Ten Question Tuesdays comes back February 16

Two new TQT interviews will be dropped on February 16.

Stay tuned.

Ten Question Tuesdays pushed back to Febuary.

Due to the intense planning for the 2010 season…we’ve had little time to sit down and focus on the online content. We’re just about done talking with sponsors and planning. It will resume this late winter with picking up on TQT.

On Monday night we’ll have a new Travel Log from Adam Hayward.

Ten Question Tuesdays to resume on January 118, 2010

Skim Invasion’s Ten Question Tuesday web interviews with resume on Tuesday January 18, 2010. After the SI Web Staff having limited time this December to focus on the Extras section of Skim Invasion it will return. As of right now… we’ll be shifting all the interviews back that are scheduled.

Ten Question Tuesdays with Bernardo Frachon

Batardubreak has become one of the top skimboarding sites in Europe. From international traveling media to helping putting together the European Skim League…the Batardubreak guys are doing good things for skimboarding in Europe. We sat down with one of Batardubreak’s founders, Bernardo.

SI: How did the formation of Batardubreak come about?

Bernardo: Basically, I co-founded Batardubreak with Remy ”Rems” Dugoua, who begins to be well known for his photographer’s talents!

Batardubreak was born from the connection between the people of Skimcrash crew and Skimtheworld crew during trips in Portugal.
We went all together to Sununga at the end of 2005 and we created batardubreak in 2006.
Our goal was to put a suspicion of Bon goût and art de vivre in the skim scene.

SI: You guys have traveled around a lot internationally since forming the site…where have you been? And where are you guys dieing to go?

Bernardo: We investigated quite a lot of beaches in Portugal, Laguna, Spain, Brazil, and Chile…

You know, indeed skimboard is for us a pretext to meet the community, the skim family, to discover others cultures and of course new culinary specialties.

Obviously we have to go to Cabo but the new destination which excites us the most is Melaque. This place looks more typical Mexican…

SI: You got to skim Sununga…a place a lot of Americans are dieing to get a chance to skim. What were your thoughts?

Bernardo: If you had asked me to imagine the paradise, I would have drawn you the shoreline and the people of Ubatuba. It was my third time in Brazil and second in Sununga.

The first thing which comes in my mind is the friendship, the brotherhood, the kindness of the Brazilians.
Sununga is an amazing spot in a jungle paradise but it’s not the lonely great spot in Ubatuba…

There are others good skim spots like Massaguaçu, Bonnete, Bikini Vermelha …
As very fortunate people, our Brazilian friends took us on true secrets spots that we named “Kamikaze” and “Ici, c’est Paris”. These places are only accessible by a hike of the death through the jungle or by a boat.

SI: If you have been to the wedge…How does it compare to the wedge?

Bernardo: I went once at Wedge and it scared me…

I don’t know which one is powerful. When both works perfectly Sununga looks a bit easier, because the side is more “linering”.

To give you an idea, Pascal Maire (who did the trip to Sununga with me last month) considers that Sununga is also powerful as Cabo.

SI: What was the formation behind the European Skim League? Who else is involved?

Bernardo: We did the report that so-called European competitions have existed since 1994 (France & Portugal) without coordination between these 2 countries.

Many new competitions and structures have appeared among Europe since 2005

United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Netherlands…

Then, it was time to take our responsibilities to unify us, to create a Euro Tour with a real Euro Champ Title. Personalities like Mathieu Taxi, Joao Dinis, Jack Bedex, Dan Horan, José Costa are involved in.

SI: Who are some of the other figures behind Batardubreak?

Bernardo: Our Godfather, the French legend: Jack Panda Bedex, the guy who created the first real skimwebsite in Europe, the dead famous “Skim The World”.

Pascal Maire (Unamass shaper), Hervé Ledoux (French International ESL Director), Loic Jacckel, Acacia Piks, Guy Mauve, the Thibaud Bros and many others friends, it’s not a closed group.

SI: Batardubreak has featured a lot of great music in videos…What are you listening to these days?

Bernardo: I’ m actually listening some dub/funk mix of Grant Phabao and the selection n°10 of the German electro label Kompakt. Of course we bring back some good music from Brazil, and not anything than the songs of the talentuous local artist of Sununga : Divinoa Santos

SI: What’s up next for the European Skim League for 2010?

Bernardo: In fact the real next step is that our Euro Champ 09, Mega will enter a contest in South America next January or February!

