| Outdoor Adventure Show 2017...

WOW we are almost there once again, the Outdoor Adventure Show in Montreal. Please come by to see us at the Jumana Boards booth (#729) this WE to discover the new collection with many more awesome models, improved materials and brand new graphics.

I have designed all the boards in collaboration with the Jumana's team this year as well as establish the new art direction for their line of products. It's a really fun project because I have the chance to try a few ideas and also test those boards myself, yummy! This is also great as it brings me back to my industrial design roots.

This year's models have plenty of cool improvements, notably a stronger, stiffer and lighter pre-laminated dropstitch PVC and double-stringers with Dyneema reinforcements. We've also added Clickfins to the mix which I am definitely super excited about.

I'll be demoing the new boards in the cold pool Saturday and Sunday, you're welcome to come and support me :) See you there!

| SUP Valleyfield...

Et hop une autre vidéo de SUP a Valleyfield, beaucoup de premières pour l'équipe, tout le monde a au moins essayé la partie supérieure du parc (la plus difficile), c'était la 1ère fois aussi que je réussissais à la passer entièrement et a surfer la petite vague dans la section moyenne. Nhu progresse de plus en plus et elle va bientôt réussir à surfer avec moi! Cet été est décidement le plus beau depuis mon arrivée au Québec, on en profite un max avant le retour du froid :)

| WE Lac Taureau...

On a passé notre dernier long WE a l'Auberge du Lac Taureau, dans Lanaudière, QC, un endroit de villégiature de luxe, situé près d'un lac magnifique. Martine et Julie de Jumana Boards nous ont invité pour que je fasse des démos de SUP et c'était aussi l'occasion d'étrenner le modèle de production de la Dolphin (fraîchement arrivé de Chine).

Voici une petite vidéo de SUP bomb dropping sur le quai près de la plage, de belles images grâce à Nhu.

#riversup #supwwqc #jumanaboards

| CPR-KSF...

J'ai passe les 2 derniers jours avec des profs de KSF pour un nouveau cours de 1er soins (16h). C'etait de toute facon obligatoire pour completer la formation d'instructeur de SUP avance en eau calme qu'on a faite il y a deja quelques semaines. Cela a eu lieu au shop de Navi sur la pointe-Nord de l'Ile-des-Soeurs. La temperature fut plus clemente au 2eme jour et quel plaisir de se prelasser au soleil pendant les courtes pauses et durant le lunch. J'ai pu assister au travail des castors locaux, ainsi qu'a la construction du nouveau Pont Champlain non loin de la.

OK sinon cote cours, c'etait intense mais necessaire car on oublie facilement les protocoles a suivre, ainsi que tous les milliards d'acronymes censes nous aider a agir rapidement comme S.A.M.P.L.E. Notre prof etait vraiment drole et competent, le truc interessant, c'est qu'il a essaye d'adapter au mieux nos pratiques a des scenarios potentiels pour des urgences en riviere. C'etait bien sympa en tout cas :)

creepy un mannequins sans son visage...

| Jumana Dolphin 2016...

This week i met with Santiago from KLDN for a field test of the Jumana Dolphin. It is the whitewater specific model from Jumana that i've designed and been intensely testing for about a month. It has changed a lot since the early prototype we received in the Fall of 2015 and it's a real fun board to ride.

We ran down the river from the middle section to the bottom of the park and surfed a few times (or tried to), this is still the pre-production model and i have a few tiny things to adjust before the release of the 2016 model. However despite those minor tweaks i am very proud of that board, stable yet nimble, predictable and pretty well balanced, the diamond shaped design came out nicely, the grip is phenomenal and i enjoy the addition of the stomp pad for surfing. So far we have only heard positive comments about it so it should be a good seller.

By the way as a follow-up of my long time wetsuit testing, i can say that i really love my Rip Curl Flashbomb 5.5/4, so warm and stretchy that it helped me ride through the Canadian winter with maximum efficiency and fun.

#whitewatersup #supsurfing #supwwqc

| REVIEW: Rip Curl Flashbomb...

Yesterday i have finally decided to get a serious wetsuit after some very interesting discussions with our local surfer guru Igor Goni. I already own an Ocean Rodeo Soul drysuit but it is not the most practical piece of equipment for surfing, especially when you need to swim a lot after your board.  I had narrowed down my search on three 2016 winter specific models; the Rip Curl Flashbomb,  the O'Neill Heat and the Patagonia R4. Although the only one i could find around here and try was the 1st one, a big thank to the guys at La Boutique Sharks for their patience and help.

