A REGULAR LOCAL FROM BIARRITZ

aquitaine

What’s the difference between good surfers and great surfers? After looking at the footage we’ve recorded with Tim Boal, we tend to believe it’s some obscure ability to squeeze waves out of the ocean that shouldn’t be there. Seriously, other guys on that day on the same beach got mediocre waves, not particularly steep or fast. Tim got barreled… as he comments afterwards: “Dudes, I’m sorry… I expected the waves to be better that day in Anglet. It was a 2 out of 10 day at best.”

He’s not exaggerating – this man knows water and waves. His biography spans back to an early childhood on a Caribbean island . At the age of 5 his family moved to southern France where, as a youngster, he quickly became a champion sailor in the area of Cote d’Azur. Later he mainly switched to surfing, won a couple of contests as a nine-year-old and got discovered by a talent scout shortly after. He moved to Biarritz where he attended a school where Tim would study in the morning and go surfing in the afternoon. Consequently he became first the French, later European surf champ. A biography of a really competitive guy, that’s what we thought before our encounter with the Reef Europe team rider. But seeing him in person, Tim Boal proved to be an easy-going, humble guy – he could have been some regular local in Biarritz… He has grown himself a moustache and has become less competitive these days. He seems like personified leisure, a true laid back dude.

Surf in Biaritz

“Biarritz is a laid back city – even when it’s summer season and tons of tourists are flooding the city. I actually enjoy that time of the year the most: lots of people, good weather, good waves in the area – everybody should have a share of all this I guess.” Among his favourite waves in the Biarritz area are the breaks of Anglet (even though it used to be better before construction)