Some smooth carving moves by Xavier Leroy, a very talented French surfer/super.

On a shortboard, then a Gong 9'2" Freak performance LongSUP (black) and a Gong 6'10" Fatal ShortSUP (back & white) (both 100% carbon, no glass)



2 years ago, on LongSUPs: Gong 9'11" Electric (red), and a Bonz 9'1" (green)

I liked him on the longer sup , looked smooth.The shorter sup not so much

teatrea said..

I liked him on the longer sup , looked smooth.The shorter sup not so much

I knew you would be a longboarder deep down

love the longboard vid but i think helicopters are about the stupidest move ever devised by surf-n-sup-kind. far as i can tell, there's nothing functional about them and they always look awkward and, well, they're just stupid. and irritating. i can barely stand to watch the vid knowing that any second he might squat down and drop that turd of a maneuver -- -- and stink up his performance to high heaven. in any event, that's my opinion. who's with me?

linter said...
love the longboard vid but i think helicopters are about the stupidest move ever devised by surf-n-sup-kind. far as i can tell, there's nothing functional about them and they always look awkward and, well, they're just stupid. and irritating. i can barely stand to watch the vid knowing that any second he might squat down and drop that turd of a maneuver -- -- and stink up his performance to high heaven. in any event, that's my opinion. who's with me?

I thought I was the only one. Absolutely hate them, ruins flow and style IMO

log man said..
Colas, love your work mate. The Gong boards always look to perform really well to me. Is there an Au distributor???

Well, my "work" is only to write posts :-) Gong boards are the sole work of Patrice Guenole...

No foreign distributor for now, I guess Patrice struggles already to make enough boards for the French market (the waiting list is quite long) that he didnt look for foreign distributors... However, I think you have so much talented shaper in OZ and US that you should have no shortage of quality custom boards there.

Some words on the boards: the 9'2" Xavier uses is a real killer: at 29" wide for 110l (the 130l version is 30.5") with a domed deck, it has very thin rails and an extremely flat rocker, and the full carbon non-sandwich construction really make this kind of shapes alive. The Fatal 6'10" is one of my favorite board, with a wide planshape and well shaped but meaty rails everywhere it is incredibly fun and easy (note how you can ride the foam by staying on top of it), while keeping speed in carving turns. For me I'd rather surf these low rocker short boards than 8' with tons of rocker that do not actually have more speed since most of the nose is out of the water anyways...

here's a slapped-together helicopter-free remix of the second vid above. much bettah if you ask me!

Xavier on his 6'10", view from the beach, from the paddle, and from a cool head-mounted swivelling bar on the helmet:

Xavier "kicking the tires" of his new 6'10", 27"3/16, 115l

Note that these boards are definitely not "world cup boards". It shows that you can enjoy short lengths & high performance while keeping a manageable width & volume.

supthecreek, yes, he surf in the french surf mecca (Biarritz / Hossegor) which tend to be very conservative, so surfers are not used to see progressive SUP surfing.

Don't know, I'll ask...

Very nice..

11'x31, yes with just little side bites twinning it. Usually variable as slightly out of control.

Not sure that I saw one turn on the small SUP that wasn't a bog rail or a dish - fat board problems....

Excellent Colas thanks!

Proves it for me... sort and long sups why NOT bother

Bill