I can’t tell you so much at this time. The ESL staff is working to make the season 2010 something more professional! Don’t forget that 2009, was only a draft season.

ESL 2010 should integrate new people in the staff, new countries and new contests in the Tour and, with more money, more riders, more chicks, and more parties!

Rendez-vous next march in Barcelona for the first event!

SI: What is the story behind the Batardubreak name and logo?

Bernardo: This weird name was found by Remy during a tapas crawl in San Sebastian.That means basically Bastards from the shore break or quite the same as sons of the beach…

We were telling us that 99% of the buddies had a crappy name with the word SKIM, in, like “SkimInvasion” for example.
To tell the truth, we hesitated between “batardubreak” and “hunting, fishing, skimming & traditions”. The logo was created by the inspiring Laurent Lozes.

SI: How did you discover skimboarding and get into the sport?

Bernardo: Nothing original except I discovered skimboard on the Mediterranean shore when I was 10 years old. Later, I discovered wave riding and I entered the community with the help of the famous Jack Bedex.

SI: How do you assess the growth of skimboarding in Europe in the last five years?

Bernardo: Globally, on the 5 last years, there was a progressive and solid growth.

Hopefully, Europe went out of yokes of both historic nations (Portugal & France) to open new fronts in Spain, the UK, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Poland…

In some areas, it has literally exploded especially on the French Riviera and in Spain, providing us great riders!

Ten Question Tuesdays with Tad Mask

Tad Mask is a photographer that helped build Foreverskim into what it is today. He’s one of the top photographers in the sport and he’s the guy I envisioned behind the entire theme to Travel Logs. I met Tad Mask maybe six years ago with Hank Snapp in an infamous meeting in Destin, Florida. Ever since I have enjoyed to called Tad a friend and enjoyed his work with Skim Invasion.

SI: What’s been your favorite trip so far?

Tad: This year, I’d definitely have to say Mexico. New place, new people, and just overall and amazing experience. The waves weren’t that good but I’m definitely amped on another trip their.

SI: Stoke was a great project…Do you have any plans for any more video projects in the future?

Tad: I’m shelfing the video work for a while to focus on my photography. Hopefully I will have the time and money one day to do another project. I really enjoy filming and I’ve got some ideas that have been bouncing around in my head, but it takes time and money to do them correctly, and so I’m just gonna wait until I can.

SI: Any big trips being planned?

Tad: Well, I may be going to XXXXXXXXXX with Adam Hayward, but it’s going to be kind of a short notice trip. I’ve got a couple other big trips planned for 2010, but I’m also keep those under my hat until everything is finalized. Definitely going out to California again in the spring, and some more travel along the East Coast as well.

SI: What type of camera do you shoot with?

Tad: I use a Canon 40d primarily, although I also use my old Minolta film SLR.

SI: What’s your overall reflection in how far skimboarding media has come since you first joined Foreverskim?

Tad: I think the biggest difference in the media from when I first started getting into skim photography and now is the level of talent and quality in the media. Guys like Derek, Steve Lerum, Ryon Graf, Dave Levin, Scott Stinnett, Matt Adams, Cam Oden, Joe Bailey, and others (yes Behar, you too) have brought so much to the media, and have really raised the bar in terms of quality content. I really hope the media continues to progress like it has in the past 5 years; there’s definitely the potential to do so.

SI: Do you see a day in the future when the industry of skimboarding can actually support the media guys?

Tad: haha don’t we all wish? I don’t know. It seems like we still have a long way to go. We still seem to be lacking universal rules and guidelines across the skimming industry as a whole, and I feel part of that falls upon us as the media providers. I believe right now the media in skimboarding is the best it has ever been. We are producing high-quality content, and we’re doing it mostly for free. I know every single person who has ever taken a photo, filmed a video, or done artwork for skimboarding does it because of their passion for skimboarding, but passion can only motivate for so long. I would love to make even a meager living off skimboarding, and all the other media guys for the matter; it would only granted us more time and opportunities to focus our attention on what we love instead of what pays the bills.

SI: Who’s your favorite skimboarding photographer?

Tad: In terms of who’s style I like, it’d probably be Cam Oden and Adam Hayward. Their work definitely inspires me to go and try to shoot better photos. Also, I feel I need to mention that Doreen and the boardheads have always been a huge inspiration for me – I love the shots she gets; they always make me want to go skim.

SI: Who’s your favorite skimboarder to shoot?

