I’m a surfer first, founder second.Before DAP, most of my time on the water looked pretty familiar — paddling out, waiting for the right wave, missing a few, catching a few, and spending a lot of time simply sitting there in the ocean.Then one day, when the sea was almost completely flat, a friend handed me an electric hydrofoil board and said,“Give it a go.”
Where the Water Took Me
I honestly didn’t expect much.And I definitely didn’t look graceful.The first few times, I barely stayed on board.I stood up, accelerated, lost my balance, and went straight into the water.Climbed back on.Tried again.Fell again.Sometimes I didn’t even make it far enough for the foil to properly lift before I was swimming next to the board.But for some reason, I couldn’t stop laughing.And I couldn’t stop trying.I had spent years surfing, and I loved everything about it — the waiting, the timing, the feeling of finally catching the right wave.But this felt completely different.With eFoiling, every fall made me want to climb straight back on.There was no waiting around for another set to arrive. No staring at the horizon wondering whether the ocean was going to cooperate.I could just try again.And again.And again.That was probably the first moment I realized this might actually be more fun than I expected.Then eventually, everything clicked.The board gained speed.The foil lifted.And suddenly the surface of the water dropped away beneath me.For a few seconds, there was almost no noise.No board slapping against the chop.No paddle.No wave pushing me forward.Just this strange, smooth feeling of gliding above the water.Almost like flying, but close enough to the surface that you could still feel the ocean moving underneath you.I still remember that moment.Not because I was particularly good at it — I absolutely wasn’t.But because it changed the way I thought about being on the water.For most of my life, surfing has taught me to wait for the ocean.With an eFoil, suddenly I could move differently.A glassy morning with no waves wasn’t a wasted day anymore.Flat water became something to look forward to.A quiet bay became somewhere worth exploring.And a day that I might normally have skipped could suddenly become a few unforgettable hours outside.That feeling stayed with me.And eventually, it became part of the reason we started DAP.
It Was Never Just About the Board
The more time I spent eFoiling, the more I realized that the technology itself wasn’t really the part I cared about most.Yes, motors matter.Batteries matter.Carbon fiber, efficiency, control systems, all of those things matter.We spend a ridiculous amount of time thinking about them.But they are still only tools.What I remember are the mornings.The falls.The friends standing on the shore laughing when one of us completely loses balance.The quiet cruise back as the sun starts getting lower.The person trying an eFoil for the first time and suddenly shouting because the board finally lifts.Those are the moments that stay with you.That’s why I’ve never wanted DAP to feel like a company that simply puts another piece of water-sports hardware on the market.There are already great eFoil companies out there.Some are bigger than us.Some have been doing this much longer.And I respect what they’ve built.So I don’t think our job is to pretend we’re simply another version of them.I want DAP to feel closer.Closer to the people riding our products.Closer to the places where people actually spend their weekends.Closer to the conversations that happen after a ride when someone says,“This was great, but you know what would make it even better?”I want us to hear that.
Starting in Los Angeles
We’re starting small, in Los Angeles.And I actually like that.I don’t want DAP to feel like a distant company that only appears when it wants to sell you something.I’d rather meet people at the water.Ride together.Let someone try an eFoil for the first time.Talk about where they like to paddle.Hear what annoyed them about the product.Find out where everyone is going next weekend.Maybe organize a ride.Maybe discover a new place together.Maybe just sit around after getting out of the water and talking nonsense for a while.That is much closer to what I want DAP to become.A community built around people who genuinely enjoy being on the water.Some of them might already be great riders.Some might spend half of their first session falling in — just like I did.Both belong here.
We Build What We Ride
The way we work at DAP is still pretty simple.We build something.We take it to the water.We ride it.Something feels wrong.We complain about it.We change it.Then we go back out and try again.Sometimes the best ideas come from engineering.Sometimes they come from a rider.Sometimes they come five minutes after falling into the water and realizing something could have been easier.That cycle matters to me.Because as DAP grows, I never want the distance between the people making the products and the people actually riding them to become too large.If people in our community keep telling us something, we should hear it.If something needs to change, we should be willing to change it.And if someone has an idea that makes a day on the water more fun, I want that idea to have somewhere to go.We started with products.But I hope DAP grows through people.See you on the water.
— DAP