Nine Tahitian athletes made the trip to the peninsula for Les Ailes de Saint-Tropez, an international foil competition held in the gulf from 6 to 10 October. Three of them left with a spot on the podium.
In the women's category, Naumi Eychenne, the reigning world champion, swept the downwind foil and the dock start pump foil. Two wins, no contest. Among the men, Axel Pham matched that exactly: two titles, including a first place ahead of the current world champion, Kai Thompson. That result puts him at the top of the 2026-2027 world rankings. A third Tahitian, Toaura Haumani, rounds out the picture with a third place in the flat start discipline, a SUP foil race begun from a standing start on flat water.
Watching this level of foil riding play out on Saint-Tropez's bay, between superyacht hulls and an unpredictable mistral, is something else. Anyone who follows the world circuit knows what Tahiti produces. Still, it lands differently when you see it from shore.
But the delegation from the fenua isn't done. Twelve Tahitian athletes, the original nine from Saint-Tropez joined by three others, have been competing at the Crozon Foil Festival in Brittany since 13 October, where the world tour rolls on.
