My First time flatwater SUP foiling with Armstrong Aidan Nicholas / SUPboarder

Trying something new is always exciting... How hard will it be? Is it even going to be possible?! Well, these were just some of the questions I was thinking when I heard that Armstrong team rider Aidan Nicholas was coming down to visit and teach me how to SUP foil on flatwater for the first time.

At SUPboarder we have been on foils in various forms for a few years now. But there was a new side to this foiling sport which I hadn't tried yet... until now! With the progression to longer, thinner boards and wider more high aspect ratio foils, riders are getting out on smaller waves, lighter winds and also paddling themselves up onto the foil on flat water... known as the flatwater pop up.

In this video you are seeing my very first flatwater pop up session, with some very good pointers from Aidan and top end gear from Armstrong. There's no doubt that having good, well set up gear and a pro at my side were definitely a major part to my claimed flights! But also having a good understanding of how to paddle shorter SUPs really does help.

This side of the foil sport will be a very interesting one to watch. Having the ability to take longer boards with bigger foils (like the Armstrong set up I was using) and ride very small waves or in very light wind conditions, maybe doing downwinding and surfing, will open up a huge arena for paddlers to play in. We will be following it very closely for sure, so keep an eye out on SUPboarder for more videos and posts in the future.

Thanks to Tris Best and Aidan Nicholas from Armstrong for coming down and letting me have a play on some very nice toys! I learnt a lot and had lots of fun!

Watch the extended raw video on our subscription service on SUPboarder pro ; https://supboardermag.com/2023/09/23/...