Kai Lenny is 22 and originally hails from the Hawaiian isle of Maui. His parents are ocean enthusiasts and they had him on a surfboard by the time he was five and was flying around behind a kite by the time he was ten.
Unsurprisingly then he has grown into an adult that absolutely loves everything that involves him on top of a board moving fast through water. He’s a renowned big wave surfer, stand-up paddle boarder (he’s won no less than six world championships), windsurfer, kitesurfer and general water-sports enthusiast. A few months back he grabbed headlines with his hydrofoil antics, which were received with mixed reviews.
Some were unimpressed with the aesthetic, whilst others warned that there’s a good chance if it got popular as a sport it wouldn’t be long until we saw someone chopped in half by one. However others found the whole thing to be pretty mind blowing, and whilst we wouldn’t be super keen on it taking off, and line ups anywhere near us filling up with them, we do admit it looks pretty fun. And according to Kai, it is! Now he’s back, and he’s had a revelation that allows him to catch open ocean swells on his hydrofoil and ride them for miles.
Whatever you make of it, when a waterman as seasoned as Lenny describes something as ‘One of the most incredible feelings I’ve ever felt’ I think it’s worth a watch, because isn’t that what surfings supposed to be about anyway?
