AHUA was founded in 2010 where two lifelong paths meet: design and the ocean.
The project began with a simple realization. Watching bodysurfers using handplanes revealed something obvious — with the right surface, speed and glide increase dramatically.
For someone who had bodysurfed since childhood, the idea was immediate: design a better one.
The first prototype was built in a garage using available materials. By the fourth version, the concept was already working.
Dozens of refinements followed.
From the beginning, the goal was not simply to make a handplane — but to design one properly.
AHUA was created by an architect and lifelong bodysurfer.
Design thinking naturally shaped the approach: every object is both matter and something more.
A good handplane is not only a surface that creates lift. It is a precise balance between hydrodynamics, ergonomics and material behaviour.
Shape defines performance.
Comfort defines connection.
Materials define feel.
Every AHUA handplane begins in the water.
New ideas start as prototypes tested directly in real waves. Only after their behaviour in the ocean is understood do drawing and modelling begin.
In this process, the ocean decides the design.
Over fifteen years of sessions — from small beach breaks to powerful ocean swells — shapes have been gradually refined.
The goal remains simple: tools that enhance the natural movement of the bodysurfer.
Speed.
Lift.
Control.
Connection.
When AHUA started, bodysurfers in Portugal were mostly isolated individuals scattered along the coast.
Through early events and gatherings, a community began to take shape.
These initiatives helped give rise to the Portuguese Bodysurf Championship — a competition that AHUA has supported since its first edition.
For more than a decade, national champions have ridden AHUA handplanes in competition.
AHUA handplanes are designed and built in Portugal.
Production remains intentionally small, allowing careful control over shape, finishing and materials.
Different models explore different constructions, including cork, paulownia wood and advanced polymers.
Each material is chosen for how it interacts with the hand, the body and the wave.
Performance comes first.
Craft follows closely behind.
