I came to Maui in the late eighties and I met Jimmy Lewis. He let me use his workshop and I started making boards in Hawaii. I learned a lot from watching how he worked. I decided when I came back home that I would make my own shaping factory in France. That was when Tabou started in March 1990. So it will be thirty years next year I have had Tabou Boards. I also was doing a lot of shaping for BIC for ten years. I designed the BIC Techno, which was a very popular board in its day! It was one of the biggest selling windsurfing boards ever made I think, aside from the original windsurfer back in the day.
TYPICAL DAY
I have a lot of emails to deal with from Cobra to follow up with the production in Thailand. (Editor’s note – Cobra is a Thailand based composites manufacturer with its core business in the watersports market, making boards for a lot of the major brands). I design my board on the computer and when I am happy with a shape I send the file to the factory. A month later I go over there and do the fine shaping, when they are finished I bring them back for testing. I am usually there for about two weeks. I go many times a year, maybe eight to ten trips. I bring back between 10 and 20 boards. The range has about 45 models with all the different sizes in each category and we change about one third of the shapes every year. It is impossible to change every model every year. It would not even make sense.
TECHNOLOGY
This story is from the Issue 393 - March 2020 edition of Windsurf.
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This story is from the Issue 393 - March 2020 edition of Windsurf.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
New School
Slingshot’s windsurfing brand manager, Wyatt Miller, has noticed that kids are drawn to playing with wings and puts forward an interesting case as to why he thinks this could help entice them and others into windsurfing.
Changes
Wave sailor Flo Jung reflects on our changed world during his lockdown in Germany.
THE LAST WAVE
Lockdown stirred the creative juices of reader Björn Alfthan, who peers into the future to present a fictional story set in the wild waves of Norway, five years from now.
STILL IN THE GAME
After a horrific fracture in his leg from a crashed aerial in 2018, Alessio Stillrich is back! John Carter talks to the highflyer from Gran Canaria about his move to the Simmer team, recovering from injury and how he learned to windsurf in Gran Canaria!
MOVE ON UP - GET ON THE FRONT FOOT
This month we look at how our front foot weighting can affect and improve different aspects of our main windsurfing moves.
SOUTH' KIPA
Nik tweaking it over home waters.
A NEW NORMAL
On a trip to La Tranche-sur-Mer in France last year, Tris Best estimated over 80% of the windsurfers were foiling. This summer in Portland Harbour, foiling activity has increased dramatically too he reports. With the market offering plenty of choice to recreational windfoilers, our test team check out some of the latest foil offerings.
TACKING – THE SEQUEL
Having given you time to practice, Harty concludes his tacking series by critiquing various tacking options, including the carve tack, as well as offering solutions to common slip-ups.
‘NO VAPOUR TRAILS TO SCAR THE SKY' *
Realising we may be about to enter an extraordinary period in our lives, Harty decided to keep a windsurf-centric lockdown diary. Here are some of his choice excerpts.
REDEMPTION DAY!
Renowned for its windsurfing and variety of spots to sail at, Kimmerdige Bay is a wave sailing jewel on the south coast of England. Timo Mullen gives a guide to its shores while reflecting on why a recent session there was a reminder that there is no place like home!
