Flightpath: Foil Mates

For those yet to come across it, can you give our readers an overview of Foil Mates? Who else is involved and how did you first conceive the idea for the app?

Martin Burk, Philipp Exner and I had first met while pumpfoiling at a dock on Lake Zurich. Back in March 2024, after a deep powder day and a few glasses of wine at Martin’s mountain cabin in Austria, we started talking about why pumpfoiling isn’t a mainstream sport yet. The answer was easy: it’s just too hard to get started.

Philipp had been teaching pumpfoiling at our local spot for years and had a stash of hilarious fail videos from his students. We thought: what if we used AI to analyze those clips and help people get better? Better stance, more glide, cleaner starts … the whole deal. One idea led to another (and another bottle of wine), and suddenly we had a full-blown vision: a pumpfoiling app with spot maps, community features, a tracker, a shop, and even gamification – all sketched on a napkin.

Next morning, reality kicked in: the video AI thing might be a stretch. But the spot-finder idea? That stuck. We’d all struggled to find a place to pump in the beginning. Newbies want to meet others, get gear tips, and most importantly, figure out where they can foil. That’s still the core of the app today.

How did your background in UX design and your co-founders’ experience shape the way the app developed?

As a designer, I took the lead in shaping the app’s structure and feel, building an early prototype in Figma to test how intuitive the experience could be. For me, usability is absolutely key – but since we're running a low-cost setup using Flutter, my designer heart has to make a lot of compromises. It’s not always pixel-perfect, but we make it work.

Philipp’s experience as an instructor (and analytical guy) brought real-world insight into beginners' struggles, which helped us define what users truly need. Martin, who built one of Germany’s first snowboard schools and has deep roots in the sports industry, helped us think bigger: if we’re doing this, we’re doing it right.

Together, our backgrounds ensured the app wasn’t just a tech project, but a purpose-driven tool built by riders, for riders and straight from the community.

Was there a moment where you realised: “We actually have something here!”?

For me personally, one of the biggest moments was spotting our bright yellow “Foilers Crossing” sticker on a rusty old Lada Niva with a couple of SUPs strapped to the roof – somewhere in Croatia. I still have no idea how it ended up there. If the owner’s reading this: please get in touch!

And beyond that … how wild is this: Foiling Magazine is doing a feature on us. I mean, what started as a sketch in a mountain hut is now hitting the pages of the world’s biggest foiling mag. Unreal!

Ha! Our pleasure! So did your own pumpfoiling prowess influence the direction of the app?!

Absolutely. When you're starting pumpfoiling, you need beginner-friendly gear, the right dock height (ideally with a ladder), and some good advice from others. That’s what helps you progress. As you improve, new questions pop up – about gear, technique, and finding other foilers. Our own journey shaped Foil Mates to support everyone, from curious newcomers to seasoned dockrats. We want to build the app around real needs.

What has surprised you most about how the foil community has responded to Foil Mates?

What fascinates me is the positive response and the openness with which people have approached us. It’s as if many were waiting for something like this to exist – a kind of trusted platform. I’m genuinely stoked that some pumpfoilers have become true spot scouts, regularly posting new locations and helping the whole community grow. We seriously couldn’t do this without you. Thank you for being awesome! We’re really just at the beginning – the app is only a year old and still quite limited in what it can do.

The app has had a lot of investment, and yet is quite proudly non-commercial and free. How important is that to you?

Of course, it would be amazing if the app made us rich and we could just foil, eat, sleep, repeat by the lake. But let’s be real, we picked the wrong sport for that. Foiling is already niche, and pumpfoiling is a niche within the niche.

We launched the app out of pure idealism, and also as a bit of a preemptive move. We saw what happened in the wingfoiling scene, where big companies quickly took over the digital space. That’s also why we don’t make our data open source – we wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again.

We’re now officially registered as a non-profit association. Sponsorships are of course more than welcome …

So what’s next for Foil Mates? Any features or evolutions you’re excited about?

The funny (or painful) thing is: there’s so much we could build. For one, downwind foiling is gaining momentum. New products like parawings are popping up, and it opens a whole new category of spots. Where do waves form, in which direction, how far can you ride them… lots of potential there.

Another big topic is gear guidance. We’ve got a bunch of ideas on how to make it easier for riders to find the right setup at every level. But for now, our next big step is community features. With the upcoming release, we’ll be opening up topic-based forums with things like “Traveling with your gear”, “Best beginner setup”, “Repair tips”, and much more.

There’s so much knowledge out there, scattered across chat groups and forums. We’d love to bring that together in one place. And yeah… people keep asking if we’ll build something similar for wingfoiling. Technically, the foundation is there. The system could totally handle it. We’d actually be up for it, but we’d need strong partners to make that leap.

Finally, what would a “dream version” of the app look like in five years?

In five years, we’d love to see a world map of top-quality spots, including rental options. Once we hit around 5,000 spots, chances are you’ll find something decent no matter where you are. Another big one is the “Your Feed” section. Right now, it’s still pretty underused – but we see huge potential. Imagine getting personalized content: news, videos, tips, maybe even relevant gear offers. Not spam, but actually helpful stuff tailored to your foiling journey. That would probably require strong partnerships, but the idea is there.

It might also be interesting to give all pumpers the ability to create their own content and push it out to everyone, for example, about events or new developments. And beyond community and content, we want the app to support training and preparation.

Finally, there’s still that original dream we had: a digital coach for beginners. An AI that analyzes your start technique and gives you tailored advice, like “lean back more”, “increase your takeoff speed”, “shift your weight”… If we crack that, it could be a total gamechanger for learning to pumpfoil. We haven’t forgotten it. It’s still on the horizon.