The rise of free sailing
From Hobie catamarans to the Reverso Air, a story of passion, innovation and freedom.
A Reverso Air sailing and playing with the swell. Leucate, south of France at the end of a sunny afternoon.
"The free-ride revolution has
its roots in off-piste skiing
and snowboarding"
Tired of performing a highly regimented type of skiing, a group of people came with the idea of taking advantage of the terrain while riding in style and freedom.
This was the birth of freeride skiing or snowboarding, mostly backcountry
Even if the spirit was freedom, the equipment needed to be versatile to adapt and perform very challenging riding conditions. A perfect example of this revolution was the Apocalypse snow produced by videomaker and snowboarder Regis Rolland,
Terje Haakonsen is considered as one of the most influential snowboarders in the history. He turned away from multi-million dollar deal to pursue his call for free-riding.
Hobie cat : the rise of free-sailing
Free sailing is not new ! Building the legendary hobie cat 16, Hobie Alter gave some fresh air in the sailing world. Hobart "Hobie" Alter was a skier, a legendary surfer and was also involved in skateboarding production before launching his sailboat company.
Hobie Alter sailing the hobie 14 on Lake Havasu
Years after, the spirit is still here. We loved sailing these boats and we wanted to push the concept further. We wanted to make our sport easier, with a logistic closer to surfing and kitesurfing that is how we started Reverso.
Reverso Air : the quest for ultimate free-sailing
Growing up in the 1990's sailing skiffs & hobie cats, windsurfing and surfing, we grew up in the love of sailing and enjoying the ocean, in any possible way.
A Reverso Air sailing dinghy, driven by a young woman sailing in clear waters with medium wind and blue skies.
Charles, our naval architect is designing yachts as well as big wave surfboards. David our tech director is a rigger and also an avid windsurfer. Antoine, our CEO loves surfing and wing-foiling as much as sailing his Reverso.
With this mindset and cross sailing/surfing culture, the Reverso team built the craft they always dreamt of.
Game changing
Reverso is changing the game of free-sailing. Some of our customers are comparing the Reverso Air feeling as the carving ski innovation : same sport, but enhanced experience.
Reverso Air black membrane small sailboat - forward 3D view
- surf inspired shape allowing fast plane, sharp turns and great surf
- take-apart hull allowing car transportation, without a trailer for ultimate freedom
- perfectly balanced yacht allowing both easy and performance sailing
Discover our Reverso Air sailboat