I was very lucky in the early days. When I started foiling, I was also an active kiter and one of my good friends, Robby Whitthall, is one of the world’s best kite, wing and hang glider designers. He’s kind of the brain of the whole thing and I myself am more responsible for making material for people who are not pros – look, I’m not a pro myself. But I need material that makes me looking as good as a pro… (laughs).
So you guys just decided to pound a foil brand out of the ground?
No we just wanted to make foils that was all.
In the year 2017 we just spoke about?
No, that was even before. Whenever that was, around 2016. But after M2O, we said to ourselves, now it’s time to do it properly. We got some investors on board, because we needed money for all the molds and stuff to start our project properly. Our new partners decided that we would keep the Armstrong name. I was also still on a SUP brand with my family crest at the time. We made a few boards and also a raceboard for Penelope (editor’s note: then wife Penelope Strickland, successful SUP athlete, now retired), but we were probably a little late to the SUP market. The new partners liked it and so the “Armstrong” brand was born.
Okay, interesting! And then you decided to make a brand that sells the most expensive material on the market and spared no expense to produce the best quality.
Let’s hope so … we looked at the market and realized that if we want to compete with established brands, we can’t produce the same as them.
The only way we can beat the competition is to break new ground, using the best materials so that every single part is the best quality, so that a perfect setup can be put together. For example, our fuselages have a titanium core and the screws are made of stainless steel, so that the screw is just extremely accurate and there is also no corrosion. We use the best carbon available on the market. We use materials that others don’t use, so we don’t have to compete on the same level.
Why don’t you tell us briefly your background, where you come from and how you got your passion for the ocean.
I was quite lucky – my father and grandfather were both sailors and my father went to university in England, from where he took us on his sailboat. I lived on a sailboat for the first three years of my life and learned to walk there. We came to New Zealand and stayed. My whole family sailed, we were always on the sailboat on vacations. For me, sailing was a big part of my life. Later I discovered whitewater kayaking and spent a lot of time on the rivers of New Zealand. Then kiteboarding came along and when SUP came along I was also immediately hooked.
That was also the time when you came to Hawaii a often. I can still remember when we met on Keith Baxter’s boat after the M2M. Was that your first trip to Hawaii?
I’m not sure about that anymore. I remember when SUP became popular around the world and also arrived in New Zealand. Starboard importer Jeremy Stevenson was doing a lot for the sport and I was immediately involved. That was a great time, we had a lot of good events and I loved it. I won a race and got a board. That’s when I decided to come to Hawaii to be in the Hawaiian Battle of the Paddle. That was when I found out about all the races like M2O or M2M. I knew I had to come back to Hawaii to be part of the big races. It was a great time with many, good competitors.
When exactly was that cover?
That was 2014.
Ah, that’s right! I’ve been to Hawaii a few times before. That was when Rodney Kilborn hosted the SUP Tripple Crown and everyone was on Unlimited boards.
Legendary times! Long before wing and foil. Do you still remember that race?
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