Tad: I’ve done a ton of work with Aaron Astin and Jed Currington. They are always so much fun to work with because they want to get shots as badly as I do. Dave Scott, Micah Cooper, Paulo Prietto, Jason Wilson…I’m sure I’m forgetting lots of people haha. I like shooting guys that are amped on skimming and trying new things.

SI: You’ve lived in Florida on both the Gulf and the Vilano area…and can you explain how Florida has built one of the largest scenes in the world…with the lack of waves (state wide)?

Tad: I don’t think there IS a lack of waves. I think we all saw this year UST Vilano video and the hundreds of videos that are put out by Florida skimboarders weekly – it’s just the quality of the waves varies greatly and often. Skimboarders in Florida seem to develop a diverse skill set. The waves are perfect here, and sometimes they can be really bad or really flat for a while. A lot of Florida skimboarders are crossover athletes, excelling at surfing, wakeboarding/wakeskating, and more recently, flowriding. All this adds to most skimboarders’ repertory. I think that, combined with a real drive to progress is the big driving force behind the amount of talented skimboarders in Florida. That, and skimboarding in Florida is fun (most of the time)!!!

SI: Who’s the most underrated skimboarder you’ve seen skim?

Tad: Frank Hastings

December Selection of Ten Question Tuesdays announced

We’re a little back logged on November’s selection but they’ll be out soon.

Here’s December’s selection:

-Morgan Just – Professional Skimboarder
-Arne Lash – Co founder of Apex Skimboards
-Matt Martin – Owner of Sandskater
-Matt Adams – Director of Wunderkind
Get those questions into info@skiminvasion.com and start sending in suggestions for January’s selection.

Ten Question Tuesdays with Paulo Prietto

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.

Ten Question Tuesday with Paulo Prietto | Coming this Tuesday | GET A SNEAK PEAK

One of skimboarding’s most high profile professional skimboarders will be featured this coming Tuesday on TQT.

Sneak Peak:

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……

No Ten Question Tuesdays today…. (And new SkimVids news)

We have been super busy with the launch of SkimVids and launching a new Skim Invasion project soon. And not to mention planning for the 2010 season with NEW events and even the possibility of a Skim Invasion line of clothing….

We will end up posting two Ten Question Tuesday interviews on one Tuesday in this November. Next Tuesday it will be back.

So to wrap it up Systematic Media/Skim Invasion launched a new website called, Skim Vids. Skim Vids is a centralized location to watch all the great skimboarding videos. And a cool new blog coming at you from Trey Morse that will featured on the site. That very blog will be featuring the SVA (Skim Vids Awards) for all things video. Such as Best Director, Best Skimboarding Mini Video, Best Contest Coverage and DVD of the Year. And the SVAs will be voted on by skimboarders! So keep and eye out because we have been super busy working on web projects since the contest season is over. And expect some HUGE news in terms of events and traveling for 2010.

Ten Question Tuesdays with Derek Makekau

Foreverskim has become one of the most crucial pillars in skimboarding. The man behind this project is no other than Derek Makekau. Foreverskim has evolved a lot since the early days out on the panhandle of Florida. I first met Derek maybe six years ago in Panama City and ever since have enjoyed to call him a friend. Derek has filled the lost void of Skim Mag. A lot of you groms don’t even know what that is but it was the second edition of a skimboarding magazine. Foreverskim came with the push of technology creating an ever evolving online magazine. Foreverskim features  a cast of the higher hierarchy of skimboarding media such as Aaron Peluso, Ryan Graf, Adam Hayward, Cam Oden, Tad Mask, Dutch Richard, “D”, and so many others I can’t even name at this very second. We sat down with Mr. Makekau via the internet the other night.

SI: Foreverskim has become a crucial pillar in skimboarding. Did you think it would become this powerful in the sport?

Derek: Absolutely not. It started as a passion project and it remains that to this day…the success it has had still takes me by surprise and there are moments where I’m just baffled by how well known it has become. Just the other day at Oktoberfest in Newport Beach, California, a kid introduced himself to me and mentioned how much he loved FSM, and he was from Oklahoma. Things like that are just incredible to me, and I can’t express in words just how proud it makes me that FSM has gotten to where it is today.

SI: What do you think about the overall state of media in skimboarding now?

Derek: It’s constantly improving, and to some extent I think we’re hitting a turning point. Action sports media in general is as well…as are the majority of the different mediums available these days. The internet is revolutionizing the way we look at media, and skimboarding isn’t immune. Look at Youtube, the UST videos, what you guys do with Skim Invasion, the quality Olivier Harrault churns out…we are in a rainstorm of free, top-shelf media. ForeverSkim is just a bucket trying to catch what it can…but fantastic videos are pumped out online so quickly these days that you can’t even keep up.

