THE ORIGIN STORY

My father first put me on the water in Tarifa when I was just a kid. By eight years old, I was already hooked on windsurfing. When kitesurfing arrived in December 2000, I made the switch without hesitation. By 2001, I was competing on the international circuit. In 2014, I won the inaugural Airstyle World Championship in St. Peter-Ording, Germany. Along the way, I picked up multiple European and four Spanish titles, two World Tour podiums, and a win at the George Games in Oregon in 2008.

FROM RIDER TO INNOVATOR: PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Back then, kiteboards were long, narrow, and always changing. I knew they could be better. Working with my shaper in Tarifa, Ricardo Shapes, I co-created the first 140cm twin tip — a much shorter board that kept everything that worked and threw away what didn't.

That drive to listen to riders led me to start Balance Riders. Most gear at the time was designed without real input from the people actually using it. We built a board with a progressive rocker that let you get planning in light wind without losing pop, plus a flex profile that made landings actually soft. It worked. It sold.

After Balance Riders was acquired by Best Action Sports, I went back to my own vision. In 2012, I launched Clash — same focus on innovation, but with something new: the HYPERFLOW channel. Small channels under the board that trapped air and water, giving extra grip in flat conditions. Clash moved over 1,000 units in year one. We went direct-to-consumer, shipped 7,000 boards to 25 countries, and used part of that to fund clean water projects in developing communities.

Wing foiling came next. Clinton Fillen from Airush sent me my first prototype and I spent a year testing and developing concepts between Tarifa and Bangkok. That led to several patents — booms, X-ply material combinations, low-aspect wings for learning, rigid handles — selling over 5,000 units while the market was still figuring itself out.