Nigel Thompson, founder of Waka, explains how they engineered the world’s first folding foil board — a full carbon board that packs down into a 12mm travel bag with the foil drive, mast and foils still attached, built around a mechanically-rated carbon/Kevlar hinge tested to over a million folds.
Shop the Waka Glide: https://waka.surf/products/waka-glide-board
Chapters:
00:00 Intro – Meet Nigel Thompson, Founder of Waka
00:20 The Origin Story: Born at AWSI
00:37 A Surfboard That Folds in Half
00:48 Global Rider Adventures
01:12 The First Waka Glide Board
01:24 The Idea: Adding Foil Assist
01:47 A Folding Foil Board & Its Travel Bag
02:12 Lighter, Stronger Design
02:24 Foils & Motor Fit Inside the Bag
02:46 More New Products at waka.surf
02:56 How the Carbon Hinge Works
03:18 The Backstory: Frustration with Travel
03:34 18 Months of Failed R&D
03:54 The Breakthrough: A Carbon Hinge
04:15 Prototyping the Design
04:32 Hinge Material: Kevlar
04:49 Rated for a Million Folds
05:00 Locking System & Zero Flex
05:23 Outro
