Silicon Valley Flocks to Foiling, Racing Above the Bay’s Waves
“It’s not a very cheap sport, and people here are very wealthy, so it’s a good combination.”
The man who got Silicon Valley into the sport in the first place was Don Montague, a foil craftsman and the tech world’s foiling fixer.
Versions include a jetfoiler, which looks like a surfboard with a rudder
and a tiny hidden motor; the SUP foil, a stand-up paddle board with a foil; and the kitefoil, which is like a kiteboard but has a foil.
“They look you up, or they have a friend, and all of a sudden you’re hanging out with Larry
and Sergey,” Montague said, referring to Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
“This is the foiling spot for America.”
Montague is a regular on the private-island and yacht circuit with people like the Virgin Group founder Richard Branson
and Google’s Page, whose islands are close enough to foil between.