I’d been sitting in Bali chilling and surfing with my girlfriend for the last few weeks, when I got a WhatsApp message from Ollie, Starboard sup product manager, asking if I could stay around for a bit longer. He was coming out to the “island of the gods” for some testing and said he would like my help with that. Well, it’s not often you get invited to test the next generation of SUP toys from a bunch of crazy innovators - so, of course I immediately accepted!
During the weeks before Ollie called I’d spent most of my time stand up paddle surfing around the point breaks of the Bukit peninsula. I was usually the only paddler on the line-up. For sure I caught lots of perfect waves, having a lot of fun but I was looking for something more than that.
I was missing the thrill of having some new boards under my feet and to discover wave after wave how to adapt to the new board, the new paddle, or the new fin setup.
I think in surfing, as everything else in life, we should challenge ourselves from time to time to forget the ordinary, step out of our comfort zone and try something new. That’s what I love the most about board testing and that’s another reason why I couldn’t refuse Ollie’s invite. I think that if there is a common trait through athletes is that they love to learn continuously, it’s how they get so good at what they do. And that’s the feeling I also have when I am out there testing new shapes, new rockerlines, new rails. You learn how to adapt to the new tool under your feet and you hopefully learn how to evolve your surfing to a next level.
There’s something magic that happens when you can turn your ideas into shapes and when you can help others to assess the pro and contra of innovations that came out of the mind of the shaper. Not so many people have this privilege - to be kept in loop of your favourite brand’s research and development program. Believe me, it’s a true pleasure.
The island of Gods
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