Innovation Takes Flight
Haldane Martin on the Future of Hydrofoiling
To understand how design, performance, and innovation converge in hydrofoiling’s new era, we turned to Haldane Martin. An award-winning industrial designer, innovator, and lifelong waterman, Haldane has backed our collaboration with Foil Drive since day one. His perspective bridging creative vision, design precision, and decades of on-water experience, helping shape the future of modern foiling.
Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you first got into hydrofoiling?
After five years of kitesurfing waves, I attempted to return to surfing when I turned 50 – only to discover I could no longer paddle into waves on a shortboard like I did in my twenties. Surfing a log held zero appeal, so I started hunting for alternatives.
The motorized fin looked laughable, but efoiling on waves seemed promising. After lessons and convincing the rental guys to let me take an efoil into actual waves, reality hit hard: the board weighed 30kg, and gliding with the motor off felt like dragging an anchor. This wasn’t surfing.
I dabbled in kite foiling, then wing foiling. That’s when I spotted Foil Drive Gen 1 online and realized it solved the efoil’s fundamental drag and weight problems. When Gen 2 launched, I took the plunge. The first foil-assisted wave I caught at Muizenberg? Game over. I was hooked.
I’d found my way back to surfing – except foiling average waves was exponentially more fun than surfing them. Plus, I could escape the crowded lineups entirely.
You’ve been involved in design for decades – how has that shaped your approach to foiling and product testing?
I grew up with Clinton Filen. At 15, we designed and built a windsurf board in my dad’s garage – a formative experience that launched both our careers. I went on to study industrial design and became a furniture designer; Clinton became a professional windsurfer, then a board designer and product director.
When I first got my Foil Drive, I found the basic silhouette offensive to my aesthetic sensibilities and spotted obvious performance compromises. Clinton and I couldn’t help ourselves – we had to improve things by better integrating the system into the foiling architecture. As one of Cape Town’s first Foil Drive owners, I became the default test rider.
Every session on the water reinforced my core design philosophy: what looks good works good.
It’s been incredible coming full circle with Clinton. The technology has evolved dramatically, but the design process remains unchanged: think, build, ride, repeat.
You’ve been deeply involved in developing and testing the Foil Drive x AK range – walk us through that collaboration and the insights you’ve gained from real-world testing.
First challenge: determining what board geometry works optimally with Foil Drive. We discovered the mid-length Nomad, with its elongated, narrow, efficient profile, was ideal for flat-water starting smaller foils.
Then we got radical: recessing the battery and electronics box into the board reduced drag dramatically, making takeoff easier. What surprised me more was how significantly it improved handling by reducing effective mast length without sacrificing ride height. We also eliminated the bulky mast track, replacing it with shallower screw inserts to minimize board thickness.
Next came the mast. After extensive testing of various lengths and motor cable configurations, we found the sweet spot: 82cm with a 17.5cm motor height. Integrating the motor directly into the mast was obvious in hindsight – it eliminated the draggy, turbulence-inducing cable while reducing motor pod surface area.
That first session on the new carbon integrated mast? Mind-blowing. The efficiency gains were transformative. It also unlocked downwinders for me – dipping the pod between bumps became exponentially smoother than with the strap-on motor.
What excites you most about how foil assist is evolving traditional foiling — both in terms of performance and the rider experience?
The wave count on foil assist is insane – it obliterates every other foil discipline. There’s simply no other watercraft that lets me average 60 waves per session. None.
This equals rapid progression. This reality will elevate foil assist beyond “old rich guy’s toy” status, establishing it as a legitimate sport with staying power.
How do you see foil assist changing who can foil — and how people experience the sport?
The near future holds even tighter integration of propulsion systems into foiling architecture – further weight reduction, increased efficiency, improved ease of use. Battery energy density will continue climbing, power options will diversify, and travel battery systems will evolve so you can travel with equivalent power to your home setup.
AK will continue driving this foil assist evolution forward.