Willow River Tonkin endured a pretty harsh lockdown in Mauritius, once he was allowed out he taught himself to wingsurf and found he had some of the best waves on the planet all to himself! Read all about it here…

Locked down in paradise; well, let's just say that it didn't go entirely as we thought! Mauritius went through one of the strictest lockdowns in the world. It was so severe that even essential shops like supermarkets and petrol stations were closed for nearly 10 days. We were unable to go shopping to buy food, water or even toilet paper! That also meant that for us locals, are one and only chance to be out on One Eye without anyone in sight got thrown out the window.

In all fairness, the lockdown was necessary, and it paid off. Since April, Mauritius has been COVID-free, but it wasn't until mid-June that we were allowed to leave the house and get back on the water; living the dream!

Empty parking lots, beaches, line-ups, and just a few of us locals on the water; the first month after the lockdown was one to remember! We were all in the same mindset; trying to make up for the sessions we'd lost being confined to our houses. Scoring One Eye at its finest at the peak of the season with just a handful of friends was something I had never experienced before. You could have literally picked any wave you wanted, and it was yours: barrels left, right and centre.

If you've ever been to Mauritius, you'll know just how busy Le Morne can get. Over 200-300 tourists flock to the beach daily, and another couple of hundred learn at the kite lagoon. Every year there are some familiar faces and plenty of new ones... so there are always new people to meet at the beach. I must admit, after a month of having the spot to myself, it started to get quite lonely. Every day I'd head to the beach without a person in sight, and yes, I know I shouldn't be complaining but to be honest, heading out in the waves, alone, with no rescue boat and no one on the beach watching out for you, can feel pretty daunting. One Eye can be a scary place, and things can get nasty very quickly. So, there were many days that I went down to Le Morne, and the waves were too big or too dangerous to kitesurf alone. It was then that I decided that it was time to pick up wingfoiling again, start levelling up and pushing the limits!

I immediately ordered 2 carbon wing boards with my shaper, ELS Surf Vessels, in South Africa. I then spoke to UNI-Foil, and they sent over a couple prototype wings to play around with - it was GAME ON.

I started wingfoiling literally every single day! I could feel that I had a strong connection to wingfoiling, not only because I utterly love the feeling of foiling, but because I began to realise that I was a part of the early stages of a brand-new sport. Something I was never a part of when I started kitesurfing or even surfing. This sparked a flame inside of me as I could be a part of developing, pioneering and growing within the world of wingfoiling over the coming years.

I started observing other riders and seeing their love for the sport develop. Some of the people learning had zero watersports background, and in under a week, they were able to understand the wind, how to foil and use the wing. That just shows you that this sport is here to stay.

We soon had a wingfoiling crew that consisted of local kitesurfers and windsurfers; we were hooked! I think between us, we took the last remaining bit of wingfoiling gear from the shops on the island, so it was testing central at Le Morne! Some days, there were more wingfoilers than kitesurfers on the water. (Saying that, these days we think it's crowded if there are more than 5 people on the water!)

It wasn't long until I began experimenting and playing around in the waves. Merging surf-foiling and bringing the knowledge and understanding of surfing a wave on a foil into my winging - this started getting very interesting! I started trying smaller and smaller front wings from 1100sqcm to 900sqcm and even down to my currently most used wing, the 770cm/120inch prototype from UNI-Foil. I love experimenting and trying to understand what I would like to feel in my foils. Do I want more speed? Do I want more stability? Or do I want it to feel 'surfier'? It's a constant process of learning and understanding how each foil reacts in certain conditions.

The local wing crew started progressing, fast. It wasn't long until all 6-7 of us were out on our wings together sharing waves on Manawa. (One of the more 'chilled' waves compared to One-Eye) Foiling beautiful long slow peeling walls; the perfect playground for wingfoiling. Having the spot entirely to ourselves and better yet, only wing-foilers out! Everyone frothing and stoked to see the progress or struggling to stay on a foil and go up-wind in the lagoon to flying down these glossy waves. It felt so good to be around other people with the same love and motivation for the sport.

I must say that one person, in particular, stood out to me and that is my good friend Verena Gleichentheil. She is an amazing windsurfer and surfer but had no experience foiling. Within a couple sessions, she was up and riding on a 40L board and 1250sqcm foil and immediately out to Manawa with no fear, her progression was unreal. Watching her drop into these waves and carve down the faces after such little time on a foil is inspiring to see. I just cannot wait to see how Verena and the rest of ladies are going to push this sport in the future!

As tough as our lockdown was, we are blessed to be living in one of the best places in the world. It's a difficult time at the moment all over the world, and we all cross fingers that one day in the near future all of you guys will be able to come and enjoy fantastic wing sessions out here, together!

Videos

Wingfoiling on Manawa with Willow
By Willow River Tonkin

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