Patrice Guenole is the Executive Manager for the France-based stand up paddle surfing company GONGSUP (Galaxy of New Generations). GONGSUP is producing some of the most progressive stand up paddle surfboards available. This is Part 3 of 3 of the exclusive interview with Patrice. We look forward to future press releases and information from Galaxy of New Generations. Thanks for sharing the stoke Patrice!
 SUPSURFMAG: What can you tell us about
fins? What fins are going on your boards?
PATRICE: That’s so important. A bad fin
can kill a good shape and vice versa. The key is to find the exact combination
for each board. Generally, our fins are super fast and love having big angles
on turns. If you look at the difference between SUP and prone paddle surfing,
the main point you see is you need more flotation. And, if you really analyze
this difference, the key point is the angle when you turn!
SUPSURFMAG: What’s the key to high
performance stand up paddle surfing?
PATRICE: Why is it so pleasurable to ride
a 12’ with a volume of 220 litres instead of a good prone paddle surfboard in
good waves?!!!? Because you have a paddle. Does the pleasure come from the easy
take off? Of course not. Does it come from the balance game throughout the
session? No!!! It comes from the power of the angle. When I ride my SUP, I have
2 boards: my SUP and my paddle blade! If I want to turn this huge board, I need
to use my paddle. So I have 2 choices: use it like on a canoe (behind me) or
like a windsurf boom at the bottom at hookipa (in front of me a 100% on the
curve). For me, modern SUP is being able to put your weight inside the turn on
the blade more than on the board. If you do that, you increase your speed
because you increase the energy you give to the board. You use the paddle like
a second board!
That’s the key of the future SUP surfing
performance.
When you consider this, you understand
more how different a traditional surfboard shape is from a SUP shape. For
example, if you put extreme angles to a big board, your rocker line won’t work
how it does on a regular surfboard. Your rocker then becomes a mix of the
rocker and the outline. The rail line has to be managed totally differently.
That’s why the question of fins is so
important because they are driven with much more angle compared to a longboard,
for example. We spend a lot of time on the lateral fins and we usually prefer
to decrease the size of the center fin to increase the speed.
SUPSURFMAG: Tell us about your own personal board/fin setup. What
are you riding?
PATRICE: I like modern drives. So I ride
all boards with small fins, even when it is massive.
SUPSURFMAG: What does the
future hold for stand up paddle board design?
PATRICE: We have designed 6 new shapes for
this summer. The future for use is to make our customers happy every day. So,
we go in all directions we love. We will have more extreme designs coming soon.
SUPSURFMAG: We've seen some unreal photos
from you guys. Tell us about your team riders.
PATRICE: You know, my favourite photos are
when I see kids having fun. I really love photos of my baby and I (l’Ours is my
nickname). I love the style of Romain Maurin. I love the stupid things we all
do. I love Antoine Delpero super fluid. I love Antoine Albeau so powerful. I
love girls because they are all extremely elegant on a SUP. I love junk days
with big smiles on the face of the guys… We have more than 6000 photos on line
and tons in my computer.
SUPSURFMAG: What tips can you give to a
beginning stand up paddler?
PATRICE: Take care of others and yourself.
Always smile and respect. Never think the paddle as a simple paddle. The paddle
is a key.
SUPSURFMAG: What instruction can you give
to intermediate/advanced surfers?
PATRICE: Exactly the same!
SUPSURFMAG: If there was one message you
send to stand up paddlers around the world, what would that be?
PATRICE: Ocean, nature, friends, and love…
probably the recipe of happiness.
SUPSURFMAG: Where can we go for more
information about GONGSUP?
PATRICE: GONGSUP is on www.gongsup.com
of course but the biggest way to have information
about GONGSUP is to try our gear. END PART 3 OF 3
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