ITW : JVB Surfboards !!!

Several months ago we launched the line of Series Boards from the renowned Shaper : JVB. The talented Shaper, on top of being a Surfer, SUPer extraordinaire, has taken the time to answer a few questions for us. Hello JVB, can you introduce yourself? I was born and raised on the Cap Corse. The ocean is a big part of my life and that of my family’s. As a child, at my home in Corse, is when I was initiated into waves and surfing in the 1980’s. Everything needed to be invented : Starting with celebrating every summer swell by playing on the pebbles and rocks in my village, Petra Nera, then body surfing with inflatable mats until actually fabricating Boards in my adolescence. The adventure was fascinating and, in time, Corse became a serious playground, of virgin surf. Wave riding is already something that’s incredible to do, but doing it in a place where it didn’t exist before, makes the sentimental and sensation side of it even more exceptional, and voracious. The exploration of this savage nature quickly became an addiction, but also a great source for spirituality and education. I learned to surf and shape in Corse, autodidactic to be precise. No media, no literature, no mentor, no traveling Surfers passing through. It is definitely a true vocation and I now think that I deserve ‘Surfing’ more than any other surfer. When I found myself in Teahupoo, G-land or Belharra and things got serious, I found my courage by telling myself that I came from far, far away … because being a surfer from Petra Nera was much more difficult than being a surfer from Hawaii. I live from my craft, custom made surfboards and SUP, and the teaching of Surfing and SUP at my two schools in Cap-Corsines. I have beautiful projects in sight and I am determined to make them happen in Corsica, my island, which gives me so much. Why did you become a Shaper ? I have always been the type to design, build and implement. I think this temperament is closely linked to insularity. When you live on an island, you have to be self sufficient in order get what you want. When I started up wave surfing, it was obvious that I had to make a board for myself. The quest for the perfect board, for this or that type of wave, quickly became an obsession. I highly appreciate all the steps of making a Surfboard including engineering, testing and finishing. I produce everything. Shaping remains an empirical activity. When I test a prototype that I just created, it’s very exciting to check if my own intuitions about the parameters of a board have been good. I live in a kind of world where Virgin waves, outline, rocker, hull, fiberglass, wet suit, sander, wax all mingle together … It’s the dream for a surfer! Who do you Shape for ? I shape for all surfers who wish to acquire a board made by a surfer capable of translating their needs into a « Incredibly Good Board » . I have managed to satisfy a beginner, from my Surf School, the young surfing prodigy Justin Becret, and he has been making his orders with me every year for his competition boards ever since he started, and also for the incredible Pierre Rollet who won, on a JVB Surfboard, the SUPsurf French Championship in 2017, became Vice-Champion of Europe the same year and also charges Belharra, Mavericks and Nazaré on. Copyright : Eric Chauché What Shapers Inspire you ? I have always been fascinated by Maurice Cole. He incarnates, for me, the archetype of the Surfer/Shaper. Timeless, quintessential, globe-trotter, Tube Rider, flamboyant on the wave, innovative with his shapes. Always ahead of the curve. His Shapes are racy, beautiful and resolutely gear towards performance and the future. Respect ! But for the Surfer/Shaper that I am, my true inspiration comes from the waves and the manner with how they’re surfed. I think, definitively, that the creation of a good Board is the response to the problems given by the wave and the way you envision surfing them. This is how THE BO Model came to light in 1993, and against the grain of what was coming out at the time. In the same way, when I think about the SUPsurf shapes from 2006 to 2012, the whole Shape story was revisited. Everything needed to be reinvented! We knew what we wanted to do in the Wave and we went very quickly in the evolution of the boards. This is the proof that the Wave and the practice are the real inspirations. The Type of Board you love to Shape ? All types, except for Thrusters of course !! The type of Board you prefer to Surf ? My New Gun concept Board in open ocean waves and THE BO Model in smaller waves. Tell us about the Wave Pistol and THE BO Model . I created THE BO Model in 1993. At the time, we were under the influence of 6’1 x 17 1/2” x 2” with ridiculous rocker, used by Kelly Slater & Shane Herring. They were completely unadapted to our daily conditions and waves. I wanted to have volume, planning power, speed conservation and, above all, to reduce the trajectory radius in small waves to be able to manoeuvre closer to the curl and to favor airs. I intuitively drew a 5’2 x 20” x 2 1/1”, bullet form, which I shaped with a flat rocker and ended with a kick tail. That soon transformed in to a Quad concave on the kick tail. The Tail was wide, with swallow, the norm for a thruster. This prototype was EPS/Fiber-glass/Epoxy and I made the Fins with Airex foam and Carbon Fiber. I got on my first wave so early and unexpectedly and needed the wave with a fat frontside air. That day I had felt a sensation of full power, and that is quite a unique sensation, to be able to design my ideal Board outside the norm. Since then THE BO Model has never gone away and has seen significant evolution in its shape. For the Series Board, THE BO has a sweet ‘Diamond Round Tail’ which adds elegance and makes her easier in the turns, and getting from rail to rail. The Wave Pistol was born from the desire to put all the qualities of The BO Model in the service of a more conventional Outline. I started working on the Wave Pistol in 2011. The first prototypes were very satisfying and showed the relevance of the concept. I wanted a shortboard that would enable the average surfer to acquire and produce high-performance surfing in rough waves. The idea was to continue surfing a shortboard with relevance in longboard waves. The Wave Pistol is easy, swift, very fast in the wave and keeps all its speed in the flat sections. It is manageable, very reactive and offers a lot of “punch » off the surfers projection. It allows you to surf vertically in rough waves. Bonus; the Wave Pistol loves the tubes! Copyright : Eric Chauché Why the Cormorant Bird as a Logo ? Because that’s your inevitable surf partner in Corse. It’s always there, on the peak or on a rock, always discrete. Because I’ve shared some great stories with them. Because it’s an outstanding underwater hunter. Because I find it beautiful. Because I think he’s one of the most accomplished beings in this world; it walks, it does apnea more than 40 m deep and it is steals! I wanted to make this discreet Excellence, the emblem of JVB Surfboards. Projects for 2019 ? Take care of my family, stay in good health, surf as much as possible, open new Waves and fabricate “Incredibly Good SurfBoards “. You can find the JVB Series Boards THE BO & Wave Pistol on the online Shop by clicking here. Shaper : Jean-Valère Bordenave et ses JVB Surfboards. Source : JVB Surfboards, the friendly brand.
Tags : JVB Surfboards, surfboards, surf, surfing, surfer, shaper, The Bo, Wave Pistol, PU and EPS surfboards, the friendly brand, gongsurfshop.com.