SUMMER DOWN UNDER

British rider Guy Bridge forwent the standard grey, cold and wet UK winter and instead opted for a West Australian adventure with a toolkit of foil options at his disposal…

Hey Guy, good to speak to you. Well from the film it certainly looks like you had the dream summer down under…

Hey, great to hear from you! Yes, we were pretty lucky to escape the worst of the harsh British winter. What an incredible trip it was – traveling up and down the west coast, riding almost every day on all kinds of different gear, it was so epic!

Where did you travel exactly then, and tell us about some of the highlight spots! 

We were based in West Australia the entire time, camping our way along the coast. It’s a massive state, we realized that pretty quickly! We traveled nearly the entire coastline, heading all the way up to Exmouth in the northwest, with a wild detour to Gnaraloo, carrying all our food and fuel for the week, where we scored some insane wing sessions, the longest, glassiest lefts we have ever surfed and camped out in the desert. Then we made our way down to Esperance in the far south-west, with plenty of epic moments in between.

Honestly, the whole trip was a highlight – we struggled to find anywhere we didn’t love. Exmouth was especially incredible for downwinding, with crystal-clear water with multi coloured corals, epic wind and bumps, and insane marine life popping up every few meters. We had some insane freestyle kite sessions up there and met the small downwinding crew at 3pm for our daily dose of sunset downwinder!

It looked like quite empty coastline at times. Were you in some pretty isolated spots? 

Yes, there were definitely some pretty empty stretches of coastline – especially when you’re a few kilometers offshore on a downwind board! With such a massive coastline, there are plenty of desolate spots, particularly up north. In summer, the heat keeps most people away, and it’s more common to head up there during the Australian winter. We were a bit hesitant about going north at that time of year – especially after so many Aussies warned us we’d be roasting in a tent (which we definitely did!). But it was so worth it. We made it to the legendary Gnaraloo, which was incredible to see. Unfortunately, we didn’t score a solid swell, but we still had some fun waves. It was also probably the most off-grid place we’ve ever been. From there, we continued up to Exmouth, where we scored some of the downwinders of our dreams.

Further south, we spent some unforgettable moments winging and downwinding the entire stretch from Cape Leeuwin to Cape Naturaliste. That part of the coastline is something special, miles from anywhere with huge mountains of forest meeting the open sea, we felt like the only two people left on Earth! Margaret River felt like home from home by the end of the trip – the insane waves and awesome foiling community kept pulling us back in, the morning surfing and afternoon sneaking in downwinders and wing sessions made every day so varied and exciting. 

You look like you’re on some nice AFS gear in this. What were you using? 

Yes! The AFS gear is next level. Their range has really pushed my riding and puts a smile on your face every time you get on the water. 

What kind of speeds were you hitting on some of those DW runs? 

I really got into the more surfy style of downwinding – trying to fit in as many turns as possible on a run just feels amazing. Especially with the AFS Silk foils, which suit this style perfectly. The bumps out there are generally slower and super lined up, making it ideal for that kind of riding.

One of my highlight runs was a 40km downwinder starting from Margaret River. It was a full-on open ocean run with fast-moving swells. It was my first time using the 700 Enduro in those conditions, and it felt insane at speed – super comfortable and easy to manage, probably cruising at around 40km/h.

Let’s talk nature. Nice little display from a flying fish. Were there plenty of encounters with local fauna? 

Yes! There was definitely no shortage of wildlife. In fact, during one of our first surfs, we spotted what we initially thought was an outer reef – only to realize it was actually a mother and baby humpback whale cruising into the bay. We got the drone up quickly and tracked them from a distance as they moved along the coast. It was one of those moments that had us absolutely buzzing.

Beyond that, there were loads of dolphin pods, plenty of kangaroos, a few snakes, and some of the biggest turtles I’ve ever seen. These massive, dustbin-lid-sized turtles made for an interesting slalom style downwind experience! 

How about the ol’ “man in the grey suit”?

Haha, there’s no shortage of shark talk in WA – they won’t bring it up, but everyone’s got a story! And they’re obviously there. Helicopters are constantly flying overhead, and Facebook pages are always buzzing about sightings. It definitely plays on your mind at the start of the trip, for sure. But you do get used to it after a while and honestly we kind of gave up thinking about it by the end. The more time we spent on the water, the more marine life you see, the more comfortable we became with it. Although the fin of a dolphin always shit me up at first sight!

I did have a few encounters, though. One time, I foiled over a decent-sized shark in Exmouth, and another one swam right up to us while we were sitting in the water there. You learn to paddle up pretty fast! Then, on one of our last downwind runs from Cape Leeuwin, I was messing around with a GoPro on my board when I noticed a 2-meter shark gliding toward me. I didn’t get a good look at what kind of shark it was, but it was pretty sketchy seeing a fin approaching when I was sitting there with my legs dangling in the water. I gave it a quick swoosh with my paddle, quickly stood up, and managed to paddle off pretty fast. Definitely got the heart rate going!

Well it all looks pretty heavenly. Were there any gnarly episodes at all?

Yeah it definitely wasn't too much of a hardship! We didn't have too many catastrophes, and had the usual challenges of spending two months in a tent in some extreme heat. No real on-water catastrophes nor damaged gear thankfully, some close calls for sure, I was winging some of the biggest, most powerful waves I’ve ever been in.

And finally, that pink lake… did you get a chance to get on that with a wing?!

Hahah no, that lakes a bit shallow to foil, was pretty mental though seeing it – it looks like a milkshake! I never actually thought it would be as pink as it was, it was actually so salty, I was plenty happy enough grabbing a few shots of Emma. It was a great way to break up the long drive north!