EUROSIMA welcomes you to the 21th Surf Summit on October 13 and 14, 2022 at the Hossegor Sporting Casino.
The annual Action Sports business conference invites you to meet inspiring and talented speakers who share common core values and beliefs, to discuss the future of leadership.
Videos of the previous editions
Give yourself a breath of fresh air, be curious, open up to others, to new ideas and new opportunities that will all contribute to your own personal development and that of your company.
Take advantage of the expertise of high class speakers to learn, imagine, draw inspiration, innovate and come together to build the future of the Action Sports industry.
Enjoy the many laid back and fun activities around the event (meals, parties, activities, surfing competitions…) and take the opportunity to meet new people, create new relationships and share the values of the surfing community.
“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.”
As in the inspirational words of Bruce Lee, our water element brings us back to our ability to adapt and rise to the current challenges we face in this period of instability we are experiencing.
This year, the European Action Sports Industry’s association has chosen to explore the concept of balance for its next Surf Summit: How can we reach better balance in our lives for our teams and in our careers? How can we reach performance while ensuring a sustainable future for ourselves, our natural environments and our planet?
The 2022 Surf Summit is a chance for you and for all your teams to find new ideas, take a breath and recharge. It will also provide the opportunity for all our businesses to enact and implement necessary changes to remain competitive and shift into the required social and environmental transition.
Whether they are athletes, entrepreneurs, scientists, pro riders or business leaders, our speakers will share their experience, their passion and their commitment with you. The 2022 Surf Summit 2022 is already set to be an exciting event.
Among others, we are extremely and impatiently looking forward hearing legendary Australian surfer and shaper Maurice Cole for his presentation. He will tell us about his journey and discuss the industry’s evolution over the past 40 years.
Set between sand dunes and the Hossegor lake, just a few feet from the ocean and world class surf spots, the Hossegor Sporting Casino is the perfect venue for the 20th edition of the Surf Summit.
Arthur GUÉRIN-BOËRI started his freediving career in 2011 at the age of 26. In 2016, he was the first to reach the symbolic and impressive depth of 300m in dynamic freediving, an all-time record in the sport. A year later, he set the first world record for under ice freediving with only his wetsuit and a monofin, reaching a depth of 175m.
As a child, Arthur developed strong ties to the aquatic world in his hometown of Nice and in nearby Corsica. That is when he initially discovered freediving. His career as a freediver started later, at 26 years old and since then, he has claimed 5 world titles and 8 world records.
In 2016, he was the first to reach the symbolic and impressive depth of 300m in dynamic freediving, an all-time record in the sport. A year later, he set the first world record for under ice freediving with only his wetsuit and a monofin, reaching a depth of 175m.
In March 2020, Arthur sought out to reach the double world record of under ice dynamic apnea freediving, swimming breast stroke. In 2021, he set the record in the field with his wetsuit, at 120m. Then, last March, in Morrison Quary, Quebec, he swam 105m in breast stroke, but this time with no wetsuit, wearing just a simple brief swimsuit.
Once again, it was an all-time record and the performance made headlines in France and all around the world. Today, he has become the most decorated French freediver in the history of the sport.
Relying on his experience and his stature, Arthur has turned towards sharing his journey and raising awareness about the beauty and values of his sport through demanding audio-visual productions that are both moving and in which human adventure merges with athletic feats.
In addition, Arthur also works as a conference speaker, focusing on themes such as pushing one’s limits, stress management, taking risks, self confidence…He also offers breathing workshops for relaxation, namely for stress management. These workshops, which are open to all, are directly inspired from his own training methods, which have enabled him to push boundaries in his sport and his daily life.
I’ve been tremendously fortunate to be a surfer and a surfboard designer at a fascinating time in the history of this unique pastime. Over the last half century, I’ve had a wealth of experiences that have influenced innumerable shapes, ideas and visions and am proud to be able to share all this with the next generation of surfboard craftsmen.
