If you're at all interested in Stand Up Paddling, and you've clicked onto the internet this week. You've seen the video of Kai Lenny and his Hydrofoil. It's everywhere, with over 4.7 millions of views and of course the doubters and haters that go along with that much exposure, but nobody can deny - this is BIG news for stand up paddling! But why is it so big, when hydrofoils have been around for years? Here's three reasons why Kai Lenny and his SUP Foil broke the internet this week.

This is the first truly new thing to happen in stand up paddling since… Stand up paddling. Sure, there were inflatable boards, carbon paddles, super short designs and crazy efficient downwind machines. But they were still just stand up paddle boards! Paddlers improved their times, surfed bigger waves and explored the furthest reaches of the earth. But they were still just paddling on stand up paddle boards. The foil is truly unique, adding something to SUP that nobody thought possible.

The world is fascinated by hydrofoils. While aeroplanes are old news, hydrofoils in their sexy new carbon fiber iteration are new and mysterious. They might fly exactly the same way as aeroplanes, but the average joe is still trying to wrap their head around the wizardry that allows surfers, sailors and kiteboarders to fly on water.

That video showed only the best bits. If you've tried sailing a Moth on foils, or used a kite foil. You know that foiling is not easy. Try doing it on a board with no footstraps on a SUP, with a prototype foil in 25 knots. Kai Lenny ate it many (many!) times during the filming of that video, but nobody will ever see the footage. Instead, you see the graceful transition from paddling to flying, a few gentle turns, and big smiles all round. Oh, did we mention Kai Lenny is one of the most talented waterman of all time?

Make no mistake, SUP foiling will take off (get it?) and paddlers are already scrambling to purchase the yet-to-be-released foils. But be warned, there's a lot of hard work behind those few minutes of movie!

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