Turning accomplished surfers into frothing groms
Catch the wave with a Mount man who’s thrilled to have found his passion and to be helping others find it too.
WORDS + PHOTOS Katie Cox
In July 2016, Mt Maunganui’s Geoff Cox had been working as a videographer in the film and television industry for nearly two decades when he disappeared into his shed. Three days and much tinkering later, he emerged with a prototype of a foilboard he’d shaped. Cut to today and he’s working with Signature Performance Gear to help surfers all over the world take wave-riding to a new dimension.
Getting with it
Not even sure what a foilboard is? It’s sort of like a surfboard but with a hydrofoil that extends down into the water. “To put it simply, it’s a glider flying underwater,” says Geoff. “Just like an aeroplane wing, there’s a foil section that generates lift when you’re moving forward. The unique element of surf foiling is that all of the energy comes from the wave – no kite, no sail, no motor. One of the most rewarding things about surf foiling is learning to feel that energy and get better at finding and using it.”
Geoff was inspired to become a shaper by watching Hawaiian surfer Kai Lenny paddle in on a foil. “It was the first time I’d seen surf foiling not involving jet skis and tow ropes and all of those layers of complexity that make it less accessible. To me, it looked like the ultimate evolution of wave riding.”
The first few foils he shaped were totally experimental; there were very few surf foils on the market and he hadn’t seen any in person. “There were foils that were made for kite foiling, but they weren't fit for the purpose of foil surfing,” he recalls.
Refining the process
In the beginning, Geoff’s process was labour- and time-intensive, much like hand-shaping a surfboard. “I started with a hand-cut foam core that was then hand-laminated in carbon and epoxy,” he says. “It involved lots of sanding and there was a lot of inaccuracy in the design.”
But things got better. As part of his design background, Geoff had always been conversant in computer-animated design (CAD), so he started designing his foils that way. “I built a 3D printer that allowed me to very accurately create my CAD designs as 3D-printed molds, which I’d then use to lay up the foils in,” he says. “This accuracy allowed me to repeat designs while changing and refining features to get the performance I was after.”
Three years on from his first foray, in late 2019, Geoff was entertaining the idea of producing a small run of his foils and testing the market to see if it was worth pursuing further. While communicating with a composite factory about manufacturing them, his contact at the factory mentioned that he knew of a global surf brand that was looking for foil designers to help them develop their existing offerings. That company was Signature Performance Gear.
“He connected us and it went from there,” says Geoff. “The SPG family are an amazing group of people and I’m so stoked to be part of the team. I could not have found a better brand to get involved with.”
Moving on up
The wing Geoff designed for Signature Performance Gear has been met with rave reviews worldwide by some of the major influencers in the sport. “Part of what I did for Signature was update the existing range into a modular system, which involved redesigning every component – the mast, fuselage, tails and existing wings,” says Geoff. “The second part was adding my model, called the GameChanger, to the range.”
Building moulds for commercial production is an expensive process, but Signature invested in Geoff’s model fully trusting it was a good design. “I’d just returned from Tahiti, where I’d surfed my latest design in a wide range of conditions and it was just so good!” says Geoff. “I had a lot of confidence in it, but it’d only been ridden by me and my friends. When the first production models started getting shipped out to the world's top riders and influencers, I was quietly shitting myself, hoping it’d be well received. I had a lot of sleepless nights! And then the first reviews started hitting Instagram wiith 100% positive feedback.”
So how does it feel to know that a design that came out of your head is now under the feet of some of the world's best riders? “I’m just buzzing when I see what guys are doing on my foil,” says Geoff. “I guess it's the same feeling a surfboard shaper gets seeing a surfer improve on their shapes. Locally, Alex Dive is one of the best around and his foiling took a huge leap forward when he got on my foil – he’s pushing his performance to the next level. Internationally, the response is amazing. Seeing videos of the best guys going off on my design is hugely rewarding.”
Sharing the love
A lot of the world's top surfers are now into foiling too, and Geoff thinks they’re drawn by the excitement of a new challenge. “It's a very difficult thing to do, so it’s very rewarding when you start to get it,” says Geoff. “It really is just an amazing feeling – it feels like flying. That’s very different to being confined to the water surface and the bumps and chop that go with it.”
Foiling has changed the types of waves Geoff and others ride, and the way they ride them too. “So many waves that aren’t great for surfing are perfect for the foil, and we’ll often have eight or 10 of us all sharing waves and connecting up multiple rides and pumping back out to share more,” he says. “Living at the Mount, the good surfable days have gone from 50 a year to 200.”
Keen to join the party? Geoff says the learning process is probably harder on the ego than anything else. “After being an accomplished surfer, going back to being a total learner can be quite a humbling experience, but it’s also an opportunity to get that buzz of your first successful ride, which a lot of us who’ve been surfing for a lifetime have forgotten. I love how all my ‘older’ friends have become frothing grommets who just can't get enough!”
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