BOARD TALK: MARC PARÉ
BOARD TALK: MARC PARÉ
BOARD TALK: MARC PARÉ
When it comes to high-performance wave sailing, Marc Paré is one of the most progressive and powerful riders on the water. Whether he’s charging at Ho‘okipa, taking on brutal onshore conditions in Pozo, or testing the latest Simmer Style board designs, Marc’s insights into windsurfing gear are invaluable.
In our latest edition of Board Talk, Marc breaks down the evolution of Simmer’s G7 Flywave, shares his preferred setups for different conditions, and gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the development of new board designs. If you’re looking to fine-tune your own gear or simply want to know what it takes to ride like a pro, read on as Marc shares his expertise.
Photos: Fish Bowl Diaries / John Carter / Courtesy Marc Paré.
What is your height and weight?
Marc Paré: I am 188cm which is about 6 feet 2 inches approximately and I weigh around 82 kilos at the moment.
Tell us about the G7 Flywave and how it is different to last year’s model!
Marc Paré: The new G7 Flywave has the same DNA of the original Flywave but with some some small tweaks in the tail length and the concaves in the tail section. These small changes made quite a big difference in the performance and feeling of the board. It feels more playful and it is also a bit faster overall. I would say the Flywave G7 has gained that extra little bit of easiness and playfulness, but at the same time, it has maintained the main characteristics of the old Flywave.
What do you love about this board?
Marc Paré: The original Flywave was a board that changed the way I wave sailed. I used to look more into onshore riding. I would see Philip Koster riding his twinzers and doing all that spinny stuff. As soon as I got the Flywave, it just opened up more the wave riding, rail turning kind of sailing. The board allowed to place turns into the critical part of the wave and it would just hold in while pushing as hard as you could.
That was pretty cool. Whoever has been on the board, they have always loved it. The rocker is a perfect mixture of radical and speed. On the new Flywave G7 Ola managed to keep that special feel but just add a bit more speed and playfulness to it. There’s something really magic about the Flywave design and this is one of the reasons why, even if we work on something new, I don’t wan to fully get away from the magic of this shape. That is why I am just doing small tweaks on my prototypes slowly. I don’t want to lose the magic we have.
In what conditions do you ride the Flywave…anything from side off to onshore?
Marc Paré: The Flywave is pretty much my go-to board for all conditions unless the conditions are really extremely onshore. It has a very wide3 range of use. So, only by changing the fin set up a little bit, it will tackle all conditions!
If I would choose the perfect conditions for it though, it would be when it is side shore, or just slightly on or offshore. Then the board comes alive in its full magic.
What size Flywave would you normally ride at Ho’okipa on a typical day?
Marc Paré: If it is 4.7m conditions I would ride the 84L model. If it is more like 5m / 5.3m, a bit more float and ride, then I would go for the 90L.
What size fins do you typically use and where do you have them in the boxes. When and why would you change any fin sizes and positions?
Marc Paré: I mostly ride thruster on the Flywave, as I find it fits my style better for most conditions. But I know Ben Proffit and others like the Flywave mostly as a quad. As the board has five boxes so can be set up either way.
As a thurster I use between 17cm and 17.5cm at the rear and 10.5cm in the front. The rear sits about ½ a cm from the front of the box, or 1cm if you measure from where the fin starts. I use them about two to two and a half fingers apart from each other. My front fins are normally quite wide in the base, so they cover the whole fin box. They just sit snug. But If I use fins with a narrower base then I would put my fins forward in the front of the box, to still get that drive.
Do you use your Flywave in onshore conditions like Pozo…and how would it be set up differently?
Marc Paré: Yes, I do! It’s the board I used there for many years! For Pozo, I never really liked using thrusters, I don’t know why. I find they don’t seem to fit so well for those specific super strong wind conditions. So, in Pozo, I always use a quad. I feel the board sits down a bit better, and it offers a bit more controlled approached during the turns. So the fin set up I would use would be,14.5cm in the rear box and 9cm in the front.
