Paulo Prietto is the first professional skimboarder featured on Ten Question Tuesdays and who better? Paulo is the three time world champion and has finished in the Top 5 in the final UST standings since 2005. Paulo also is the founder of Solag Skim School, which has brought camps around the world. Paulo Prietto has become a figure head of pro skimboarders after years of a bad images for the young groms. Paulo Prietto has achieved this spot from ground breaking skim segments in Bearded and Stimulus. Paulo is headlining a new instructional skimboarding DVD dropping later this year called Sessions.
SI: So Paulo….about 80% of our questions/comments contained the following, “Hey Paulo…come to _____________”. And these questions were from all over the world. So I thought we would lead of with… What are your plans for 2010?
Paulo: Well, after competing on the UST for 7 years, I’m planning on taking a step away from the competitive side of things. I want to focus more of my time towards my traveling skim school and producing/filming for new videos. I still plan on competing in some events, but not all of them. I feel that I can push the sport in other directions outside of the competition realm. The Acapulco, Cape Cod, and Taiwan camps have all been powerful for skimboarding and for right now, I want to pursue that avenue instead of being constrained to the UST.
The UST is great for skimboarding. It’s fulfills a vital component, however at this stage in my life, I am not as inpired to compete as I used to be. I feel that the time I spend taking Solag Skim School to new locations is equally beneficial the sport as competing. It’s going to be weird not traveling to all the stops on the UST, but at least it will free up some time to visit some new places during the summer. I may end up returning to the UST, but for now, I don’t know when that will be.
SI: There seem to be a lot of mixed reviews on the lefts/rights scoring at Oktoberfest. How do you feel about the rights and lefts scoring that was used at Oktoberfest? Do you see more events starting this in regards to skimboarding?
Paulo: I understand the reason behind the lefts/rights rule. It makes sense. However, I feel that it is a little prohibitive. My current opinion about it is that if I was a spectator at a contest, I would want to witness the best skimboarding possible. I would want to see guys trying new and difficult things instead of having to fill their scorecard with enough frontside waves. I don’t think that the lefts/rights rule is the best, but I don’t have an alternative idea to prevent riders from having an advantage due to certain conditions. Regardless, I cannot blame the left/rights rule for losing a heat. I knew going into the contest what I needed to do, and I just didn’t follow through. I am not strongly against the rule, rather I tend to think that we can always make things better.
SI: Soulag Skim School has been going all over the place and even to the far reaches of Taiwan. Has the growth of Solag Skim School surprised you anyway?
Paulo: Of course. I didn’t anticipate the success that it had. I have to thank Faith Huang for initiating the first traveling camp in Taiwan. Taiwan is a new skim community and is typically off the grid of most skimboarders. Without her, I don’t know if the traveling camp would have been as successful.
SI: You were featured big time in Wunderkind…And a lot of our readers want to know…What are some of the locations being considered for the next installment of Wunderkind?
Paulo: After the success of Wunderkind, Matt Adams and I want to make the second season even better. We are considering Brazil, Australia, and Chile. It’s tough on a skim budget to travel to far away destinations. Our sponsors are awesome for seeing our vision and supporting us, but we need to make the most of every dollar we spend.
SI: What’s your favorite skimboarding DVD (excluding Exile productions) and why?
Paulo: I enjoy watching Scott Stinnetts flicks. He has a unique view of skimboarding, like it’s this magical sport in Neverland. I’m looking forward to seeing his upcoming project with Domke. They have some sick footage of a new sider in Cabo as well as some amazing skim/surf footage of Domke. His videos are unlike any others and they are always entertaining.
SI: You have become a really big figure head of skimboarding and even a role model to a certain extent for young groms. Do you take the role model thing seriously at all?
Paulo: What does it mean to take being a role model seriously? I don’t know if I persay “take it seriously,” but in my position in skimboarding, I realize the influence I have on others. It’s is my goal to inspire and positively influence others. I would do this even if I wasn’t an accomplished rider. I think that being a positive person is contagious and the world could use some more positivity.
SI: This one is from our own Richard De Ruijter…Was there anyone you looked up to when growing up? Anyone you still look up to?
Paulo: First and foremost, I looked up to my older brothers, specifically my brother Martin. We grew up skimboarding together at Victoria beach. It was some of the best memories of my life. During that time, I also looked up to guys like Fletcher Johnson, Kai Bond, and Keith Perry because those were the riders who would skim at Victoria from time to time. Nowadays, I look up to people who are making a strong impact on the sport but not necessarily just on the board. Aaron Peluso is a good friend of mine who I look up to.
Current pro riders deserve a great deal of credit. They are out there pushing the sport every day and without them I don’t know if I would have strived so hard. They have influenced me to progress my riding and take to new levels.
SI: What’s your favorite contest and why?
Paulo: I like the Cabo contest for obvious reasons. It has the best chance of getting good waves and it’s just a fun place to skim. I think it’s a destination that all skimboarders should visit once in their life. I also like the Melaque contest in Mainland Mexico. There’s something about it’s newness that elicits a purity to it. It’s not caught up in the UST, rather it’s just doing it’s own thing and is creating quite a buzz in the skim scene.
SI: Do you think judging is the best it can be considering the lack of resources in the sport? And if not what are some changes you would make?
Paulo: I don’t think that judging is the best right now. I think it’s close to being the best it can be considering the lack of resources and youthfulness of the sport. I think an issue of concern is that there is not standard understanding of what makes a good wave. From place to place, the standard is different. I don’t know what exactly is the best solution for this. I think that as the sport grows, there will be more qualified judges to choose from, but right now, it’s not easy to find judges who have competed at the pro level and have judging experience. Competition is so close these days. It’s common for half a point to be the difference maker. I think that the sport is heading in the right direction with asking these types of questions and making an effort to have the best judges at a contest.
SI: I know you’re a big Grizzly Bear fan…so you have GREAT taste in music…What are you listening to these days?
Paulo: I love listening to new music. I just saw Where the Wild Things are and downloaded the soundtrack of Karen O and the kids. It’s a good one. I also just downloaded the Julian Casablancas solo album. The Department of Eagles has a good track too that I’ve been listening to.
Awesome interview!!!