Chipiron Surfboards, the Interview

Firstly what does Chipiron mean?

The answer, it turns out, was to be found in Hossegor, France.

I phoned Damien Marly who knows a lot about what the magical word means, but he knows more about designing quality surfboards, so we ended up talking about that too.

For those of you who think I have gone off the rails, Chipiron Surfboards is located in the surfing mecca of Hossegor, on the southwest coast of France. They make very different boards and there seems to be no limit to their imagination. Whilst providing functional water craft, it is very clear that Damien is not scared to think about things a little differently and the quality...well that is something else.

Damien, the founder of Chipiron Surfboards was kind enough to give Surf Bunker some time to talk about what it means to him.

SB: Hey Damien, how have the waves been in Hossegor?

Damien: Good today, but I think you guys had it way better on the weekend.

SB: How old are you these days?

Damien: Mmmm, I am thirty six...or thirty seven. I was born in 1978, so I am thirty seven (laughs)

SB: How did Chipiron get started, what gave you the idea?

Damien: The beginning was really in 2007 when I was selling surfboard blanks to other shapers. I was surrounded by blanks and I just started shaping the second choice ones. Over the next 2 years I travelled and talked to a lot of other shapers while continuing to practice, until I had more confidence in my own shapes. That's when I decided, in 2010, to start the business, Chipiron.

SB: Why the name Chipiron?

Damien: Why? Because Chipiron is a southwest France thing, they are cuttlefish, you know, and I really love them. I like to go fishing for chipirons, I like to eat them and its also kind of like a party thing. When you say chipiron to someone in France he will always have a smile on his face. It means, summer, culture, a bottle of rose, chipiron, you know? It's not just about the surf, but enjoying the after surf as well.

SB: Who do you look up to, get your inspiration from in the shaping world?

Damien: Actually at the moment I am quite inspired by Neal Purchase Jr who makes the Widow Maker, 2 +1, the retro, and neo retro surfboards. These kind of boards you can easily paddle into waves and have a cruisey attitude, but you can still hit the lip and take heavy barrels. That's what I want. Also, I really love big logs, heavy old school ones, with a 'less is more' attitude. My current range is made up of the logs, 8ft-ish Gliders, 7ft-ish Truckers, and the smaller fishes. Oh, and the Toe, my Big Toe is like the Mini Simmons, but more performance based.

SB: The Big Toe is one of my favourites, where could I buy one?

Damien: The best thing to do though if you want a board is to contact me directly. I always answer the phone, I am pretty well connected, facebook etc. I speak English, French and Spanish fluently so you can talk easily with me, don't be shy, call me.(laughs) You can email me too, and we can meet up and have a chat. I don't have many stock boards, they are mostly all made to order.

SB: How do you help people who don't know what they want?

Damien: Starting this year we will be opening a surf school and test centre on the beach in Le Culs Nuls in Hossegor, so just come down and see me. We will have most models down there that you can test out, no problems. Its going to be epic, you can come and rent Chipiron surfboards and then at the end, if you want to buy one, we will take the rental price off, which means you can try before you order.

SB: Can we get our hands on Chipiron outside of France?

Damien: At the moment I am trying to address that problem. I have people asking me for boards in the UK and in Spain, but the cost of production in France is too expensive. It might involve me moving my workshop to Spain for the winter, but we are looking into solutions for that at the moment.

SB: What is your favourite Chipiron board?

Damien: You know, I have a 10 board quiver with me at home, but I never seem to have the right board with me in the car! (laughs) Right now I am working on a board that goes good in everything, one board to take to the beach. The one I am riding is a 7'0 2 + 1, and works in anything from 2 to 7ft.

SB: What do you think about asymmetric boards?

Damien: (laughs) no opinion. (laughs) No, I mean its hard to make a board symmetric, so to make it asymmetric, its easy. What do I think? No comment. (laughs)

SB: Anything else we can expect from Chipiron soon?

Damien: Well, at the moment I am producing about 70 surfboards a year, and I am not going to make any more than that. It's a tough market in France, and it's all down to the costs of production, but I am producing t-shirts. I make them from scratch, I create the shape, we take all the measurements to have our own custom t-shirts. We have them made in Portugal with 100% organic cotton and we create the graphics ourselves, so they are all a little bit different. Its kind of like creating something as well and I really enjoy that.

SB: What is the favourite part of shaping boards?

Damien: Surfing it. (laughs) No really, when I look at people surfing Chipiron surfboards with a smile on their face, that's my favourite part.

SB: What do you think about fins? FCS, Futures, Lockbox?

Damien: We use FCS just because our workshop is about 100 metres from their storage for Europe and its very easy. All the fins for my single fin boards are custom made, I give the guy my template and they 100% custom made for Chipiron.

SB: What was your first surfboard?

Damien: It was a 6'6 Spider Safari from South Africa and I got it back in, ummmm '87 or '88. It was an old one, they were selling it on the beach in Anglet, and I bought it for about 700 Francs which is about 100 Euros. It had a full grip job all the way down it. Maybe it's still in my grandparents' place down in Anglet.

SB: Can you describe how you felt the first time you caught a wave or got barrelled?

Damien: I forgot. (laughs) I can remember one of the best barrels I got in G-Land. It was on my back hand and it was just like sit back and enjoy the view...ahhh it was crazy.

SB: Who is your favourite surfer on the WSL/WCT?

Damien: (no hesitation) Double J mate. Look at his surfing, its so loose and relaxed, but he just does not seem to have the hunger to win.

SB: What is your favourite wave in the world?

Damien: The beach breaks around Hossegor. The waves here are so unpredictable, but on the magic days you could have world class waves to yourself. I spent some time in the Mentawais, and the point breaks there are like a machine, you know, it's not like Les Landes when everything becomes perfect. Epic.

Thanks again to Damien for taking the time out to talk to us.

It might be that I am writing this article from a slightly biased point of view as I actually have a water craft shaped by Damien himself. It is an old model called a Happy Days but it is awesome. It is one of those boards that people stop you on the beach and want to have a go because it hard to work out what it will do just by looking at it.

Damien, undeniably, has a unique way with his approach to shaping surfboards and a passion for designing beautiful things. If you fancy a board made by Damien you will have to go to France at the moment, you might as well make a trip out of it, after all there are worse places to be.