Signature Foils UK – Rick Parkhouse Q&A.

As some of you may have seen via Foilshop UK’s social feed we recently started dealing with Signature Foils (SPG) UK. A highly regarded brand the gear is brought into the UK via SIgnature Foils UK and Rick Parkhouse. We caught up with Rick to find out a little more about him, his prone foiling shenanigans and Signature Foils in general.

Give us a little insight to your watersports background first.

I grew up in Qatar in the Middle East where I learnt to waterski and started spearfishing. When we got back to the UK I learnt to surf in North Devon – I pursued surfing fanatically for 25 years. Because I live on the South Coast wave season was pretty much September – May only so in summer I would go spearfishing to stay in shape and get in the water. I spent a lot of time getting frustrated with our local conditions and planning the next trip abroad. Foiling has changed all that massively. Jeff Rowley said to me, “I used to be grumpy shortboarder. Now I’m a happy foiler.” I think that sums up where I am right now!

When did you first see foiling and what drew you to it?

I saw magazine articles about Laird Hamilton and those guys using snowboard bindings and boots and riding foils in massive surf when I was a kid but I didn’t even vaguely contemplate doing it myself until I saw a video of Kai Lenny linking 7 waves in around 2018. I loved the idea of being able to get more than 1 wave but also we have a lot of fat crumbly waves here (Poole Bay) which are rubbish for surfing but I thought would be perfect on the foil. I took the plunge and bought my first setup in November 2019.

Talk us through those first few sessions. How did they go?

Really badly! Because it was the start of winter, I couldn’t learn behind a boat or ski, so I just jumped straight into the surf. I arrogantly thought it’d be easy given that I was a half-decent surfer. My wife came down to watch my first session and said, “It looked more like you were riding a bucking bronco out there!” I spent 3 or 4 weeks just getting absolutely ejected. I bruised all my ribs, tried wearing a skateboarding helmet in the water (bad idea!) and basically sucked! The occasional 3 to 4 second flights were enough motivation to keep going though.

What gear were you riding then and why?

I was riding a Slingshot Infinity 76. It was aluminium so it was heavy and dangerous. You had to lube all the bolts up with teflon tape and lanolin to stop them seizing. It was a nightmare! I had a 5’6 board which was also Slingshot – 37 litres or something. I just didn’t have a clue what I needed to be honest and Slingshot kept popping up in insta so I just bought it! There was not very much online about prone foiling back then so it was all a bit like the wild west!

At what did point it click?

I bumped into another prone foiler in a car park and he told me a few good spots and that changed things massively. I think I was just trying to learn in waves I would have surfed at the time which is completely the opposite of what you’re supposed to do. When I got into softer waves at more mellow spots it was all a bit more manageable. I’d watched this YouTube vid about prone technique and the guy said something like, “Don’t try and go along the line straight away, just head straight for the beach first, then slowly turn your shoulders to take you back to the shoulder of the wave.” It was really good advice – I’d been trying to take off angled like you do in surfing and that was a recipe for disaster! After that had sunk in I remember vividly getting a full 30 second ride at our local river-mouth break on my birthday and just being so unbelievably stoked. That was when it properly clicked and I have been foil-brained ever since!

Were you pumping between waves from the off or did that come later?

Definitely not – I would come off the back off the wave with too much speed and just breach! Or I would stall straight away. I remember being really stoked if I got 5 or 6 pumps in heading back out to sea! I took probably a month or so of doing that until I made my first connection. That was a huge moment for me. It felt so good! I still think that coming into a connection turn with speed is the best feeling in foiling. 

When did you start ‘connecting the dots’?

By the end of my first full winter foiling I was making a few connections and thought I’d learnt how to pump. I upgraded my gear to a Cloud 9 F32 which made a massive difference. I could suddenly make connections almost all the time after that. I also spent a lot of time that summer learning to ride the wake behind the boat without holding a rope which also really helped because it teaches you to manage your speed. By the time that summer was over and our waves came back I was connecting the dots, linking 3 or 4 waves at a time. It’s funny though – learning to pump has so many stages to it. You learn the basic pump, to maintain your speed, and you think you’ve learnt but you haven’t. Then you learn how to connect waves, and you’re like, “OK – now I’ve really learnt to pump” but you still haven’t. Then you learn how to connect a few and you’re like, “This is it!” But it isn’t – there’s still more to come. I’m still working on pumping technique now and there’s so much more to learn. It changes from foil to foil drastically, but even from board to board. That’s another reason why foiling is so addictive – it can’t be mastered!

How has foiling changed your day to day riding and local area?

It’s been absolutely life-changing. Before foiling in a good week I’d get 3 or 4 surf sessions – usually pretty junky conditions. A 10 second ride is pretty decent down here. Summer was flat so you’d go weeks without a surf. Now I foil every day. A really rubbish foil ride is still 30 seconds or something. Some sessions I’ll look at my watch and will have done 6k on foil or something bonkers! When it’s flat I dock-start off the ladder or a groyne and practice technique in flat water. When it’s windy I do shore-runners (like mini downwinders where you just go with the wind linking as many waves as possible). I foil in some way shape or form nearly every day, and I’m loving it.

