14 January, 2025
“I trained a lot and didn’t look to any other forecast than Mavericks to stuck to my goal for this winter season” – Matt Etxebarne
Did we see that good? Foiling Mavericks? Yes, Matt Etxebarne did it again! Last year, he surprised the whole surfing industry when he surfed one of the biggest waves and the first ever foiled wave at world famous big wave Jaws, Hawaii. “For this year, I had one and one only goal and that was to foil Mavericks” Matt tells us. “I spent all year training so hard, and when the big wave season started I just closed myself from all forecasts and only concentrated on the biggest day possible at Mavericks.
A couple of months later and here we are! The swell was looking use and Matt took his flight to San Francisco, and drove over to Mavericks. “The locals gave me insights which kind of stressed me out” Matt continues to explain. “Under the water at Mavericks there are these kind of craters which are very dangerous if you end up inside with your foil”. After that I didn’t know if it was gonna be possible, besides, the wave has a big build up in the last section before it breaks which scared me a lot as well.
“I arrived two days before the huge swell, where luckily I could kind of try out a little bit the wave”. On the big day we were on the boat and I only saw wave after wave the swell picking up. I was kind of jet lagged and tired which made me worry also a little bit more. I was in the lineup and Drake was towing me in, it was super cold and it was kind of crazy being in the lineup with all the locals.
“After about 20-30 minutes waiting in the lineup finally we saw a wave upcoming that looked to be for us. I fast prepared and we went for it, I took the wave and got like the most of speed I ever got on my foil. The feeling was so special, and when I finished the wave all boats and jet ski’s were cheering for me, the experience was indescribable.
After that first wave I was like I wanna take another one but I’m kind of tired, so I took a break. Towards the end of the day I took a couple of other waves. On the third one the white water touched me and dragged me under the water. When I came up I saw my foil broken, so I was like “that’s part of the game, prefer to see the foil broken rather than myself, haha!”
“As last, I would love to mention the incredible energy between all the surfers that were out there. All the locals received me so well and everybody was pushing each other. It was crazy to be there between all the famous big wave faces and I really can’t wait to go back! Thanks to you all!” – Matt Etxebarne
From Surflogic we just want to say thanks Matt, thanks for inspiring not only us as a surf brand but for inspiring all the world to show we didn’t see everything that is possible yet when it comes to surfing waves. We are so happy to support you and we can’t wait to see what other adventures of you are still unfolded! Cheers buddy!