All-round waterman Zane Schweitzer tackles the worlds most famous big wave on the wing, decides to ditch it and foil surfs one of the biggest swells of his life. Find out how the wing is changing big wave surfing in this incredible feature!

Zane Schweitzer is a true waterman of Hawaii. He pushes the limits on all of his chosen craft. It was in early December, however, that he did what we believe was a world first - big wave tow foiling with the wing.

He lines up at Jaws on a wing foil and simply lets go of the wing. As you can imagine, that really caught our attention, so we just had to have a chat and find out more…

Could you start by telling our readers how you got into foiling & wingsurfing?

I first tried hydrofoiling on Namotu Island back in 2002, I believe, but I really became consumed by it in 2016 when Alex Aguera started bringing about the new generation of hydrofoils here on Maui.

What was the build-up towards this season of big swell like? How do you prepare for riding a wave like Jaws?

This year's season has been refreshing as I've had a lot of time home to train and prepare for this winter's big wave season. I've always loved big wave surfing, so preparing for winter is always something I look forward to, but preparing for the big wave season takes longer than just a few weeks. Throughout the year, it's all about cross-training, so whether I'm paddling, surfing, or diving, my intentions are always set on where my heart is.

Tell us about that day you first let go of the wing on the wave. Who else was there? Were the conditions just right?

The first day I took out the wing and foil was on December 1st, 2020. It was one of the first swells of the winter and a great day to warm up for some paddle in waves and test some fins and gear. I've been thinking about tow-foiling a lot lately, but without a jet ski, I was imagining the possibilities of getting into the wave with the wing. Just in case the opportunity for it presented itself, I had the wing and foilboard in the boat. After some waves surfing, I decided it was time to set up the wing. I had an 800cm AK Foil with a 4m Freewing by Airush, and it was just enough to get up and going, but once on the wave, it was a whole different story. With the speed of the wave and the apparent wind off it, there was a lot of lift pulling the wing and me attached to it up and out the back of the wave. It was pretty tough to stay in front of the wave and continue riding it for the length of the wave with the drag from the wing as well as drag from the foil. 800cm was far too big for this much speed! I learned a lot, though, and on the following swell, I had some other ideas in mind to ride the foil at Pe'ahi more efficiently! On December 4th, we had another swell, and it was a bit bigger for sure. My plan was to coordinate with one of the jetskis and ask if they could chase down my wing if I were to release the wing and ride the wave with just the foil. It was a great day for it as it wasn't very crowded and quite a few skis running safety. It was a blast getting a feel for it, and I was super stoked to get "whipped in" on a few self-powered with the wing! I learned that the foil was too big on the wave; even after letting go of the wing, it was maxed out on speed, and I was doing all I could to hold on. When kicking out of the wave, I was surprised that I was able to pump back out to the lineup and catch a second wave pumping into it!

Were you worried that the wing would get blown away?

Surprisingly it didn't actually blow downwind and wasn't that far from the lineup- which I actually ended up being more concerned about.

I know you've had several more opportunities to surf Pe'ahi since then. How's your progression going, and what's next?

Oh man Its been an amazing winter season so far. We have scored so much great waves, including being able to have the opportunity to be apart of the action during some of the biggest forecasted swell I've ever seen! I'll always remember January 16th as the day I've caught the biggest waves of my life (so far), on windsurf, tow-in surf and as well paddle in!

Videos

XXL JAWS TOWSURF PADDLE & FOIL
By Jack Galloway

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