In the space of just a few years, Balz has become a world reference in foiling. Pump foil, wing, windfoil, this creative and ultra-versatile rider shares with us his current thoughts on his future and his vision of water sports.
Interview by Quentin Mayerat
You injured your leg in August during the Vanora Engadinwind by Dakine. Forced rest for two months. How are you coping?
I always say that water sports are not dangerous. You can fall into the lake 1,000 times and nothing will happen, unlike skateboarding where you fall onto the asphalt. When you’re unlucky and your gear falls on top of you, accidents can happen. In my case, the stabilizer on my foil went deep into my calf because I lost my strap during a trick. My wife Eva and I were on a photo shoot for Ensis. As we were sharing the same board, my mistake was not taking the time to adjust my straps to the right size. It’s been weeks since I’ve surfed, when I could have wasted just three minutes of my time adjusting my straps. This experience is teaching me patience! Fortunately, my accident had no major consequences. But if the foil had landed in the wrong place, it could have cost me dearly. Now that I’ve got some time, I’m visualizing less dangerous foils. I think safety is more important than performance. We’ve always wanted to design faster, thinner foils,
I think it’s important to go in the other direction too.
“I think the time is right for a revolution, to ride local and Swiss-made products.”
You’re always coming up with new ideas for developing water sports. How do you work with the various brands that support you?
I love research and development, because to be better on the water you need equipment you like. I’m lucky that three of my partner brands are based near me, which means we can work together. In particular, by developing equipment directly on Swiss lakes. I think this is more relevant than developing equipment in Maui and then riding it in Switzerland. With Sabfoil, a small company based in northern Italy, I regularly visit the factory and come back with new prototypes. I’m also seeing more and more “garage projects” by Swiss friends. I think the time is right for a revolution, to ride local and Swiss-made products. More and more brands are designing in Switzerland, which is a good development, but I hope that, in the future, we’ll be riding products made in Switzerland and Europe. You have to understand that you can’t just design a foil on a computer without actually riding the product.
As we saw at EngadinWing, which hosted a stage of the GWA World Cup, young talent can get the better of very experienced riders. Already a new era?
I think it’s really cool to see young people developing the future of wing, unlike windsurfing, which has a harder time renewing itself. In wing competitions, the average age can drop well below 18. It’s incredible to see a sport develop so quickly. I’m 28, which isn’t old, but when you’re racing against a 16-year-old and you see the tricks he’s throwing, sometimes you feel like you can’t move! In fact, young people aren’t afraid, they haven’t had an injury before, and that’s what you need to progress. Now that I’m injured, I dream of a multitude of tricks.
You say the windsurfing world is struggling to find a new dynamic. Why do you think the PWA seems to be losing momentum?
In the 45 years that windsurfing has existed, the situation has never been worse. It’s not easy to keep board sports alive professionally these days, but there’s a lack of organizers with enough motivation to get things moving. It has to be said that riders don’t get involved enough. With covid, everyone has found an excuse to do nothing. It’s up to riders to get organized and revitalize the professional circuit. Take freestyle, for example, which now allows foiling in its heats. The problem is that for a heat to be launched, you need to have enough wind to glide with a fin. So, if we organize a competition and we have less than 15 knots of wind, we won’t race, whereas using foils would allow us to do so. In my opinion, at the moment, freestylers would rather freeride than compete.
As you said yourself, you’re not old, but you’re not young anymore. How do you see the future of your career?
I want to share my experience with the board sports community. I organized my first clinics and was lucky enough to find motivated people. I’d also like to promote board sports in Switzerland. I’d also like to offer equipment that works well and lets you have fun in the great outdoors. I’d like to get involved in research and development of new products and give a bit of my experience to young people. I’m also working on a “garage project” with AirInside to come up with new wing boards. My aim is to connect forces and promote local products. I love competition, but I’ve realized that with my family life, I can’t do all the events.
Still dreaming of huge waves?
I always dream of waves! I visited Patrik Diethelm in Australia when I was younger. At that point in my life, I was sure I wanted to move to a spot where I could ride regularly. But I was born in Switzerland and found solutions. I ride lake waves, boat waves, bowl skate and surf-skate. With Alaïa and Saint-Blaise, we have waves in Switzerland. Two or three days a year, I have access to real waves in Switzerland and I perform pretty well. But of course I dream of ocean waves every day!