For our latest generation of boards, we released the Omnia, which is our new freewave board and the 75L is pretty damn good. So I will most likely be using that board there this Summer!
Are there any particular foot strap positions you use when you set up a new board?
Marc Paré: For my back foot I put my strap all the way to the rear insert. Then for my front foot I put the strap in the middle insert. That’s because the Flywave has a lower entry rocker-line and being pretty tall myself, if I move my stance a little bit back and closer together, the board frees up more in the bottom turn and it becomes more turny and less tracky. But, I think the foot strap positioning is something quite personal as well. I know, for example, a lighter rider using Simmer boards, who I gave my set up to, and he preferred the front strap all the way forward. As he is not as tall or as heavy as me and then, he could dig the rail more forward and get more drive.
What about the mast-track position for different conditions?
Marc Paré: I tend to keep mast base always in a similar position. I have it quite far back. I have the base pretty much, so it is stepping on the “square” of the track.
Marc Paré: From 85L and up the sizes of the G7 Omnia are coming only as a thruster, with power boxes in the rear and slot boxes in the front. The 75L comes with five slot boxes. I think overall I would ride that 75L in onshore windy conditions, like in Pozo.
I have also used the 75L in Denmark on a windy day when it was side off, and I found it worked pretty well in those conditions also! I was surprised as it is a very flat board. But it bottom-turned really nicely and the top turn had something special also. That was ridden as a quad.
What fin sizes do you use for the Omnia in quad mode?
Marc Paré: I use my standard quad set up of 14.5cm and 9cm for the Omnia. I set it up with the back foot all the way back and I try to line up the fins as much as I can underneath my back foot. I find with a flat rocker tail, you want to move the fins a bit more forward so the board can release a bit more and gets more loose.
When would you bring out the G7 Quantex?
Marc Paré: I would use the Quantex when conditions get really onshore, like Sylt. I had an 85L Quantex last summer and I was using it a bunch in Gran Canaria, when it was 4.5m to 5m weather. It is quite a wide board, so I find you can use less volume for its width, so it has a nice range of use in those conditions. That width, makes it really beneficial to keep speed and landing moves, as it makes it a lot more stable.
How much are you involved in the design process?
Marc Paré : I have been quite involved with the development of the Flywave and all the boards. That is my role in the company and I have been going to the office quite a bit to work together with Thomas and Ola. The first models of the Flywave, were six or seven years ago, when we brought that shape into production. It has been a very successful board. This year we made a bit of an upgrade to it.
The Quantex shape was a mix between two boards, that used to be in the range; The Quantum, which was the all-round wave board and the Cortex, which was the compact shape. When they put the Quantex into production I was not on the team at that stage, so I was not involved in it.
We have now been working on some pretty cool new designs on the side, which I hope will see light in the near future. Some are based on the current Flywave and some are a completely new design, which makes it super interesting! Right now, the plan is; as soon as the onshore season starts, then we are going to start building some prototypes to upgrade the Quantex at some point in the future!
If you went on a trip, what is the typical quiver of boards you would take on your next trip to Chile?
what is the typical quiver of boards you would take on your next trip to Chile?
Marc Paré: I would take my Flywave 92L and the Flywave 85L, just for a training trip. I will take these boards next time I go. I will take some of the prototype boards I am trying also. I want to try them there next to the existing boards in the range. So, I will be taking double sizes let’s say.
If you had to choose a quiver of four boards to cover all conditions, what would they be!
Marc Paré: I think I would go Flywave 92L, Flywave 85L and the Quantex 92L and the Omnia 75L. I think that would cover everything for me. The Flywave 85L I can sail it with really strong winds also. With that quiver I cover everything I need.
What changes can we expect for 2026?
Marc Paré: Normally, Simmer work in generations. So now we are at generation 7. This is what is going to stick for a while. Considering that we are working on some pretty interesting concepts, we could see a single product being released in the range. It might still be part of the same generation, but the range might change a little bit. If we come up with something magic, then we might put it in production instead of just waiting.
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