Vincent Duvignac back to Morocco 20 years later

Vincent Duvignac's new film tells the story of his last trip to Morocco, on a spot he first surfed 20 years ago.

Vincent:
"With optimistic predictions and after a year of injuries, it was finally time to return to that part of Morocco that I love so much.

The day before the departure, when I was picking up the tickets, I realised that it had been exactly 20 years since I had the privilege of making my very first trip and discovering this wave, thanks to my sponsor at the time. I then had the impression that I had learned more about life and myself in one week than I had in 12 years of existence, a nice slap in the face!

The swells were exceptionally chained this year, and after months of good surfing in France, the obvious call from Morocco was received by many European and even American surfers. It was an opportunity for the young teenager from Mimizan Noa Dupouy to embark with me on a trip he won't forget any time soon."

DESERT - Vincent DUVIGNAC / PV LABORDE

DESERT - Vincent DUVIGNAC / PV LABORDE from Palm Production

3 days / 2 surfers
Lost in the moroccan desert

Filmed and Edited By Antoine CHICOYE
Music : Todd TERJE - YALI YALI / SOFI TUKKER - Matadora

WAVEGARDEN - Night Surfing Experiment

WAVEGARDEN® Night Surfing Experiment

Wavegarden, pioneers in man-made wave technology, recently conducted a series of tests at their headquarters in Northern Spain in order to check how its technology can improve different aspects of the surfing experience. The first of such tests focused on surfing at nighttime, using a state-of-the-art lighting system and featuring the talents of former European surf champion Vincent Duvignac, big wave surfers Natxo Gonzalez and Axi Muniain and Zarautz local surfer Asier Maqueda.

In partnership with a range of leading technical suppliers, Wavegarden is refining their ability to light up facilities at night which, apart from making spectacular imagery, will allow surfers to catch waves before or after work, or school, especially in winter months when daylight is limited.

Night surfing in itself is not a new proposition. Surf competitions have been staged in the ocean at night in the past, achieved by flood lighting the ocean similar to a football stadium. However, night surfing has had limited success as it is complicated to set up, impossible to illuminate a large enough area to fully see the waves approaching, and difficult for surfers to clearly see the wave formation and water texture.

In Wavegarden’s preliminary research, lights are strategically placed underwater to create an effect never seen before, while providing a truly unique experience for the surfers. “Lighting the waves from underneath the water is a new concept and key to Wavegarden’s client proposition”, confirmed Wavegarden’s CEO, Josema Odriozola. “We used software programs to modify the light coverage, intensity, and color. We even managed to install a light on the moving wavefoil to illuminate the wave for the entire length of the lagoon”.

“It was necessary to experiment with the angle and depth of the lights to optimize the reflection inside the wave. Although we understand that external lights will be required at commercial facilities, the focus of this research was below the waters surface”, Odriozola added.

“I’ve surfed at night before but this is something completely different”, explained Frenchman Vincent Duvignac, recognized as one of Europe’s most talented and stylish surfers. “When you surf now seems irrelevant: Natxo and I surfed until 2am and could have kept going except we became completely surfed out”.

Wavegarden’s night surfing test was documented by celebrated French surf photographer Greg Rabejac, who has been shooting surfers at night for over the past 3 years in France, Spain and Morocco.