Give us a brief description of your local and what it offers from a foiling perspective.

Whereas we only had one decent surf break in the area that would wake a handful of times per winter, we actually have some class foiling spots. When it’s north winds with a groundswell we have some spots over on the Jurassic coast that are so insane on a foil. Most of Poole bay has sandbars that break fat and crumbly a hundred or so metres out to sea and then back off into deep water which is perfect for foiling too. We have a river-mouth setup which is the absolute jewel in the foiling crown round here. It’s got too much current and backs off too much for the surfers too so the foil crew pretty much have it to ourselves. It’s also protected from SW winds so is often clean when it’s stormy everywhere else. We also get swell from the east sometimes which is perfect for doing shore-runners all along Poole Bay. We also have the pier obviously which has fun banks and protection from the wind either side. I tend only to foil that when it’s too small for the surfers, or at least very uncrowded. It actually amazing if we have a strong NE wind blowing for a few hours. You get these perfect little peaks forming on the west side of the pier which are just too small to surf properly but are epic on a foil. It can be a foil park there when everywhere else is flat. It’s bizarre! 

If you’re planning a visit please don’t foil the pier if you’re a beginner or it’s very crowded. We have good relations with the local surfers at the moment and would like to keep it that way! Also foiling is banned at Kimmeridge so please don’t foil there either.

Are you just prone focused or do you dabble with other foiling disciplines?

Well with my surfing background prone is my favourite for sure. But I love the dock-start stuff –  I pretty much live off that and wake-foiling in the summer. I’m really interested in getting into prone downwinders once my shore-running skills are up there. I think once you can foil it’s pretty much all the same, it’s all foiling and it’s all super fun. With the exception of wing-foiling which I’ve tried a couple of times and can’t even stand up! Standing the wrong way on the board – what’s that all about? Don’t think I’ve ever sworn so much! 

Got any foiling goals in mind you can talk about?

Right now I’m really focusing on surf manoeuvres but on a foil. I’m trying to turn tighter and harder, trying rebounds off the foam and whitewater bashes. I think when you start prone foiling you get sucked into this mindset of just wanting to pump and connect as many waves as possible. But then you see some footage of yourself and you’re so knackered when you’re on the wave you’re just standing there cruising – and that’s definitely not why I got into surfing in the first place. So now I’m trying to ride mid-aspect foils like the Signature Game Changer which are built for carving and bashing foam. I’m also working really hard on shore-runners – kind of like downwind runs where you aren’t too far from the surf line. I’ve got to the 1k mark and I’m aiming for 2k this winter, with a view to venturing further and further out for a full prone downwinder. I’d also like to nail a 1k flat water pump this summer!

When did Signature come on the scene?

I was trying to get hold of a Game Changer and SPG didn’t have any distributors in the UK. I tried to be really helpful and sent Ivan (SPG owner) a load of big UK surf brand distributors. We got chatting and he was saying basically they’re a boutique brand and were looking for a local frother who would ride the gear themselves and get people stoked on it so it would grow organically. I was like, “Hang on – I think I know just the guy!”! They sent me a couple of GameChangers to try, which I fell in love with right away. They are easily the best foil I have ridden in the surf. The 195 (1260) is such a Swiss army knife foil too – you can dockstart it, ride it behind the boat, and properly crank turns on tiny little knee high waves on it. It’s awesome. I got my first full shipment of foils in May this year. 

And where are you now with the brand in the UK?

I’m just trying to grow it organically as we set out to do. People see me in the water, in the carpark after a surf or whatever and get chatting and before you know it they’ve bought a foil. It’s quite an easy job because the foils are so good they sell themselves really! Prone foiling is still very much in its infancy here, and I’m quite active on instagram so quite a few people message with questions, asking for advice etc. It’s really fun being part of the early days of prone foiling in the UK.

Any big SPG UK plans in the pipeline?

Well, I struggle with the wing side of things because I can’t wing! And the SPG foils are awesome for winging. Nathan (Van Vuuren – who is part of SPG with his Dad Ivan and is a serious ripper) rides the tiny little 645 Game Changer on the wing, and busts huge airs, just goes nuts. So I reached out to Tez at FoilShop UK to ask if he could help me promote that side of things as he’s a really good winger. I’m really excited to see how things pan out there as more UK wing surfers discover the foils. 

I’m also super excited for the release of the new Missile and Glide foils which should be coming very soon. The clips Nathan has been posting both on the prone and on the wing look insane. Ivan told me it was like the Game Changer on steroids so I can’t wait to try that. 

Final thoughts, thanks and praise.

I just feel super stoked to be part of the birth of foiling in the UK. We have such a great supportive community and everyone is so friendly, sharing tips and spots. It’s how I imagine surfing used to be in the 50s or 60s or something! Big shout out to the local foil crew (@bhfoilerz) for being awesome and Tom Earl (@tomoearl) who is by far and away the best prone foiler in the UK for the constant inspiration.