Also, i needed a good break from my intense weekend workload, the temperature was perfect today at about 4ºC (39.2 F) and the sun was definitely screaming for a test ride! My neighbour and surf partner Patrick was available for some camera work (and safety). We walked to the closest shore on the St-Laurent river. That's the beauty of living 2mn from the water in Verdun :)

Now about the infamous Rip Curl Flash Bomb Hooded Chest Zip 5.5/4, it is one of the warmest, lightest winter wetsuit designed for frigid waters and it has won many Awards (3x SIMA). Guess that's exactly what i need around here.
The exterior is made out of their E4 neoprene, a very stretchy material, especially considering this thickness, they use different panels to allow for better movement (4 way back stretch, contour legs, mesh skin...etc.) and reliable stitch-less seams everywhere but the arms (Aquaban plus liquid tape, E4 + tape). This all sound like good marketing terms to say that they know how to make a good wetsuit, and the result is quite impressive.
The greatest thing must be their E4 Flash Dry Lining, it is extremely warm and insulates all the vital areas of your body, this also explains why at only 5.5mm it does the same job as a classic 7mm neoprene. They advertise it as being the fastest drying wetsuit on the market and even though i can not prove it, there are a lot of reviews/posts online to support that statement.

I live in a small semi-basement apartment with poor lighting and small windows, my other suits take a long time to dry and this one was definitely the 1st one to be ready for the next session. My Xcel Drylock 7mm booties were still soaked the day after in comparison. 

The water was pretty cold but i really did not feel it, in fact, when i took off the wetsuit, which demands some effort (more of that later), it was damp from all my sweat.

• CONS:

- It's difficult to see any major problems with this suit to be honest but one of the main inconvenience comes from its Chestzip Entry system. There is a very tight front closure system and the very first time to try to get in, it will take ALL of your energy, no kidding. Fortunately it gets better with time and i find it easier to put it on/off now. When you're used to a back or front zip then this is going to be a big change :) the positive thing though, is that once you're inside, it's very comfy and feels like there are no zip parts at all.

- It allows you to surf in difficult conditions but unlike the summer suits, you wouldn't want to let yourself "leak" in this one, which means going back to shore for a little break or make sure you've done it before your session, this is where my drysuit and its relief zipper get an advantage :) Rip curl please add a pipi-zip!

- Like any of the high end and heavier wetsuits it is also a bit more expensive (~ $500 CAD), still it's cheap in comparison to an equivalent drysuit in terms of quality, and when it comes to protecting your life in the river i'd say they are worth the investment.

• PROS:

- Efficiency; it does what it says by keeping you warm, allow you to move quite well, seems durable and dries very rapidly. 

- Design; it looks great, the panels are well placed to allow for your arms and legs to move well, it doesn't feel too bulky. It's definitely designed for surfing.

- I wish i had tried the 3 brand models aforementioned but hey, shit happens and i don't regret this buy. Apparently Rip Curl fits most body types when O'Neill favors thinner silhouettes, at 1.78m and about 83kgs this one fits me like a second skin but you should always try one on before buying, we all have different curves right!

#RipCurl #RiverSUP #winterSUP #astralfootwear

| JuMana protos...

After yesterday's unprecedented terrorist attacks on Paris, i wasn't in a good mood, i stayed awake quite late trying to get more information about this horrible event and making sure my friends were safe. Anyways, this afternoon felt better as i drove to Mille-Isles to meet with the JuMana ladies. Martine and Julie have recently received a few interesting packages from a Chinese manufacturer, because you know... we've actually been working hard on their forthcoming inflatable SUP line in the last few months ;) the 3 boards you see below are the early prototypes with temporary colors, shapes and equipment.

After thoroughly inspecting the boards, bags and paddles for a while, we already have a long list of useful information and ideas concerning the final products. We had a good time debating the pros and cons but the goal of the day was to paddle and that's what we did despite the unfriendly weather (outside temp around -4°C). However no flurries would stop us from our mission: to test-ride those brand new paddle-boards at Lake Noel!!!

Shit it was cold and windy to be honest, of course i forgot to bring some warmer underlayers, the drysuit is great but not so well insulated (it's only a shell). The girls were wearing their new mere 3mm wetsuits, how risky is that? Mind that we did not plan to risk bailing into the dark waters, we just wanted to paddle for fun.

The green all-around board is super stable and fast, i think it'll certainly be their best-seller with minor adjustments and the final graphics, the blue one is a whitewater oriented stick, it works well as it is but we'll have to tune it a lot more before it becomes operational (especially the rocker line). The red is a race board and it is fast, fast indeed but not stable at only 25" (63.5cm) wide! It takes some time getting used to it as we soon realized, Martine fell directly as she was trying to stand up. I did too later on, but that's fine it's part of the mission right :) it took me a few minutes to adjust but it was worth the sweat, with its needle design the board glides effortlessly on the surface in comparison to the other ones, a good sensation of speed indeed.

We eventually got tired of our frozen fingers and decided to head back for a little apero with a good bottle of Muscat de Rivesaltes in front of their fireplace, and surrounded by needy dogs. Quite a privileged day really, far from the violences of this sick world!

