Rider of the Week: Tom Auber

Rider of the Week: Tom Auber

Name: Tom Auber
Age: 21
Nationality: French
Sponsors: FANATIC / DUOTONE / ION / SPORTMAX
Home spot: Le Havre , Normandy , France

What made you decide to start Wing Foiling?
I started winging because it gives the opportunity to enjoy lots of different types of conditions, foiling gives an amazing feeling of floating in the air and I really love it.

What is your background?
I started windsurfing 12 years ago, I am also kiting,SUP foiling and surfing but my main activity is SUP racing, I am competing on the professional tour since 3 years now, I made a couple of top 10 on the world tour and got some french titles.

Where and when did you make your first experiences?
I was lucky enough to make my first wing session in Maui back in April 2019 during the FANATIC/DUOTONE photo shooting, I got some gear and started to train in august then.

What are your goals in 2020 with wing foiling?
My goal is to keep improving, discovering new spots, make come cool pics/vidéos and try some new foils/wings/boards to see how efficient we can be with wing foiling.

Can you describe the feeling of being on a foil? What makes this sport so unique and special for you?
Foiling feels like your floating in the air, it gives an amazing feeling of lightness. The wing match perfectly with foiling as it is really light and so it makes a perfect combo to have a smooth ride in the air!

This sport is so new and developing very fast – what are your wishes to the industry? Where is potential to develop the wing foiling gear?
I see so much potential for the sport, I feel like I am progressing so much every single session and I see that everyone around me who is wingfoiling is doing doing the same, can’tWe have seen over the past few months/years that the gear ( foils, wing, boards) has evolved a lot, I think that winging is going be more and more performant and this is a great thing. Nevertheless, I hope that the brands will keep on developing some gear for beginners and kids to attract as much people as possible to foiling. This is definitely one of the easiest way to foil and if the brands put some large boards/ foils on the market, there will be a lot of people winging in the coming years.

Your favourite move?
I love doing 360s, but I would say that catching a big swell, release the wing and just surf the swell is the best feeling I have with wing foiling.

Your favourite wing foil spots?
My favorite spot is the “cap de la Hève” in Normandy!

How popular is wing foiling at your home spot? Are you the only rider or is the community growing?
At first my brother and I were the only riders in my home spot, but there are more and more and poeples starting to wing now, I am sure that the wing community is going to grow quit fast as there are lots of people showing their interests for winging ! 

Where do you see wing foiling in 5 years from now?
I think we will have different categories of winging standing out just like in windsurfing for example, we might see a freestyle one with bigger boards ( sup boards for example ), another one similar to waveriding/carving with small surf boards and maybe a slalom/freeride category with bigger wings…

What´s your most used gear set?
My favorite set is the Fanatic Sky wing board 4’8’’ / fanatic aero 1500 and the duotone wing foil 4m ( I am 65kgs), offering a big range of use, from 10 knots to 30 I would say… But I really look forward to test the new Duotone Echo and Fanatic Aero high aspect 1250!

Wing foiling during Corona (covid-19)

Can you still go on the water? Wing foiling during covid-19?
Practicing any water sport is forbidden here in France, so no wing foiling since 3 weeks now and we won’t be able to go again soon…

If you can’t go on the water at the moment – how do you keep yourself fit?
I am doing daily workouts and runnings to stay fit and get ready for the next wing session and SUP racing season. 

Follow Tom Auber on Instagram.

Thank you for the wingfoildaily Interview Tom. We hope that we see you on the water again soon. Everyone of us is keen to wing it again. Keep your action up – as soon as the covid-19 crisis is over – we want to see some action! Keep on winging it.