Professional kitesurfer Paula Novotna has recently turned her attention to wingfoiling. Jack Galloway interviews Paula to find out more…

Paula has been a big name in the kitesurfing world for a long time now. She competes at an exceptionally high level in the freestyle but can be seen in the surf or on a foil regularly. Like many of us she has recently turned her attention to wing foiling, we caught up with Paula to find out what makes her tick & how she’s getting on on the wing.

Hey Paula, we’re stoked to have you in the mag! Please tell us a little bit about who you are and where you’re from?

Thank you for having me! My name is Paula, I am 28 years old, professional and passionate kitesurfer, and now wing foiler, from the Czech Republic. I started kiteboarding when I was 14 years old and wing foiling not even a year ago. My life has always been traveling around the world, doing what I love, mostly with a kite and freestyle board. Then I found passion in waves and started riding waves with a kite and soon foiling as well. Then winging came and I got so hooked that I progressed quite fast and wanted to wing all the time. I like the diversity of these two sports. My life has been a crazy journey of great moments thanks to the opportunities I get to travel around the world doing what I love, training to become one of the best in the world. 

What made you take up wing foiling rather than just focusing on your kitesurfing career?

I wanted to try it! I found it funny in the beginning, but I always like to try new things. I think the fact that I am improving very fast is also why I like it so much. I like the feeling of flying above the water. It is very peaceful for me, makes me relaxed and cool down. I still enjoy kitesurfing a lot and I would not be able to say which is better. I just always have to travel with a lot of gear to make sure I have everything with me to have fun in the water.

Do you think they compliment each other or are you finding it hard to get the right balance between the two sports?

I enjoy both and can find time for both. Sometimes it is difficult, because I just don’t have energy anymore and I want to do all the sports in the same day. But I think I find balance between those two. There are days that I am kiting a lot because I am just learning something new, having fun with friends or filming. The other days I go winging, ride waves or I just chill. But that doesn’t happen so often. Most of the days when it’s windy, I am in the water.

You’ve been getting some huge airs on the Duotone Slick & Fanatic SkyWing, how do you find them? Can you be specific about your go to sizes of wing, board & foil?

Yes I love the Slick, so far this is my favourite wing from Duotone. It is amazing for freestyle and also great in the waves. It has lot of power. I like all the sizes, of course the smaller the better, but my most used wing is a 4m as I mostly ride in light winds. I currently ride on the 55L Sky Wing with a 75 3.0 Aluminium foil and 1250 high aspect front wing with 250 back wing. This is my favourite setup so far. 

What tricks are you working on on the wing at the moment?

I have been learning 360 rotations with and without the wing and jumping. I really want to try a backflip, so waiting for the right moment and when I am ready I will just send it and keep trying until I can do it. I also enjoy playing around with the wing on the water and getting waves. I enjoy having sessions with more people winging, but as well with kiters. I just always have fun on the water no matter what. With the right company is much more enjoyable.

You’re out in Cabarete, Dominican Republic at the moment, looks like idyllic conditions. How often are you getting out on the water?

I love it here. It is a super convenient place for me. I am in the water mostly all afternoon. Starting with a wing session followed by a kite session or opposite. Sometimes I have a kite project going on so we go to places where you only kite or perfectly flat for some freestyle. Other days I go winging on waves or I just go out winging in front of the apartment here. It is so nice as I live right on the beach, all I need to do is pump my wing or kite and go. Saves me a lot of time and I love it this way. I think Cabarete might become my second home sometime soon. 

What’s it like being a team rider for Duotone? What does your role entail?

I have been with Duotone (& when they were North) since I started competing. I am so grateful for them for being there for me since the very beginning. They have supported me to become an amazing athlete and follow my dreams. Being part of the Duotone family is amazing, we have a great community of riders and people working for Duotone all with the same passion and thrill. The support and help is not just financial and material, it’s amazing and I am proud to represent such a good kiteboarding brand. I believe in their products, help them improve with my feedback and I am always impressed with the development of the products as I am always one of the first people to ride it. It is amazing where kiteboarding has come and I can’t wait to be part of the winging era as well. 