I also received my package from Aquabatics which contains some removable fins from NRS. One set of 2" (5.08cm) flexible fins and a set of four 5" (12.7cm), i plan to resize and cut some of them to a more classic fin shape like an FCS M-5 ITF. #SUP #JuManaBoards 

Peace & love...

T.

| Riviere St-Charles...

Hier j'etais a Valleyfield pour une bonne session de SUP d'eau-vive avec Martine de JuMana Boards, Mat et Andrew (qui a fait le detour d'Ottawa quand meme). Une journee magnifique malgre l'annonce d'orages par Meteomedia :)

On a meme eu la chance de voir les loutres locales descendre les rapides avec une aisance incroyable, comme pour nous narguer, c'etait cute et amusant et ca prouve a quel point cette riviere est propre!

La vague etait relativement facile a surfer cette fois...

#supwwqc #SUPwhitewater #supriver

| School of Rock...

Beautiful Sunday in Verdun and mini-surf trip at the Rock Island, we departed from the Natatorium and it took about 35mn to reach the it, i was slightly delayed because of the G-Rocker being pulled behind me. Pat rented a board at KSF and really enjoyed the day.

The view of Montreal is really something, you need to be there to understand it's worth the effort it takes to get there, the island even has some camping areas with tables and fire holes :)

The little waterfalls are easily accessible and offer a free spa, or you can take off your fins and start to bomb drop them on your SUP! Anyway there is plenty of choice and lots of things to do there.

There are 2 small waves to ride and lots of short drops to play with on the south shore of the island. It's like a fun natural whitewater park. I've surfed a while and found that my Astro Stream was better for that environment than the small one.

It was the last time that we rode the G-Rocker as i've decided to sell it in order to buy a hardboard for surfing, more news coming soon!

‪#‎sup‬ #‎whitewatersup‬ #supbail

| Festival SUP Riviere Rouge...

Today I've opened a G+ community > SUPWWQC to mirror its FB counterpart. we are starting to get more attraction now as the whitewater paddleboard community is finally starting to grow around here.

I went to the very 1st whitewater SUP race in Quebec last weekend at Rafting Nouveau-Monde; the Festival SUP Riviere Rouge, it was a beautiful day full of emotions, bruises and laughs in some amazing rapids (class 2+ - Family rapids section). A big thank you to the organizers of the event, volunteers and security team, sponsors and to all the participants! It was an honor being part of this event and the 2nd edition will sure be way bigger.

In the morning i was a bit tired due to a cold and didn't feel like racing but i eventually signed in and tried my best to follow Corran in the turbulent rapids. It was a good idea because i finished 1st of the amateurs and got a GOLD medal ;) fortunately Corran didn't race for real or we wouldn't stand any chances.

Even for a class II+ those rapids were scary and the 1st run was a disaster, most people never tried paddle-boarding on whitewater before and i was the only one after Corran who cleared the two 1st buoys (the last one was too difficult to reach for us mere mortals). The organizers then changed the formula for a straight down race which was already difficult for the average level.

The only problem is that i am limping right now, my left knee is swollen and blueish because some rocks destroyed my kneepad, the rest of my body is really sore too, it was fun and worth it but the water level was low and we all got some minor bruises!

Women podium:

PRO Harmony Dawn

GOLD Emmanuelle Jacques

SILVER Shanie Normandin

BRONZE Sonia Loiselle

Men podium:

PRO Corran Addison
GOLD Thierry Doizon
SILVER Daniel St-Pierre
BRONZESantiago Berrueta

| Ottawa Whitewater Clinic...

Here are some photos from the Ottawa whitewater clinic we jointly organized with Paddlefit and POP Spirit last weekend, it was a blast, a big thank you Jodi for the course and all the useful tips, can't wait to go back to the Pushbutton rapids in a few weeks. Our student group was amazing, the food/service at Owl Rafting was very good and it's the best start of the season we could have hoped for. It's raining today but i wish y'all a HAPPY CANADA DAY on Turtle Island.

Jodi surfing waikiki, a fast and scary wave...

On the last run of Saturday we decided to run down a scary wave train above waikiki, when i realized where we were going i was honestly scared to death and we all ended up drinking lots of water after the huge 1st hole. I couldn't breath at all after resurfacing under my board, lost my paddle in the action and basically just tried to hang on my board (bottom is slippery) until I could ferry in the last eddy to rest for a bit. I ended up pretty beat up, hurt my knees on some rocks and also a few fingernails, sprained my right thumb and learned a valuable lesson:

- Lesson #1 always scout if possible and get the most accurate information on the river and flow.
- Lesson #2 rapids are way stronger than you! ride at your level.

On Sunday the weather wasn't as good and the water level was at zero, everything looked different, the waves were much bigger too. We spent some time working on our bracing and this is one of the most important thing to learn for whitewater SUP i can tell you, especially if you want to surf.

#‎paddlefit‬ ‪#‎popspirit‬ ‪#‎supwwqc‬