Richard Boudia has been SUP downwinding since 2017! Amongst a few key athletes, Richard has put the Mediterranean on the map for downwind foiling. Jack Galloway chats to him to find out all about it.

Hey Richard, thanks so much for joining us! 

Thanks for having me guys!

Could you start just by telling us a little bit about yourself & your background in watersports?

I moved from the Paris area to the coast around Marseille at the age of 2O to live my passion of windsurfing. Then progressed into kiting in September 1999, surfing and stand up paddling in waves for a while also.... then got hooked on foiling waves and swell since 2016. 

Sounds like an ideal route into foiling. Do you think there is a specific sport that helped the most with downwind foiling progression or was it a combination of all your previous experience?

Yes, I think my SUP background with the ability to paddle on small unstable wave-riding SUPs helped me a lot, apart from that my main attribute is being really stubborn 😉

Haha, you need it with downwind SUP! How did your work with AFS Foils come about and what is your role there?

I use to work for another Foiling company, doing mainly commercial work, around march 2023 I contact AFS (Foil and Co) to see if we can work together, I love linking R&D, commercial work, and marketing 

Tanguy (president) has been doing the board designs and Kevin Ellway designs those magical foils. In AFS, we work as a team in the R&D department, each speciality is gonna need a lot of experience to make sure we get the best product out there, I'm the most obsessed with downwinding in the team so I've been the one to push on board size, shape type on the boards... and for the foils, Kevin, Emeric and the rest of the team have been discussing foil size, span, and speed range to make sure we got it right ASAP.

Other than testing foiling gear, what does the average day look like as International Business Manager at AFS (Foil & Co)? 

Checking the forecast at first, I'm checking it 10 times a day on average 🙂 ... replying to quite a few emails, WhatsApp, Messenger... a few teams meeting per day also to make sure we optimise every single aspect of the AFS gear from performances to marketing and commercial perspective.

It looks to me as though you’ve been downwind SUP foiling for over a year now. What was the learning process like for you? 

I've been SUP foiling Downwinding since 2017 it's been a while ... back then we needed strong wind to get going. For a few years now the gear and technique improvement allows us to ride even in light conditions

Wow, you're a real pioneer Richard! I was lucky enough to test the Blackbird recently. Which AFS foils would you recommend our readers learn with, and which foils for advanced, high-speed runs? 

To begging with I would suggest Performer 1900/ 1650 /1450 ( depending on your weight + stab Cruiser 245 and small mast ( 75 alpha or 78 Performer UHM ). Then for advanced riders, the Pure HA1100 + stab HA165 ( 85 or 78 UHM mast ) in light conditions, and the Pure HA800 + stab HA135 or Pure 900 for punchy conditions, Performer 1250 + stab 190 is also a good option.

Am I right in saying you live near Marseille? I think people wouldn’t immediately think of the Mediterranean as a downwind location. Can you tell us why it is so good? 

Yes, I live in Six Fours, we are blessed with wind swell and good wind in the area, the cherry on the cake is that the wind is often blowing side shore, ideal for downwind runs.

Sounds ideal. What kind of wind speeds are you looking for for your downwind runs? Does it make a big difference if the wind has been blowing overnight too or is that not really relevant?

To make it easy to start you want a short wave period, and strong wind (above 20 knots), blowing overnight can often get the swell to enlarge the wave period so it can get more technical because the swell speed is gonna be harder to match.

You’ve done a 100km+ downwind run which is super impressive! What goes into the planning of an adventure like that? Weather, safety equipment, nutrition? 

100k runs used to be impressive, gear improvement and a good technique make it actually not that hard, after a certain level you can go as long as you want, depending on how much time you've got... The weather was a sunny 5° and an average 25/30 knots, good wind direction to go along the shore, phone fully charged (plus extra battery, DW friends were aware so that I could call them if needed), camel back with salted water and a tool for my foil. I mainly ride fasted, so nutrition is simple, my last meal was the night before. That run was not really planned, I'll go for the real one next time with a bit of planning

Awesome, what’s the downwinding scene like in South France? Are there many of you getting into it?

It's growing fast, there must be a good 100 people practicing in the south of France from Nice to the Spanish border.

I saw that you’ve done some hand paddle downwinding on the BlackBird too. Do you think it’s just a phase, or is it here to stay? 

It's here to stay no doubt, great for DW without needing a SUP experience.

What is your current go-to setup for downwinding? I’m hearing great things about the PURE 1100, is that in your quiver? 

Black Bird 6'2, in light conditions and long distances it's the Pure 1100+ stab HA 165 + UHM mast 78 and 85, in punchy conditions I take Pure 900 or Pure HA 800.

Finally, what’s next for you Richard? Got any big adventures planned on the downwind SUP? 

Yesss, downwinding on SUP everywhere, going fast, getting better turns, going longer ... mixing it up to keep the excitement.

Videos

[OFF SHORE] Episode 01 - Introduction au downwind
By Jack Galloway

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