James Casey joins AXIS R&D team to advance downwind foils

James Casey gives AXIS something every foil brand wants and very few can buy: a rider who can win the biggest downwind races, then sit with designers and talk about what the next generation of foils should feel like. AXIS announced on February 18, 2022 that Casey was joining as both a team rider and a member of its R&D group, with a key focus on the Downwind Prone and tow foil development programmes.

That matters because Casey is not just a recognizable name. He won Molokaʻi 2 Oʻahu in 2019 in 4:03:20, finished about five minutes ahead of Michael Booth, and his résumé also includes five Australian titles, a 2021 12 Towers Beach Race crown, and a Guinness World Record 213km downwind foil. For a brand trying to build faster, more efficient, and more surfable downwind gear, that combination of speed, endurance, and ocean judgment is the kind of feedback that can shape real product decisions, from glide and lift to how forgiving a setup feels when the run gets rough.

AXIS said Casey would help develop foils for racing and for a better experience in all conditions, and that gives the hire a clear product-development edge. The company is not just adding a podium rider for visibility. It is bringing in someone whose experience stretches from performance racing to everyday towing and wave hunting, exactly the places where foil design tradeoffs get exposed fast. In practical terms, that can influence how AXIS thinks about all sizes of waves, how a downwind foil carries speed between bumps, and how much stiffness or efficiency serious riders are willing to trade for surfiness.

Casey has also been pushing technique as much as equipment. His deflate-and-reinflate wing-foil method, described in 2021 as a world-first, uses CO2 canisters to reinflate the wing after a downwind run. That kind of innovation says a lot about the testing priorities he is likely to bring into AXIS: not only outright speed, but recovery, restartability, and how a rider can keep a long run alive after a fall.

His broader coaching work also strengthens the link between product and community. Coach Casey Club is built as an online learning platform for SUP racing, SUP surfing, and foiling, while The Casey Catch Up podcast aims to get more people into independent downwind foiling. With Casey now tied into AXIS R&D, the brand gets more than a familiar face. It gets a rider whose credibility with serious foilers comes from the same places the next breakthrough often does, in the long runs, the rough water, and the small equipment details that decide whether a foil simply works or genuinely changes the session.