The Progression Project

Ed Junquet is a foil surfer from New Jersey who has pioneered his coastline. He has competed in downwind races around the world and shares his experiences and knowledge learned along the way. Ed rides for Green Hat surf shop and not a specific brand which allows him to test everything. Even in the heart of winter in NJ they're still sending!

Eric Christensen (@ericfoil) is a foil surfer from Texas, maybe the first. Eric loves all aspects of foiling, prone, downwind, wing and towing, and most of the spots and runs he's doing, he pioneered. This is his 3rd time on the pod and we discuss how the sport is evolving, how surprisingly good Texas can be, how experiencing real fear at 17 while being shot at changed his perspective and more... enjoy.

Cliffy and Erik break down the design and testing process for the Evolution foils that just released. They discuss how the design game has changed in the last two years, what precision is now needed in the prototype process and how UniFoil changed their process to accurately test more refined foils, and the addition of an F1 areo engineer to the team for CFD analysis.

Ziggy Alberts is an Australian musician and lifelong waterman with a love foiling and twin-fins. In this episode we explore the relationship between music and surfing, the feelings foiling and playing huge crowds, tour life, foil board design, foil design evolution and so much more. For those of you who haven't heard Ziggy's music, I've included a personal favorite song, Runaway, right after the intro. Enjoy! ARIA Triple Platinum Certified, independent Australian singer-songwriter, Ziggy Alberts ( @ziggyalberts ) shares his love of nature and the ocean not only through his lyrics but in his pursuit of waves and adventure whenever possible. "Surfing and music are the balance for my life. It keeps me accountable to pursuing my adventures, which keeps me free and it works great because I always end up working on so much music and poetry while on surf trips. Without surfing and without adventure there isn't that raw, rugged nature and physicality which is so part and parcel to my inspiration. WIthout surfing and adventure, it is just empty words because a lot of people identify my music and poetry with a sense of adventure" said Ziggy.

Zeke Lau (@zekelau) is a professional surfer from Hawaii. He's a 2x Sunset Pro champ and won the US Open of Surfing and The Ultimate Surfer. In 2018 Zeke started prone foiling and then this year he's taken on downwind. This is a wide ranging conversation covering the struggles of the dw journey, differences in flow states between surfing and foiling and competition, his approach to learning and why maybe it's not the best way to learn dw by full sending an 8 mile run before really getting the pop up dialed. You guys are going to love this one! Enjoy.

Edo Tanas (@whoedo) is the current world champ in downwind foiling winning both the M2O and M2M this year. This episode is an inside look at what creates a champion, his olympic wind surfing goals, transition to foiling, spending his teen years in Hong Kong, and his move to Hawaii.

Andrew Sayre is a Hood River based foiler who describes himself as jack of all trades, professional at none. From Rhode Island, a sailor, surfer and backcountry skier who made his way to the Gorge via an extended stint in Jackson Hole, he now calls Hood River home. A KT team rider and SUP foiling addict, he logs 200+ days on the water with the local group of riders all pushing the sport forward. On this episode he recounts the story of getting hit with his foil and nearly bleeding out in the gorge. We dive into safety in foiling, and steps we can take to be prepared if something does happen.

Cash Berzolla is an 18-year-old waterman from Maui who is currently leading progression in wing foiling. He's recently released "Cash" a short film showcasing his foiling in South Africa. In this podcast we discuss his early start in surfing, approach to learning and progression, the J-Bay experiment and filming Cash and his new found love of music. Enjoy!

Living legend Dave Kalama returns to discuss his current mindset, how downwind as a sport is progressing, how good ideas can be missed, the evolution of design and his battle to love high aspect foils.

Steve Tobis returns to discuss the race scene in maui and the upcoming M2M and M20, foil design and testing we've been doing with UniFoil, board design trends and training for downwind.