Tidal bore wave

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zensuni
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Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:58 pm
City: Bordeaux
State or Province: Aquitaine
Country: France

Tidal bore wave

#1

Unread post by zensuni »

Hi there !
In the spirit of testing weird prone things in the water, I had a chance to ride the tidal bore of "Saint Pardon" in France on a paipo board.
It's a very weak wave that one normally ride on very long boards exclusively (kayaks, SUP, big longboards).
Plus, it was a "small day" (in my channel you may check out the same experience on a surfmat where the wave was a bit bigger).
These boards can keep the waves for like 10 minutes.
I barely hold the wave for a (short) minute, but I was very curious to see how my flat paipo would act.
Riding very small/weak waves prone is always a challenge. The surfmat did good as long as the wave had some power, but when the wave got weaker it didn't work well (it got kind of "floppy"). I expected the paipo to go better in weaker wave, wich was the case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvvqjUWfyBs
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OG-AZN
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Re: Tidal bore wave

#2

Unread post by OG-AZN »

That's really cool, and I wonder if it's a "first" for that place. Riding a bore wave is one of the things on my bucket list. Looks like you lost the wave more from being forced out of position by all the longboarders than from any deficiency in your board. I've found that on really small waves, a traditional paipo can keep up with a longboard in terms of wave catching and length of ride if there's enough push behind the wave. Does it produce just 1 rideable wave per tide change or multiple?
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zensuni
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Re: Tidal bore wave

#3

Unread post by zensuni »

@OG-AZN
It might be a first one at that place, at least for a wooden paipo (I have watched videos of bodyboards on it).
I lost the wave because there was no longer enough "push" behind, at first the wave was ok but at some point it turns to a really really weak thing, this is why everybody use very long boards, SUPs, kayaks, etc (these kind of boards can hold the wave for about 10 minutes). I tried to apply what is required in these situations, positionning backward to extend the waterline, extending and contracting my body, it worked a little but at some point I lost it.
However, that is correct that the guys at my right were trying to go left, that is mostly because at this point the river bank is getting closer, so they try to get back to the center to avoid obstacles (dead trees, etc.).
I think that no matter the board, when it comes to ride very small waves prone the problem is the body and the flippers dragging behind that slow down the board, this is inevitable.
When this tidal bore is small, you just have one wave, but when it is a bit bigger, there are 6 or 7 waves.
I rode this wave 2 weeks ago on a surfmat, it was a bit bigger, I loose the first wave but I was able to catch the 4th one:
https://youtu.be/34zZgfsYoM4

However, the same kind of wave but bigger, alone in the river, well positionned, on a paipo, going down the line, what a dream !
B_Wurts
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Re: Tidal bore wave

#4

Unread post by B_Wurts »

You need to try the "Pororoca."
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