Rock Jump Goes Horribly Wrong for Foil Surfer (Video)

The clip comes from KookSlams, and features commentary from Australian waterman James Casey – a two-time winner of the SUP foil Molokai to Oahu crossing. In fact, that’s what Casey was training for when the failed rock jump went down.

“After watching this video back, I was like, ‘how am I still alive?’” Casey commentates. “It doesn’t look great. I was actually training for Molokai to Oahu, which is like, an island crossing. The rock off is notoriously hard. If you land flat, the foil hits the rocks. So, you kind of have to land sideways. That way you don’t completely get obliterated.”

He jumps off the rock, holding his foil to the side to avoid the rocks, then paddles for dear life as an incoming wave comes crashing his way. It’s not enough, though, as he gets sucked over the falls, and swept back up across the rocks. It looks…brutal. But somehow, Casey came out fairly unscathed.

“In hindsight, I think it would’ve been better if I had bailed,” Casey reflected. “I may not have gotten dragged quite as hard. Amazingly, I got a few tiny little scratches on my heel. I got incredibly unlucky here, but also incredibly lucky at the same time.”

The rock jump strikes again.