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JUL/AUG 2019
demos, attending conventions etc?
I only really have one sponsor, Slingshot Sports. They provide everything I
need, in the form of gear, trips, and compensation to keep me on the water. I
don’t think I could have been with a brand that would have helped me prog-
ress more. Everyday I’m surprised that a freeride foiler like myself is getting
on the cover of mags and has a contract with a company like Slingshot. They
provide me with a lot, and for that I am grateful.
I work with the R&D team on products, with the main goal of seeing whether
they break or not. I also do events, helping with demos and competing in
them to show off how well the gear works. I’m basically a rep for the brand,
as any sponsored athlete is, and therefore I do whatever I can to show off
their gear.
OOM: Are some tricks or moves in kiting named after people who were
the first to do them or perfect them?
FH: I’m not really into the freestyle twin tip discipline on kiting and therefore
don’t know a ton about them, but I’ve never heard of a trick being named
after a person. I’m pretty sure those tricks have numbers and names such
as KGB, or S-bend, Boogie loop, Mega Loop, etc.. In my type of kiting, with
the strapless foil, I kind of just name tricks after what they remind me of. One
of my tricks is called the Lazy Susan, and another is called a Twirly Whirly.
They’re just fun names that everyone can get behind.
OOM: Is there anything you would like to say or thank anybody for help-
ing you along the way?
I’d like to thank my parents, for this incredible life they have given to me. Be-
ing able to grow up both in Mexico and the Gorge has given me an outlook
on life that I couldn’t have acquired any other way. They have also allowed
me to follow what I am passionate about and are very interested in what I
do. I’d also like to thank Tony Logosz. He was the first person in the industry
that saw something in me and gave me a kite to use six years ago. Without
his support, I definitely would not be where I am today. Thanking my sponsor
Slingshot is also a no brainer. They have given me so much, and without
them, I would not be able to travel so much and kite as hard as I do.
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