Author: Nicolas Rottier

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Sunday in France

Bon Jour mon amies,

Today the contest is over early. Rain and strong winds last night blew out the waves, actually made them too big. So, since many of the people can’t stay till the afternoon high tide, they are going home.
High tide is at 7:30 pm and is 13 feet. Yes, that’s right, 13′. Morning high tide was at 7 am and was also in the 12′ range. Last night at the party we had a great plate of rice and meat sauce and really slept well. Herve was saying tomorrow would be perfect as the beach was getting steeper very quickly after the flattening it received from Fridays high winds and waves. Conditions change really, really fast is what I have learned from all this. I hope I will be able to skim……
dit dit dit ……this just in from Cree, after speaking to Herve, the skimming will go on. As I just said, conditions do change fast. Now it seems Herve will return the rented equipment so he doesn’t have to pay for an extra day and then come home. Skimboarding will be better around 3 pm and maybe I will get a chance to ride a little bit. I need to blow off some accumulated energy after traveling and only walking around seeing sights. Yesterday there was a traditions festival here in the little town where Herve and Cree live. Lots of Basque festivities, crafts, dancing. During the evening there was bull fighting in the local ring. Not the kind with capes and pokers, but totally different. The bull is encouraged to dash across the ring at a person standing still in the middle. As the bull approaches the person leaps over the bulls horns in a front flip and lands after the bull has passed. Variations include tying one’s knees together and/or doing this blindfolded. Makes skimming look easy. I have read about the people of ancient Crete doing this, naked, but had no idea it was still practiced today.
I wonder if Morgan Just has tried this.
Tex
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Morgan Just tows in on Friday.


Saturday, once again Carly and I did the tourist thing while the skim contest took place at Hossegor. I heard the waves were much better. Herve LeDoux is down there from 7 am to 7 pm running the event. That is one heck of a lot of work, and I should know. I heard that Morgan Just entertained the skimmers on Friday by using Herve’s homemade grinch to tow out to 2 meter faces. Good stuff! Bernardo and his partner in Bartardubreak will post up some shots of that. Go Morgan! He has been working hard on using the bungie cord for launches and pushing the sport forward with his willingness to experiment. A bit rainy today, expected to be clearer tomorrow. Today Carly and I visited Spain (San Sebastian) and St. Jean de Luz in France, a spectacular harbor that reduces a 3 meter swell outside to a 1 meter wave on the inner beaches. Castles and chateaus everwhere. Herve and Cree have displayed unbelievable hospitality to us and we are so grateful for the place to stay on our last minute trip to France. Kids grow up quickly and there is a very small window of opportunity to get in an educational trip with them before they no longer want to do these family activities. And as my mom always says, there is never a good time to travel, you just have to go. Couldn’t be more true in our current economic crisis.
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Friday too big!

Friday’s log. Too big for skimming, contest will run Saturday. Lots of skimmers hanging around waiting for the afternoon to change, but still too big. Carly and I visited the Cathedral at Bayonne and felt closer to God. How anyone can build something so tall with stone is beyond belief. I guess that is what it is all about. Drove, if that is the correct term for wandering all over, to Biarritz. One of the most spectacular coastlines I have ever seen. Castles, churches and massive hotels build right to the oceans rocky edge. A harbor, more like a fort against the sea, holds fewer than 50 small boats for the local fisherman. The harbor walls are 40′ tall. Wandered, and I mean wandered, back up to Herve’s to rest up for the party tonight. Matthieu’s brother Nicolas will play the music, should be fun. Tomorrow we will try to visit St. Jean de Luz and maybe San Sebastian in Spain to taste the local food and see the harbor.

Tex and Carly Haines, roving students of history and skimming.
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Herve LeDoud house

Well, here we are, Carly and Tex Haines, staying at the home of Herve and Cree in France. The waves today are huge! Some rain, a little wind, and swell dropping over the next few days. I am with Bernardo of Bartardubreak and he lives in downtown Paris and we hope to visit him when we return to Paris on Monday. Pascal is here, the famous French tagger who created a couple of our best shirts for Victoria many years ago. The skimmer with the peace sign in his hand making the word Victoria as he skims. Around 2001 or 2002. And my other favorite the rectangle with a small red dot and a nike swoosh representing a wave. Inscrutable art. Classics!….. Tomorrow the contest at Hossegor will start. Probably waves too big, so Herve will run the contestants on Saturday in two time periods. The tides change so much that the window is small, so it will be good two times Saturday. Carly and I will probably drive Herve’s car around and see the sights. Bayonne, Biarritz, and St. Jean de Luz. Tourists, what a pain!. Aren’t we lucky? More later…….

Tex
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Testing the Flowrider

Victoria Skimboards team rider and employee Matthieu Thibaud got in the car with General Manager Trigg Garner yesterday and headed on down to the Wavehouse in San Diego. The goal of the trip was market/production research but “when in Rome” as the saying goes…….

Matthieu Thibaud talking to Brandon of the Wavehouse about the design of the boards for the Flowrider.
Matthieu on his first run of the day. When you are starting on the Flowrider, you use the rope to get your bearings. Matthieu ditched the rope after his second run and started hammering out shuv-its.
Trigg getting a little beginning help from Wavehouse employee Brandon.

Of course, when your skill level improves on the Flowrider you move up to the Barrelrider. Victoria Skimboards team rider Bill Bryan featured above getting “slotted” in the barrel.
Special thanks to Robert and the staff at the Wavehouse for being so accomidating and letting us play around a little bit. For more information on the Wavehouse, click here.
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Hobie store in Laguna Beach #1

Victoria Skimboards is proud to have worked directly with the employees at Hobie in Laguna Beach to create an in store experience rather than just a window design.

With history boards and pictures detailing out the rise of Victoria Skimboards and skimboarding, we appreciate the opportunity presented to us by the Hobie store in Laguna Beach.
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Tex in the Brooks St. Surf Classic

Owner of Victoria Skimboards, Tex Haines, participated in the Brooks Street Surf Classic over the weekend of July 25th through 26th. Noteworthy of the event was the swell size as at times double overhead waves (pushing 15 foot face) pushed through the lineup. Second reef at Brooks Street was breaking consistently. Props to all of the contestants for braving the heavy weekend surf!

Tex Haines results:
6th place Longboard division
2nd place Grand Masters division