I think we’re leaps and bounds beyond where we were 5 years ago, let alone 10. I think we still have areas where we can grow and there are enough talented people involved in skimboarding, working for next to nothing or for nothing at all who are passionate enough about this sport to continue to propel us forward. I’m stoked for the next 5 years; it’s exciting and interesting and a little bit scary all at the same time.

SI: There have been a lot of calls for Foreverskim to do print issues…Will this come about?

Derek: Skimboarding cannot support a print magazine. It barely breathes life into ForeverSkim in it’s current format. That doesn’t mean I’ve stopped dreaming about turning the pages of FSM after pulling it off the rack at Barnes and Noble, it just means it’s not something I see happening anytime soon. We are trying to do something this year or the next that can hopefully become an annual sort of thing, but I don’t want to talk about that too much just yet. Let’s just say it’s
a dream I’m constantly looking into fulfilling and the instant I can make it happen, trust me, I’ll be the first person to pick up a copy.

SI: You’re about to move back to Florida soon…How was your extended stay (3 years) in California? And how will Foreverskim be affected in anyway with this move?

Derek: ForeverSkim will continue to operate in the same way it did before I moved out here, although with the added benefit of the relationships I’ve strengthened by spending so much time out here. I love California. It’s great, the people are great, and the skim (whenever I actually made it to the beach) has been fantastic. The cost of living…is not so great.

The move to Florida will mean more flexible budgets and hopefully more traveling. More trips like the one we just made to Costa Rica, more often. That’s the idea, anyways. Stay tuned, it should be interesting.

SI: It’s amazing to look at the first issue and first videos that you were behind and now look at the current product…Was all of your design and editing wizardry self taught or mentored?

Derek: Thanks, it’s incredible when I look at them too. Not to mention the first 5 issues which are sort of…lost. Mentored is an interesting way to word this question. A lot of people know that I didn’t attend college or have any sort of formal training; instead the majority of what I’ve learned I learned through and with my friend and co-founder of FSM Travis Zimmerman, as well as a handful of other people who have been sounding boards and critics throughout the years.

If I had to choose a mentor, I would say the internet has taught me just about everything I know. There are so many free tutorials, walk-throughs and instructional materials online that you can become an expert in just about anything. You don’t need to wait for a graphic design class or a video editing class to dive in…Adobe offers fantastic trials and there’s no reason not to dig in and get your hands dirty on your own. I’ve given myself my fair share of headaches with this approach and banged my head against my computer for longer than I should at times, but it’s how I got to where I am today.

SI: Foreverskim TV was pretty epic and groundbreaking…Will you be revamping it in the future?

Derek: Definitely. It is just a lot for one person to handle, and delegating is not my strongest quality. It’s not dead…just hibernating.

SI: The launch of Foreverskim sparked a handful of other online magazines. What are some of the other online magazines you have really enjoyed?

Derek: Wow, I can’t say I follow a lot of them too religiously. Bak, New Web Pick, Encore…design mags are the ones that I’ve stuck with and still enjoy checking out. I of course had a love/hate relationship with Skimboarder, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t read it with everyone else the day it would drop. I found it inspiring in a few different ways and the work that Grady did design-wise was fantastic; it was cool to see this entirely different style brought to a skimboarding
magazine and the content that goes with it.

SI: You and Matt Adams have really done a successful job on the UST Video Coverage. Will you continue to do this living in Florida?

Derek: At the moment that is the general plan. I will be discussing it more with the UST Directors towards the end of this year to work out the logistics and make sure it’s feasible, but I hope it all goes as planned. Those UST vids have done a lot for promoting our sport and I’d hate to see them disappear, ever…whether I’m involved or not.

SI: You have featured some great music in your videos though the UST and FSM. What are your favorite artist, right now?

Derek: Geez, tough question. I like the new Jet album, Placebo…I can’t get into too many other artists without giving away some music that will be in a few upcoming videos. I have a very diverse taste and like just about anything with a beat; the only music I seem to listen to anymore while I work is the music going into what I’m working on. Otherwise it’s the radio in the car, which I can tolerate.

On a side note, Skim Invasion is fantastic and I’m excited to be a bigger part of it when I’m in Florida. Keep up the good work, guys.

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