Part II: The Board
Looking at this bodyboard, one can tell it’s not made for waves suitable to your regular bodyboard aficionado. Here’s a run-down of all the features that Pedro Levi and Shaper Gato put together for the world’s first tow-in bodyboard. All quotes are from Shaper Gato.
Height
It’s bigger than usual. At 44 inches tall, this board dwarfs what most of us ride at 41 to 42.5 inches. Some of us may choose to ride a larger board but it’s usually to float the plus size population of bodyboarders or to coast through the flatter sections on small waves. “Levi typically rides 41.75 inches for normal waves. We innovated the shape as well to be a little bit similar to a surfboard [and its hydrodynamic effect]. Levi states that there’s a way of decreasing falling off of giant Nazaré water mountain waves which is not to touch the water beside the board. This board helps with that.”
Tail
The tail consists of three crescent shapes, two narrow ones on each side of a wider crescent in the middle. “Pedro Levi has tested it before in Nazaré with positive results. The board seems to hold better with speed, like some fins.”
Channels
The channels on this board are long, they go way up the board compared to other boards, and they align with the narrower crescents of the tail directing the water flow out through those segments. “The long channels make the board get more grip to the wave through an extension on the whole board. This with the tri-crescent tail gives more drive and grip to the water [with] speed.”
Rails
One of the most interesting things about this board is that the configuration of the rail changes from one half of the board to the other. “It’s called a negative rail. A rail that’s more thin and so gives a better grip to the wave. It works more like a knife slicing through the water or like a fin but in the rail.”
Weight
The most distinctive feature of the tow board is its weight. Weighing in at a whopping 8.5 kg (18.74 lbs), this board is much heavier than the 0.75 to 1.50 kg (1.65 to 3.31 lbs) of your regular polyethylene or polypropylene board, depending on how much water it has taken in. On the deck of the board, one can see four raised areas on the back end. Lead weights are placed within a tow board used for surfing, something borrowed and applied to Shaper Gato’s design. “When the bodyboarder faces a high speed, [it’s] difficult to control under that speed, because of the impacts its tendency is to fall under these circumstances so the weight will help to keep the board attached to the water while riding.” The inserted lead is only part of the formula. Shaper Gato wasn’t willing to go into too much more detail but he did say, “The secret lies in the core and weight distribution… The M3C core is an exclusive core of Refresh Boards…It is a heavier core on the market made specifically for large, hollow waves. The block is built in three different layers and with different densities, weight, rigidity and flexibility.”
Pedro added, “After that 2016 session that went a bit wrong where I ended up rescued and the jet was ruined, Gato gave me a heavier board a size too small but good to make my Nazaré board for the moment. Not as heavy as 8.5kg. But good enough to [experiment] with heavier material. And that was the experimental material we ordered to make this new board to ride Nazaré. We wanted to do something specifically designed for Nazaré. And here it is.”
Levi’s support team consists of Refresh Bodyboards and he mentioned a partner, more or less like an agent, who was in the process of finding sponsors that will allow him access to a jet ski, pilot, radios and all. Until then, he’d be paddling into waves unless someone with a jet ski offers to tow him into one. This goes to show that it’s Pedro Levi’s own passion, desire and belief that is making this happen in addition to help from supporters along the way.
It just so happens that during our email exchanges for this story, Pedro informed me on the 21st of February 2021 that he’d have a chance to test out what Refresh Bodyboards had created the next day, on February 22nd. “I plan to test it tomorrow, paddling with a good forecast. Hope I can get photos to show you…let’s pray tomorrow someone gives me a tow too” he says.
I asked him to let me know how it goes but he didn’t need to. His Instagram posts and stories on that day answered most of my questions and included checking the conditions in the morning of 20-foot plus waves groomed by offshore winds, big wave charger Lucas Chumbo checking out the weight of Levi’s bodyboard and opinionating, and a video clip of a 24 to 30 foot bomb that Levi was towed into, in the caption he thanked fellow frother Nic Von Rupp for towing him in. Levi took the drop seamlessly with the board practically glued to the face of the wave. Shaper Gato’s design seemed to work as intended in this first phase of testing. Success.
The following day, February 23rd, Levi told me how it went. Most people on the beach that day, including experienced chargers such as Lucas Chumbo, told him the aforementioned wave was “30 feet more or less, like 10 to 12 meters.” In regards to how it felt paddling, “It is very heavy on the tail, which makes it a little bit hard to paddle, it’s still floating and eligible to paddle but it sinks a bit on the tail. But the board was made to tow-in big waves with the help of a jet ski so no biggie.” In regards to how it felt being towed in, “The board felt stable, very stable in the tail where the weight is and because of the negative rail, a 20/80 rail, as well as the tri-crescent tail and long channels really worked very well on gripping the board to the water in the rear of the board while sliding on the wave.” It seemed as though Shaper Gato’s job was done, but Praia do Norte wasn’t going to let them off so easily.
To be continued in Part III: The Biggest Wave.
ShapeShifters 