Short trip to Biarritz

I was lucky to be invited by some friends with a house near Biarritz, in August. I had a window of 3 days, so I loaded my SUP Gong Shake 7'4" and off I went. It was my first "true" experience of "real" ocean surfing, with much more powerful swells and clean faces than what I usually enjoy at my home spot in the Mediterranee. The Gong Shake 7'4" proved to be a fantastic toy to surf on those waves. I shot a quick on-board video with my GoPro:

I hope I can go back real soon!

Rescue tip

Please watch this short video, on how to "load" an unconscious surfer on top of your board. It isn't done the way you might have thought, so it's good to watch and have it in mind (better still: practice it next time you are at the beach, with a friend):

Laird Hamilton's SUP board with PUMA

Laird Hamilton will be a crew member of the PUMA Volvo Ocean Race 70 foot boat. Laird extended his partnership with PUMA to include a special line of SUP boards. These limited edition boards, hand made in the USA, will be available at a PUMA store near you.

Click here for photo

Adios Spain, I'm moving to Amsterdam irrestible waters

Who wouldn't with such an irrestible watersports play ground?

Surfing in your garden

Wavegarden is a cost effective and environmentally friendly wave generation technology that is now available to the public. For the first time Wavegarden makes economically-viable inland wave sports and lifestyle facilities possible.

It is also a great tool to teach surfing.

Marisa Miller's SUP

In our celebrities series, we now introduce top model Marisa Miller endorsing her SUP board... and some flattering outfits to go out on the water with it.

Enjoy:

I want my SUP served small, please

Gong SUP shaper, rider, manager, delivery-man, coffee-maker etc Patrice Guénolé seems totally convinced short SUPs are now ready for the market.
Check-out http://www.gongsup.com for a preview of the 2011 board line, which includes several of those short beauties, no longer than 6' and a few inches.

I can't wait to visit him and go for a ride on one of those beauties. Did I mention that the quality seems absolutely heads, shoulders and even hips above anything I've seen on the market? Made of carbon and bamboo fibers (dubbed caribou) and including additional natural components in the manufacturing process, these boards are a step in the right direction towards environment friendliness and are stiff, light, durable and with a mirror like touch!

See by yourself:

http://www.gongsup.com

Whales!

Check out the photo reporter's web site, worth visiting:

http://images.michaelpoliza.com/p920094955/h3c5571a2#h3c5571a2

Cavemen!

Some photos of a nice paddle trip we did, my friend Julio and myself to some caves nearby. Julio is on Inspiro 12', myself on Drops SUP Spirit, with matching red lycras! The Mediterranee is such a nice shore: the ocre of the rocks, the dark green of the pine trees and the deep blue of the sea. We were close to Tamariu on the Costa Brava, at sun rise, because the caves are oriented to the east, so to have some light inside, you must go first thing in the morning. We spent 3 hours exploring this shore:

http://es.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=35216

An unforgettable trip, thanks to the SUP.

Laird Hamilton is never late, thanks to his Chanel J12 watch

One of the most elegant riders and surfing legend Laird Hamilton just added even more style to his look, thanks to Chanel making him the ambassador of their J12 chronograph!

Just one wave... but what a wave!

A dream wave, beautifully ridden by Belgian SUPer Arnaud Frennet who lives close to the famous  Punta de Lobos wave in Pichilemu / Chili. A 90 second ride, on a perfect, glassy, never ending swell. Enjoy!

Source : Arnaud Frennet

Robby Naish paddling in Venice

Full report in the Italian diary, la Repubblica.

Robby is in Europe these days for Quiksilver: inauguration party of the new European HQ in Saint Jean de Luz, Basque Country / France, and a new Quiksilver Boardrider Club in Italy (Torbole). He took advantage of this trip to experiment a special paddling session in Venice.

More here: www.repubblica.it/sport/2010/05/29/foto/il_surf_come_una_gondola_robbie_gira_venezia-4422403/1/

Mini SUP

Gong SUP shaper, Patrice Guénolé, insists that a SUP board for a given program should be the same length than a surf board. He proves it here with some photos of him riding a 5'11.

Patrice, 104 kilos, is no feather-weight, so he makes a point here that a short SUP can be for anyone.

If you fancy one, check-out Gong's hand made SUP gear page here:
http://www.gongsup.com/-GONG-Hand-Made-SUP-.html?lang=fr

And now, Kauli wins in SUP too

After Kai Lenny winning the first stage of the World Stand Up Tour, we now have 3 times windsurfing wave world champion Kauli Seadi winning in SUP too. But mind you, not in a surfing contest, but in a long distance contest! A physical and resistance statement at this long distance in Brazil, sponsored by Red Bull.

Kauli was riding a JP Australia SUP, but not a long distance prototype, despite the lower gliding speed of this allround board, he got the job done. Congrats!

More info:
http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Sports/Water-Sports/001242745960432

Stand Up World Tour

Big waves for the trials and Slater Trout, 15 years old, is coming out on top. No doubt his future will be bright. Day 1 video here:


http://vimeo.com/9314896
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2Gj-ie0xVs&feature=player_embedded

And the final day here, with the victory of another very promising youngster, Kai Lenny, 17:

http://vimeo.com/9551306
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb-cbPNCyvQ&feature=player_embedded

Wipe-out festival:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J81iIrBijxw&feature=player_embedded

I'll take my SUP ice-cold please

Check this one out

GoPro Wide

There is a new toy at home: a tiny on-board camera for those watersports, skiing or mountain-biking sessions.
I have a lot of progress to make photo-wise (managing the wide angle or light direction, to start with), not to mention my stance on the board. A great tool to visualize my errors and, hopefully, correct them and improve.

Follow the red boards

Gong SUP boards have reached an agreement to partner with DROPS Windsurfing and share their shapes with them, maintaining their legendary red color.

More news here:
www.gongsup.com/spip.php?page=news〈=fr#News_1400

or there:
http://www.drops.net/portal/content.php?action=show&type=news&id=292

And more in a few days when additional developments become available

New toy

SUP Gong 10'2", mast base tuning by Palmer.

007 SUP-ping in Hawaii

Pierce Brosnan en SUP

http://hipcelebrity.blogspot.com/2008/06/pierce-brosnan-enjoys-standup-paddle.html