What happens when you combine kiteboarding, wakesurfing, and foiling? Well, the answer could be a bit complicated.
How about kite tow-in wake foil surfing? It is something like that. Whatever you call it, and according to the creative water sportsmen, this is a world's first.
Laurent Sublet and Jerome Falconnat merged two water sports - kiteboarding and wakesurfing - and a new discipline that is common to both boardsports.
"The idea emerged last year, but the lake was too cold. Then, winter was amazing, and spring has been long coming," Laurent Sublet tells SurferToday.
"So, we started the project two months ago, but we needed to find a good day with wind, but not too much otherwise the lake would have been too choppy, with few people around but not crowded, someone to film and, mainly, a good boat."
"Two weeks ago, we tried it for the first time with a small boat, but the wave was not big enough for surfing. So, we searched for a wakeboarding club that could lend us a big boat."
They got a Super Air Nautique 200, and hit Lake Annecy, a perialpine body of water located east of Lyon, in France, and south of Geneva, in Switzerland. The goal was to have a kiter towing a wake surfer on a foil board.
Inspired by Kai Lenny's recent foiling experiences, the French team hit the ground running and set up the stunt.
"Hawaiian guys have a simple life, with wind, sun, and waves every single day. In our Savoie Mont Blanc's lakes, it's not the same!" concludes Sublet.