EP.117 - JUSTIN CHAIT JUST WENT UNDEFEATED AND BECAME THE FIRST-EVER SFT E-FOIL WORLD CHAMPION IN HISTORY

Fresh off sealing the 2025 Surf Foil Tour (SFT) E-Foil World Title in Abu Dhabi with a perfect finals record, Justin Chait sat down with Luc Moore for a no-filter 40-minute tell-all. From kiteboard tomahawks to 3G corners, this is the interview that’s got the entire foiling world buzzing.

Congrats on the world title, Justin! Walking away undefeated across the finals all season – how does that actually feel?
Honestly, it still feels unreal. When I first touched an e-foil five years ago, I told everyone “this is going to be a pro racing sport one day.” To be the guy holding the first world trophy and sharing in the €10,000 cheque is pure manifestation. Abu Dhabi was the perfect ending – glass water, live TV, thousands on the beach. Crossing that line first and knowing the job was done… relief, adrenaline, pure stoke.

Take us inside that Atlanta Enduro – people are calling it the wildest e-foil race ever filmed.
Hands-down the most fun I’ve ever had on water. Twenty riders, four-lap sprint around an island, submerged trees everywhere. I’m in the sandwich between Nick Leeson and Brian Grubb – two absolute legends. Horn drops and it’s instant carnage: boards launching 20 feet in the air, guys eating it left and right. Nick’s literally shoulder-checking me wide, I look back and see Brian and Corey swerving through chaos, and in front Colin’s pulling away. Then we hit the island turn – full logs underwater. I just went wingtip breaching, full throttle, laughing the whole time praying I didn’t hit a tree. Came out first and couldn’t stop smiling.

You’ve had two crashes that changed everything – the hurricane wing-to-face and the Colombia rope incident. Walk us through the scariest one.
Colombia, 32 mph, perfect glass. Hit an invisible underwater rope, launched probably 15 feet in the air. Board follows me like a missile and tomahawks me right in the back of the head. Impact so hard my body bruised on the front from whiplash. Split my head clean open. From that moment on – full-face or I don’t race. I now wear downhill MTB chest and back plates under my impact vest because at racing speed one mast to the ribs and you’re done.

Gear talk – what exact setup got you the world title?
Fliteboard Ultra L2 (the 4’4”, ~18 kg rocket).
• Custom shim recipe so the board rises and falls perfectly level under throttle
• Personally chop an inch off each side of the stock 245 tail for razor turns
• 900 Flow front wing in glass, 707 Flux when it’s choppy
• E-Foil Solutions race prop – gives real top-end but kills range
• “Hot launch” technique: rocket vertical off the start, land on feet, instantly floor it – no planing phase, zero seconds wasted

Everything’s production-legal, but those tweaks win races.

You’ve talked about “mental warfare on the beach” – give us an example.
Learned it from Olympic gold medalist Nick Baumgartner: half the battle is before the horn. In Atlanta I saw Colin’s battery dying, so I slipped in front, forced him into my prop wash, then cut the inside buoy and gapped him by seconds. Pensacola taught me the hard way – got too close trying to lap someone, hit their wake, went flying. Now I weaponize it.

The level is exploding – Manel Arpa, Clemens Kresser, Jacob Ranney, Colin Guinn all closing the gap fast. Who’s the biggest threat in 2026?
Manel is scary – after Sicily he told me straight up “I’m training to beat you,” went to Croatia and won the next event. Clemens was only seconds behind in Abu Dhabi. Jacob and Colin are full-time now. The days of five-second leads are over. 2026 is going to be a dogfight.

What’s the one thing you want every e-foiler to know right now?
This sport is moving faster than anyone predicted. We’re already at 34–35 mph, pulling 3Gs in turns, and boards are coming that will hit 50 mph in the next couple years. Full armor is coming, city races are coming, open-ocean island runs are coming. If you’re not on an e-foil yet – get on one. The revolution is here.

Where to next?
Training block in Florida, then every single SFT stop in 2026. Goal is simple: defend the title and push this sport into places people think are impossible.

Listen or Watch the full 40-minute, zero-filter episode with the 2025 World Champion right now – every crash, every tweak, every insane story straight from the guy who just made history.