NEWS: SPORTY AFTERWORKS FOR THE GONG STAFF!

An afterwork at GONG naturally takes place on the water, and no need to wait for perfect conditions when you have assets in your quiver like Strutless kites, Cruzaders or giant front wings! 😉

The proximity of the spots means that the days without an afterwork spent on the water are quite exceptional at GONG! Besides, in the total absence of waves or wind, the phones of the staff members inevitably vibrate all at once as the end of the day approaches, displaying an unequivocal “Dock start 7pm?” on their screens!

An afterwork where we meet for fun and to test the innovations validated by our Product Department. The gear dedicated to pumping and flat starts that came out lately made the last few sessions very interesting on the dock that Saint-Nazaire kindly makes available to us after the hours of activity of its nautical base. In recent months, our staff has been able to test the Cruzaders, the new surf foiling boards, giant wings and some surprises that we will tell you about very soon 😉

Often at the initiative of afterworks and gathering the latest gear to test for everybody, Jules, technical advisor by day, happiness manager by night, tells us below about the pleasure, motivations and objectives that make these “meetings” moments to remember.

“Everyone comes for different reasons. My motivation as a technical advisor is to refine my knowledge of our equipment to advise our customers as well as possible. At dock start sessions we try different front wing sizes, different set-ups and different boards. We always learn something. We also learn from each other’s feedback. We regularly welcome beginners and it is interesting to observe on which set-up the progress and the sensations are the most direct. Our range of giant front wings offers a lot of options that will allow very specific profiles to find what they are looking for. So you have to test everything and it’s great to be in a group to compare opinions and performance. In the end, we come down to a very precise idea of the performance of a set-up.

The activity also makes it possible to diversify our use of foils. Progressing in pumping allows you to improve in other foil sports. In addition, being in the water for surf foiling, winging and dockstarts allows you to progress much faster than by doing only one of these activities.”

“Staying Fit”

“Dock start sessions are an excellent solution for staying fit. Besides, it’s way more entertaining than running. It comes with the playful aspect of board sports. In particular the technical challenge that it represents. The beginnings can be intimidating but the progression is honestly quite fast when you are well advised and have the right equipment. Each attempt is a new record, which is very satisfying and you quickly get caught up in the game of always wanting to go further. The introduction of giant wings has also redefined what “go further” means haha!

This is a great group activity. It’s friendly and we challenge ourselves to go further and further. We have a lot of fun making simultaneous starts and trying to be the last one flying. There are also a lot of tricks to try. We don’t just do pumping. One foot, 360, breaching the tips in turns, jumps and many others.”

“On the images of this session there were colleagues from all departments. It is a sport that allows more sociability than wind sports. Those sessions are therefore always very cozy, relaxed and appreciated to consolidate team spirit.

That day we had small surf foiling boards under our feet (Lethal, Lemon and Matata in EPS, EPS Pro and FSP Pro techno) and large foils (Sirus XXXL, XXL, XL, Curve H 4XL, 5XL, Fluid H).

This gear allows us, depending on what we are looking for:

• to be able to go further without getting tired with the Sirus XXXL,
• to go faster and be more maneuverable with its little sisters.
• to get started and improve quickly with the smooth and easy Curve H.

We also tried a 6’6 Cruzader with a Curve H 5XL. We already had a lot of experience on this board with a Sirus front wing. Mounted with this new Curve, getting into flat starts is really easier. Even people with little SUP experience were able to take off!“