Patagonia signs Cash Berzolla, Maui foiler shaping the sport's future

Patagonia’s latest foiling signing sends a clear message about what the sport now rewards: not just podium finishes, but a rider who can surf, foil, and carry a recognizable waterman image into the next phase of wingfoiling. Cash Berzolla, 20, born and raised on Maui, fits that mold as a surf-rooted athlete whose profile stretches from Ho’okipa to the World Surf League’s Men’s QS and the GWA Wingfoil World Tour.

Berzolla grew up surfing first and picked up foiling in his mid-teens, a timeline that matters in a sport still building its youth pipeline. That background gave him the kind of wave reading and line choice that translate cleanly to foil riding, where timing and glide can matter as much as raw power. He is most closely identified with wingfoiling now, but his appeal goes beyond one discipline: he rides whatever the day gives him, from clean surf to wind swell and leftover chop, which is exactly the kind of versatility brands are chasing.

The competitive résumé is already real. The GWA says Berzolla won his first title in 2024 in the Wave discipline at the season finale in Ibiraquera, Brazil. It also lists him as the 2025 Wingfoil Wave World Champion after the title decider at Ponta Preta, Cape Verde. That event ran from February 16 to 21, 2025, and with wave riding the only wave stop on the GWA calendar that season, the crown carried unusual weight.

Berzolla’s rise also reflects the speed of Maui’s wingfoil scene. In a GWA interview, he pointed to Hawaii, especially Maui, as a watersports mecca and said many of his peers started wingfoiling around 2020. That fast local progression has produced a generation that grew up with the sport rather than discovering it later, and Berzolla has become one of its clearest faces.

Patagonia’s fit is equally telling. The company’s pro-athlete program is selective, limited to U.S. and Canada-based athletes in sports including surf and climbing, and it has long tied its identity to environmental mission and clean brand storytelling. Berzolla, whose home spot is listed as Ho’okipa, Maui, gives Patagonia a foil athlete with titles, visibility, and a lifestyle image that reaches beyond the heat sheet.

His WSL page also shows he remains a working surfer, with a 2025/2026 Men’s QS ranking of 43 and 726 points at the time of the crawl. That dual identity, surfer and foiler, is the point. Berzolla is not just another promising rider; he is a sign of where foil surfing is heading, toward athletes who can shape both the performance standard and the look of the sport.