This makes no sense. Brings in around $70,000 in entry fees from foils, and has event sponsors - how can the event not pay prize money? What is that money covering?
NSW Foil Club ran a small race earlier this year, (Northern Beaches Race) with much smaller entry fee, smaller entry list, and we were able to pay prize money. Perhaps the largest to date.
I could be wrong about the prize purse. I don’t remember seeing Edo with a check though. Nor can I find anything online easily. Here are the prone and SUP paddle BOARD prize payouts.
Well perhaps there is prize money for Foil divisions. Hope to hear from a place-getter so I can stand appropriately corrected. Would of course be a little concerning if foils are contributing twice as many entrants as the unfoiled divisions, and funding their prizes 
WA Race week is running in Perth at the end of November 2025. FoilDrive have put in a massive sponsorship for the four races. Top foiler over the four races takes home $5k. Maybe this might attract a few international entrants. Kaii Thompson killed it last year, so he is going to be a tough one to beat considering his current form. This year will see the first Australian Channel Crossing Foil Race with Rottnest island to Sorrento added to the event list for the top 20 race finishers. This is the long standing surfski race known as “The Doctor”.
It’s possible that was the last Hawaii race season.
What immediately comes to mind is - how did they manage to run the race in the 2015 to 2020 period where SUP interest was generally starting to hit the end of the road.
Has foiling made it harder? I’d have thought that the extra entries would have breathed new life into what was a hard event to justify running.
If they are not able to turn so much attendance and interest into a sustainable profitable race then possibly something deeper needs to change. I obviously don’t have the facts nor much visbility, but you do get the sense that it’s an overwhelming prospect to try and cater to this new sport with huge influx.
(fwiw, my own money if I had any would be on a new fresh take on what is possible, designed to make it more interesting, fun and accessible and building up from that. Start with the media package and story, and work backwards. Gio and Hugh on foil project kicked around some fun ideas, - “pro” events, adventure racing etc)
This is tricky for sure. The money is not going to come from the brands, nor should it. They are already spending money developing product and supporting athletes. They should not have to support events too. First question, who’s got the money? Banks, grocery chains, other heavy hitters in Hawaii. It needs to be pitched to these guys, not so much for exposure, but for giving back to community. Or you get lucky and find the foiling version of “Shaw and Partners”, an investment finance venture company that loves throwing money at surfski events. They might like foils too… 
Maybe talk with guys like Carter Johnson, who runs the Gorge downwind festival for paddle craft. It’s grown to 800 participants now, and he probably has some useful ideas. Regardless of the sport, the backbone of all these events is committed volunteers, and without this your event is doomed.
Honestly I was a bit surprised that they aren’t already at max capacity. Wing division isn’t even close to max (there were a few midwestern lake beginner/intermediate foilers that did it!). Pent up demand from intermediate supfoilers seems to be blocked by the event taking up too much time and money.
There’s room for growth in geographic areas that are just better logistically. e.g. Sep 13th there’s a great group of guys organizing a Malibu side-shore race. Easy to shuttle, plenty of venues, stellar job securing every sponsor pitching in a small amount.
This is what I see as the most likely best option. A foil mad investment banker decided he wanted an event to train towards, and things go from there…
Interesting not to see parawing? or is it likely to be included?
But yes, I agree, events should first cater to the pent up demand of intermediates looking for a good way to get together around the idea of an event/race/contest.
I guess the GWA GKA is run by brands, but it’s a showcase because there is no real interest in what they are doing from sponsor perspective. I think the lesson is clear there. Competitive foiling to attract big sponsors cannot look like a variation of kitesurfing or windsurfing or olypmic kiting, sailing or whatever other visual aspect that is familiar and not interesting to the public.
It needs to be a clearly distinct and entirely new thing. Parawing somewhat ruins that, so it needs to be stowed.
Short term:
I think running a “run what you brung” single race with parawing, wing and SUP and foil drive all in the mix is a good simple viable place to start. Make it fun and accessible, the winner would likely win regardless of the rules and structure. Make the gear choice a gamble. As described in the parawing xfoils episode, figure out some basic rules, add some random shit into the mix to see what makes it more interesting, and go from there. SUP is disadvantaged by the inability to go upwind.. which would be interesting to include.
Dave Kalama gave a very Hawaiian perspective on the races in the latest podcast with Eric which amounted to “keep it downwind A-B, let people figure out the fastest way to get there” (paraphrased from memory) which I think is not unreasonable, but it misses out on the current state of what attracts and retains people’s interests. It also entirely misses the elephant parawing in the room… .
To my mind, the primary challenge and goal for foil industry is to align on something that captures the moment as a format.
Long term:
I don’t think it’s really all that likely to get much bigger than “ultra niche” without some massive coordinated effort. Look at how SUP has shrank to a small course, in and out from the beach. It looks pretty competitive, but has none of the elements that make for an interesting “spectacle”, nor has it at all managed to retain a critical mass of participants. Most amateur races are 1% competent, 99% uselss, as far as I can tell The immediate families of the competitors might turn out to watch, but their friends are hardly likely to be convinced to come watch, let alone the public.
The right things are in place though, pro-athletes like JJF and Kai Lenny could easily catalyse an industry around the competitive side, as long as it aligns with their sponsor’s interests.
Simpler than building up organically and making a bunch of mistakes is to see what people want and provide that. I think Gravel Bike is probably the best “essence” of what would work.
After nearly two decades, America’s fling with gravel racing has blossomed into a full-fledged, international love affair that’s even reached the pinnacle of professional bike racing: the recognition of the UCI and its awarding of a rainbow jersey.
But what is this ‘Spirit of Gravel’? What even is gravel?Neither ghost nor deity, the Spirit is a vibe, a sense of place and community. It’s a friendly racing environment that scoffs at the seriousness, tactics, regulations and support of road racing. It’s an atmosphere in which everyone is friends up until the very last meters to finish line — and again immediately after. It’s about camaraderie and event completion…or is it?
Researchers are studying 'The Spirit of Gravel' — no, really | Cycling Weekly
Through interviews and a reflexive thematic analysis, three themes were crafted: (1) gravel cycling encourages and provides a sense of freedom, (2) embracing the unknown: participants experience physical, mental, and emotional development through gravel cycling, and (3) gravel cycling provides connection through the convergence of self, community, and nature. We provide conclusions regarding gravel’s significance in light of current trends in adult sport participation and present practical implications for cycling event organizers, grassroots sport organizations, and the adult sport and leisure communities. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17430437.2024.2338570
Reading through the gravel bike race circuit “playbook”, it seems like foiling could adopt quite a few aspects, and they have the same shortcomings as current SUP Downwind racing:
I think the real challenge is actually making the racing interesting – the tactics and strategy are what make road great viewing and the generally attritional nature of gravel is less of a spectacle imo
I think the essence to aim for is
