BEGINNINGS
It’s a long story how I started working for Starboard. I met Svein for the first time in 2000 at the Formula worlds in Pattaya. While I was there he invited me to test with him. He was very happy about the way I saw how boards worked and my testing methods and results. He asked me to work as a freelance tester from 2001. In 2007 I had a big problem with a brain tumour. Svein came to visit me at the hospital in Bordeaux. Then in January 2008 when I recovered, Svein and Tiesda proposed I work full time at Starboard. I did not hesitate! I received the news at 8am and by 6pm I was on a flight! Since that day I moved to Thailand to work for Starboard full time. My background was always racing and I previously had raced in all the different classes. I started sailing on flat boards in 1978, the Windglider and Carib Surf Boards, before going to Division 2, and then I switched to Raceboards, Formula and Slalom. Maybe next year it will be foil, I don’t know!
THE PROCESS
My main baby is the Isonic but I also love the Phantom raceboard. I was 2 times World Champion in Raceboard,, so that board also means a lot to me. So the Phantom was my original baby but now I guess it is the Isonic. There are many other boards I am involved with, the Futura, the Carve, AtomIQ and so on. We are a group all working together on the test and development. This is important as you need different views on the way boards ride. You need to collect the maximum information to achieve the right board that satisfies everybody. We don’t design boards only with the PWA guys in mind. I have to make sure the boards are all controllable; if I can’t control a board then I know it will be the same for the customer. When the magazines test this type of board they might say that the board is great but difficult to use! If you come up with a board like this then you won’t be able to sell it. If you don’t sell boards then you can’t pay the team riders! So you have to satisfy the rider but also the potential customers.
