of friends carpooling up the coast to wing down 8 or 9 miles together. Winter time in the large surf has also been interesting, plenty of good rides, and good wipeouts.

What do you want or believe will significantly improve the wing foiling gear?

I think durability would improve the life of the wings. I've been through 2 different wing brands in under a year each that had issues with durability. The foils and boards are pretty solid.

What tips or recommendations do you have for anyone who wants to start?

Do your homework, YouTube is a great resource. Find out based upon your normal wind conditions what size wing to get, best to be over powered than under. Also know that you will outgrow your beginner board pretty quickly. Buying a used board is recommended in the beginning. You can later scale down to what better suits you once you have the basics down. Also, protective gear is recommended when learning, you're going to fall and sometimes it'll be on your board. Helmet and impact vest. I took a few rails to the ribs when I started.

What is your biggest water sport achievement?

My current achievement is winging comfortably in big surf.