Rider & Words: S Abel Lago
Photos: Jaime Martinez
Location: Louro, Galicia
Date: Tuesday September 27th, 2022
The sandbanks at his local spot have been favorable to Abel Lago in 2022, and this day in particular proved one of the best yet for his new favorite hobby…
💎 Premium Content Ahead! 💎 *You will receive our weekly Friday Pump newsletter, plus the latest features, gear tests and giveaway announcements. The swell came a bit late this day, and with a lot of power because of its westerly direction. We normally ride at low tide to get the good open-faced waves, but on that day we had open waves even at high tide… the perfect combination to be able to ride perfect waves with deep enough water to not catch the foil. Martin Tieles – fresh from coming 2nd in the waves discipline at the recent nationals – was pushing through the critical section of his first wave but ended up on the beach after being smashed by a strong shorebreak (young blood!). I was choosing better waves and riding some good ones, but I also got a few good lips to the head. It’s a whole new experience, getting caught by waves on a wingfoil… you have more to worry about than on a kite, but the adrenaline is higher and the experience is amazing. We surfed for more than two hours, it was a fantastic day pushing each other to go deeper and faster on the sections. When we’d finally had enough lips on the head and the wind started to drop, we decided to do some surf foiling. The take-off on a surf foil with overhead waves is like dropping in on a barrel at Pipeline. Every wave is a mission and each single successful take off is a victory. Luckily for us, the waves this year have been perfect, so even the third session of the day was fantastic. Now subscribe to the world's best foiling magazine!
This is premium magazine content, usually only available to our subscribers, but you can access it for free when you join our mailing list!
(Already subscribed? Simply enter your email to unlock all magazine features now)This day started with a good surf on my short board, straight after the morning coffee. The forecast was fantastic, with head high waves, glassy conditions in the morning and thermal wind in the afternoon at our home spot, Area Maior beach. Area Maior is the beach where I have one of my centers, and it’s a pretty perfect surf spot that gets a lot of windy days, especially in spring and the summertime. The northwest wind blows every afternoon between 2pm and 8pm and can get up to 20 knots, and the wind blows side-off from the right. With kitesurfing or windsurfing, it’s a bit difficult to ride because on the beach the wind is a bit gusty. But for wingfoiling, it’s just perfect for riding waves.
To get the latest premium features, tests, gear releases and the best photojournalism in the world of foiling, get yourself a print subscription today!
The Armstrong crew certainly is a tight one, so a chance to gather together for a photoshoot in Hawaii was a great opportunity for some good times amongst friends, and all the while calling it “work”. It wasn’t without incident though…
READ MORE
The third generation of the popular AURA wing arrives, featuring fresh material choices in its design, and their innovative new Click-Boom handle system too. Plenty enough there to warrant pitching a few questions to the Vayu team to find out more…
READ MORE
No resting on laurels over at Stoke Foil HQ, as the team release two new technically advanced additions to the Boost setup that’s gonna make your Stoke Foil assisted experience even more responsive… and even more fun.
READ MORE
"The magazine looks insane. Very stoked to be part of it."
"I enjoy every page of the Foiling Mag – keep it up!"
"Foiling Magazine is incredible."
"What a rad publication."
"I had a good time reading issue N°1, everything is high quality from the content to the paper!"