For Duotone my main goal is to be represent the brand and influence people to buy the gear I am on. I truly believe in the gear I am riding on and always test it and try to help out people to get the gear they need as the diversity of Duotone products is quite wide.

I also think living a healthy lifestyle is very important, I’m very passionate about it. I like to inspire people with my life, travelling, doing sports, to live better lives and buy more kites and have the best life they could ever imagine. Because being in the water makes everyone happy right? 

You take your health & fitness very seriously. What does that look like on a day to day basis? How much of an impact do you think it has in competition?

I like to be active, I like to be fit and injury free to be happy in my life. I enjoy eating a healthy balanced diet. I also like going for runs to clear my head. I do some exercises and physiotherapy on the side next to all these sports in the water to make sure I don’t injure myself while I am out there. Competing in any sports requires focus and being in the best shape to be able to win an event. That’s why I try to be on top of my game and always keep improving & reaching new goals. With the right mindset and healthy body & mind anything is possible.

If you weren’t a professional kite & wingsurfer, what do you think you’d be doing instead?

That’s a really tricky question. Who knows? I have been introduced to kitesurfing in such an early stage of my life that I didn’t think about what else I would be doing. I have been interested in physiotherapy so maybe I might have been a physiotherapist. I have started studying business management but I couldn’t finish it due to amount of time I had to dedicate to kitesurfing.  I still enjoy learning new things and have some exciting projects I have been working on coming up.

If you could relive a moment in your career, what would it be?

It is very difficult to say, but I think when it comes to achievement, it’s when I won a World tour event in Fuerteventura. I was so shocked and I couldn’t believe it for few days! That was probably the best moment of my competitive career so far. I do have some incredible memories from all the places that I have been, that make it to this list too. Like kitesurfing One Eye in Mauritius or having the best downwinder ever in Dominican Republic with my friends. There are so many beautiful moments that kiteboarding and wingfoiling bring me that I want to keep doing this all my life.

Here in the UK, although we are seeing an increase in women in foiling there’s still very much a huge imbalance. What do you think can be done to improve female participation?

I am a woman who always try to push other women to go to the water and have fun! I am seeing more and more girls kiting and also wing foiling. Lets go girls! It will change your life! I enjoy bringing girls together, making camps to improve their level. I want more girls in the water! 

We get the impression you travel a lot, how did you cope with all the restrictions put in place last year?

It has been crazy. Although I have always been lucky to escape the lockdown or moved to a different country when Covid numbers started to rise. Like that I managed to be in a place where I can kite and be free. It has been crazy with a lot of Covid tests, controls and regulations but I still manage to have fun and do what I love. It has been much better now and I hope things will go back to normal soon.

I have been in some incredible places like the Caribbean - Union Island for 4 months living the dream life. I was so incredibly lucky to get stuck there that I still can’t believe it. Then I travelled to a few other countries with less restrictions and managed to kite & wing most of the time. 

What are your plans the rest of this year?

That is also an interesting questions! I travel with a content creator Eli and she sometimes goes crazy because I never know what happens next month. As I come from a country with no ocean I have to always be somewhere where there is wind, sun and waves to be able to train and produce content. I might be staying a bit longer in Cabarete, I have trips and competitions planned till the end of the year but I can say I will be spending more time in Cabarete as I like it a lot. Summer is mostly windy with less waves. Winters can be less windy but DR has some great swell so the waves are amazing in winters. Cabarete is magic!

Thanks so much for taking the time Paula, best of luck with your upcoming competitions! Jack.

Videos

GWA Wingfoil World Tour Talk Show with Paula Novotna, Marcela Witt, Francesco Cappuzzo & Klaas Voget
By Jack Galloway

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