Pete grew up on the islands, with roots in the Great Barrier and the ocean always close by. It was the kind of childhood shaped by being outdoors, figuring things out as you went, with no overthinking and no second-guessing, just doing whatever felt right in the moment. So, when the idea came to get home on an old SUP using a beach umbrella in 25 knots, it didn’t seem like an unhinged idea! That instinct led to a quick search, and that search led him somewhere new. Foiling.
One look was all it took, no need for convincing, no hesitation, just a feeling that this was it. From that moment on, he was all in.
Foiling isn’t something that Pete picked up and put down; it’s part of everyday life. Some days that means winging the 40 min commute to work, taking whatever the conditions offer, other days it’s chasing ferries, pushing limits, occasionally getting told off, but always going a little further than before. Where he rides, everything is possible; every wind direction, every kind of session, with long, effortless glides that just keep going, and he makes the most of all of it. It’s never been about numbers for him either; it’s about feel, that moment when everything connects, and it all works without thinking, like hitting the right note without trying. You either feel it, or you don’t, and once you do, you keep chasing it.
He’s seen this before. More than twenty years ago, when he opened his tattoo shop, people didn’t understand it and kept asking the same question, what is this. Foiling carries that same energy now, that early stage, that curiosity, that pull toward something new, but what’s grown around it is just as important. A community of people helping each other, sharing the stoke, and realizing they’re not the only ones completely hooked.
Every day there’s something new out there, something you’ll miss if you’re not looking, so he goes, he explores, he tries things and figures it out along the way. No mistakes, just experiences.
Pete isn’t trying to change or fit into anything; he’s simply doing what he’s always done, staying curious, following the feeling, and enjoying every minute of it, exactly as he is.