We chat all things foiling with the legend that is Gwen Le Tutour.

Hey Gwen! Stoked to have you join us here at Tonic Mag! Could you start by letting our readers know a bit about your background? Are you originally from France?

I’m from France, grew up in Brittany on the west coast of France. I enjoyed surfing and windsurfing growing up as Brittany delivers decent conditions all year around.

When did you first start doing watersports? 

I started surfing when I was 14 years old, then windsurfing at 16. I wasn’t super hardcore about it, more like riding once in a while so had a very average level. I would say it’s really when I moved to Florida that I was able to start riding consistently.

What inspired the move to the US? And why Jupiter, Florida specifically?

I was working with Sea Shepherd as a marine engineer and while working on a ship in Australia, I met an American girl onboard, fell in love, and ended up getting married a few years later. I moved full-time to the US in 2014. We moved around quite a bit, and while I was in Florida buying a van in 2020, I met Damien LeRoy. I was following him on social media and always enjoyed his attitude and energy. So I reached out to him to let him know I was going to be in his area for a couple of days and would love to meet up and maybe film a video. I didn’t expect a reply as we didn’t know each other at all. But he did reply and was stoked to meet up. We filmed some content, he took me tow foiling and I foiled some tiny waves for the first time. Had the best time ever! A few weeks later, I sent him the edit I had made of the couple of days we filmed, he loved it so I suggested we start something together. In January 2021 I moved to Jupiter and we started making YouTube videos together. Now we have over 1.3 million views a month on the channel, so I think our collaboration is working well. We just started a shop as well, WingFoilProCenter.com to expand our collaboration and continue to promote the sports we love!

What a cool success story! We love the ‘Gwen & Damo Show’ too, what inspired you & Damien to start it?

I think the reason Damien and I connected so well is because we have very similar values. We enjoy sharing our passions and helping people. That’s how the YouTube channel started. Not really to show how cool what we do is, but to deliver information and a message that could help people on their journey to live their best life. That has been the driving force behind everything we do.

Your ‘how to’ YouTube videos are very informative and professional. Is everything made by you & Damien or do you have a team behind you?

We do everything ourselves, we keep it very organic and fun. Our "how to” are definitely not the most well-structured and organised, haha! We don’t write a script, we literally meet at the beach and decide the topic, we turn the camera on and we roll, everything is one cut, with very little editing involved! Also because we release a video once a week, it is not our full-time job so we have to make it efficient. Our style is more to be real, we make mistakes, we forget things we should say, but we have fun and we do it to help people. 

I always found it very rewarding when I used to teach kitesurfing, you must get a lot of positive feedback from your videos & your foiling school.

Yes we do receive many positive messages, and that’s what keeps us going. It confirms the fact that we are making a difference in making people’s lives better, and that’s our goal. So as long as we can be effective at making people happy, we will keep doing what we do!

Inspired by many of your videos, I recently learned to beach start. What was the original learning process like for you? Ps, I have to ask if I can get one of your 'beachstart freak' stickers? 😉

Nice work! Stoked for you! Send me your address and your beachstart freak sticker will be on its way! When I first saw it, it was Theo Demanez doing it in Columbia during the Cabrinha dealers meeting. I didn’t think it would even be possible for me to do it so I didn’t even try then. A few weeks later, I tried a few times and it just confirmed the fact that it was literally impossible!

Only a few months later, after working on the dock start and getting it dialed, then I reconsidered the beachstart. I took it step by step, breaking down the move into achievable steps. Within a couple sessions, I got a few beachstarts. It got me fired up so I kept working on it until I literally would have a 99% success rate. Then I made it harder by adding shore break, smaller foils, etc… I think the potential for it is pretty incredible as in Florida we have plenty of days with a small swell that doesn’t break. So the beachstart is a way to ride this swell.

Completely agree, it opens up alot of potential here in the UK too. I saw that you beach started almost the entire Cabrinha range! What would you say is their easiest wing for learning?

Ultimately, even though I can beachstart an 800cm2 foil, it’s a lot of work, haha! So if it’s flat, I’m on the SabFoil 1350 Leviathan so I can pump around, get a workout, explore, etc, and if there is swell I’m either on the 1300 H series or 1000 H series from Cabrinha.

I think the easiest to learn is the 2100 X Series from Cabrinha. A big mid aspect is better to learn in my opinion. And a high aspect is better once you have your technique dialed.

The progression in the sport of foiling has been incredible in the last few years. Where do you see it going in the years to come? Do you have any specific goals or things you are working on?

I think the downwind boards are opening some incredible opportunities, whether it’s for riding swell, downwinding, or light wind winging. My next goal is to learn how to downwind sup foil. With the efficiency of the foils and boards now, it’s opening a lot of new areas to play and I’m super excited to explore more in that direction!

Thanks for taking the time to chat! Where can our readers follow along?

WingFoilProCenter.com

Instagram @PlantPositiveFIlms and @leroydamo

YouTube: Damien LeRoy

By Jack Galloway

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