SHAPING BAY
It is thanks to Fabien Vollenweider, a famous shaper, that the Quadem became real. We met in November on Maui and I could feel his interest for this new approach – over a few beers, we discussed it all, tandem, tridem and studied the available options. That is exactly when we should have stopped the whole project! No one around us believed in the potential of a board 6.5 metres long and 90 cms wide, the ideal measurements according to Fabien to feel comfortable at high speed. To draw this board was a challenge even for his talent but the 3D shape was ready within days. Craig Gertenbach, the boss of Fanatic, almost fell off of his chair when he opened his emails in the beginning of December. He had in front of him a pure jewel born from the heart of the Tramontana and ready to explode records … if you could find someone to actually build it. I was already convinced that Xavier would be proud to be the pilot of this rocket, and I could already picture my loyal Tridem mates Régis Bouron and Matthieu in their brand new tight red latex suits. Yeesssss. It took a few more mails to get the budget together and the adventure could get started. It is in Thailand that all of our problems really started – just trying to find an EPS core of 6.5 metres long and a tree tall enough to build a stringer of the same length! Not to mention the metres of cloth and the kgs of resin that Dani, Fanatic’s product manager, had to requisition. We also had to find a workshop long enough and a cardboard box size XXXL to pack the whole thing in at the end. The whole team flew there and tested dozens of prototypes before validating a shape of astronomical dimensions delivering busts of acceleration that would scare the living hell out of Lewis Hamilton.