Do you know SUNOVA? This Thailand based brand designs and manufactures SUPs, foilboards and surfboards, with especially a special TR3 TEC technology, very recognizable with its visible (and beautiful) balsa wood. In Europe, the brand is a little less well known for its foil boards, whereas their stand-up paddles shine in all continental and international SUP race competitions. So, to help you discover the breadth of SUNOVA’s foil board range, we called on James Casey. At 31, James Casey is an Australian who does it all: SUP foil, SUP surf, wingfoil, prone foil… well, a true waterman! James also participated in the development of SUNOVA’s Casey range, and was the World SUP foil distance Record Holder (213km) before being beaten by Olivia Piana a few days ago. James Casey is also a foil coach and instructor, and has set up the Coach Casey Club, a mentoring program for progressing in foil and SUP. In short, he knows a thing or two about foiling! So if you’re looking to get fitted with one of SUNOVA’s beautiful boards, follow his advices, and you’ll find the right one for you!
6’3 Elite DW Aviator / Photo : @ianbirdphoto
The Casey range was born when I first asked SUNOVA to make me a foilboard back in 2017. It snowballed with a few custom surf sups and the rest is history. The Casey range within the SUNOVA range has grown over time and I’m stoked that my mate Marcus Tardrew has been the designer for them.
6’10 Aviator / Photo : @naanuey
My role within the brand is to keep my finger on the pulse of trends within the SUP and Foil industry. From there I ask for prototypes from Marcus and then we finalize the range. The Revolution longboard SUP was an example of this as were the DW foil boards.
6’3 Elite DW Aviator / Photo : @ianbirdphoto
It sure has grown since the beginning. It started with the Pilot (prone foilboard) and Aviator (SUP foilboard). We now have wing specific Aviators plus a range of DW specific Aviators too.
5’0 Wing Aviator / Photo : @ianbirdphoto
Personally I really like teaching with the original Aviator. It’s a forgiving shape and has plenty of volume and width to give you a good platform to fine tune the winging basics. 6’0 or 6’4 are what I mainly use to teach with.
6’10 Aviator / Photo : @naanuey
For prone foilers the Pilot is unreal. Great paddle speed to allow you to catch more waves and a bottom shape that prevents any rails sticking if you touch down. Originally I used it to wing on as well but the Wing Aviator has taken over as my jumping board with a squarer outline easier to get started and better for landing jumps.
SUNOVA Casey. Pilot
Originally the Wing Aviator was best for this but for me the new Elite DW Aviator allows you to get up on a smaller foil in less wind earlier due to the water line, volume and narrow outline. It’s my go to light wind wing setup and would work great for wing races in light winds.
SUNOVA Casey. Wing Aviator
The Elite and Pro are both great boards good DW winging. You can get away with a smaller wing due to the bigger board and foil which in turn mean you get a more pure DW experience without being dictated by the wing. The Pro is better for messier water as it is wider and the Elite better for cleaner conditions.
SUNOVA Casey. Aviator DW Pro
My quiver killer is the 6’3 Elite DW Aviator. If I go away on a trip I’ll just pack that as it allows me to user it for all disciplines, prone foil (mainly for small waves) or SUP foil, wing foil in all wave conditions or downwind sup foil. A perfect weekend away with the perfect board covering all my favorite disciplines.
SUNOVA Casey. Aviator DW Elite
31st January 2024
On TotalWing, we continue our world tour of SUNOVA foil board reviews. Today we’re talking about the Aviator Downwind Elite, a 19″ wide proto version with Rick Pettifer. Rick, a seasoned foiler, had the opportunity to try it out via his sponsor Poseidon Sports, whose we interviewed Tom a few weeks ago about the new […]
22nd December 2023
In one of our latest reviews of SUNOVA boards, @jb_zazou, owner of an Aviator Downwind Elite, told us what a great board the SUNOVA Aviator Downwind 18″ seemed to him. We wanted to know more! So we asked Hugh Mitchell to review this board for us. After Sven Mayer, who introduced us to his Aviator […]
6th December 2023
After the Aviator Downwind Elite and the new Carver, we continue our world tour of SUNOVA foil boards with the Aviator Wing… with a twist: custom modifications! To tell us all about it, we asked the lucky owner of this custom Aviator Wing: Australian rider and wingfoil enthusiast Sven Mayer. Tall rider and big SUNOVA […]
22nd November 2023
A few days ago, a new board was added to the already extensive range of SUNOVA foil boards, which were presented to us by James Casey last summer. This board is the SUNOVA Carver! As its name suggests, this is the board that will let you go carving in waves of all conditions… but not […]
19th November 2023
Cet été, James Casey nous faisait faire un tour complet de la gamme de planches de foil de chez SUNOVA. Celle qui ressortait, et dont James nous avait dit que ce serait sa board unique s’il devait choisir, était la Aviator Downwind Elite, qu’il utilise en wingfoil, en SUP foil, dans toutes conditions et même […]
22nd April 2023
With the birth of a new sport, often comes the need to structure the practice: supervision by qualified coaches, competitions, accredited schools, training… But how is all this organized? To find out, we turned our gaze to a country that seems to have made a successful transition to a well-managed wingfoil and where our sport […]
