Personally, being both Starboard’s photographer and team rider means that I usually get to do a lot of travelling with a lot of equipment, but this time I totally felt like an amateur compared to Ollie. The guy arrived at the airport with 5 triple bags full of new boards! I couldn’t believe my eyes.
You can hardly imagine any better place to test the next generation SUP wave boards than Bali. But actually something that I didn’t imagine is just how hectic and intense these testing sessions would be. At Starboard everything happens at a superfast pace and every tiny little detail is designed to perfection. That’s why R&D can be so meticulous – and stressful.
It’s also why from the first day of testing, Ollie, Antoine and I set the alarm for 5.15 AM and would only arrive back at our hotel only after sunset. The good thing about this? It’s that you can get surfed out with a couple of good friends riding incredible boards on the island of Gods. Not bad, uh?