Maurice Cole was born March 13, 1954, in the Terang Hospital in the middle of western Victoria, not super far from the surf zones he’d later occupy. Except he wasn’t.
The kid born that day only became Maurice Cole after being adopted immediately following his birth by Frank and Mary Cole, a sturdy Anglican couple from Ballarat, some 80 miles north-east of Terang. Maurice’s parents later adopted another child, Maree, and they never hid the fact of adoption from their two kids. But Maurice wore the label in unsettled fashion. Maybe it’s a part of why he struggled to contain the explosive energies that arose within him as he grew; certainly it’s a part of the story he tells himself about his life. He recalls as a child being driven past a big dark building, the Ballarat orphanage, and being told that if he didn’t behave, he’d be going back there. That’s what I am, he thought, an orphan. Something was unmoored, driven yet adrift.
Maurice never saw the ocean until the family moved down to the coast at Warrnambool in 1960. “We were made to go to church in those days,” he says, “you didn’t have a choice. Which became a real problem when I started surfing.”
Surfing fell on him out of the blue one day in the summer of 1966, when he found himself at the beach with five shillings – the old British-inspired currency – in his pocket. By February that year he could have changed it to 60 cents, a bloody fortune. Instead he spent it on renting a surfboard. A big white-pigmented thing over nine feet long. Maurice walked the board out across a gently sloping sandbar through waist-high whitewater, strained his skinny 12-yearold body to turn it around, caught one of the little waves, and stood up. “All of a sudden my goal became to buy myself a surfboard. I was doing paper rounds and odd jobs like that. So I saved up $36 and bought one second hand off a guy called George Saffron from Ocean Grove. A 9’3” with a green GT stripe and a big D-fin. We didn’t have any racks on the car or anything, but I had a bike and I dunno how I did it but I rode with the board down to the beach. My passion was really tested by the logistics.” Maurice dragged that thing to the surf and back until one side of the tail wore off, then he flipped it over and wore off the other side. He reckons this was the first pintail he shaped. He repaired it with a builder’s glue named Plasti-Bond, and joined the local volunteer lifesavers’ club so he could store the board nearer the surf. The lifesaver disciplines, exercise drills and the rest, irritated that rebellious streak; when he tricked his way out of doing them, the club captain suspended him.
“But I’d been watching,” he says, nearly 50 years later. “This little building down in the dunes, in this nook and cranny. The Warrnambool Boardriders Club. And all these cars. A big Valiant with a full V8 and twin pipes and mags. A customised Holden FJ. Mini Coopers, MG sports. And when I first saw those guys surfing, well they could surf. I told the lifesavers’ captain to get fucked. Within 24 hours I was in Warrnambool Boardriders.”
Mike Stewart (born 1963) is a nine-time World Champion bodyboarder, one of the early pioneers of the bodyboarding sport, a pioneer of big-wave tow-in surfing and also a champion bodysurfer.
Mike Stewart (born 1963) is a nine-time World Champion bodyboarder, one of the early pioneers of the bodyboarding sport, a pioneer of big-wave tow-in surfing and also a champion bodysurfer.
Having ridden bodyboards since the inception of the sport, Stewart is the most experienced bodyboarder currently on the tour. He has won the annual Banzai Pipeline event a record 11 times, from which 9 earned him the world title, and has been crowned the Pipeline Bodysurfing Classic champion a record 15 times. He is the only bodyboarder to have competed in the Banzai Pipeline event since 1982. He has received the title Mister Pipeline for being the best wave rider of any kind: the only non stand-up surfer to achieve this accolade.
Along with fellow bodyboarder Ben Severson, Stewart pioneered surfing Teahupo’o in the late 1980s. This location has since gone on to become a premier global big-wave surfing destination on the WSL circuit.
Stewart is also an accomplished bodysurfer, having won the Pipeline Bodysurfing Classic 14 times to date.
Stewart has been involved in the design and manufacture of bodyboards throughout his career, having a close relationship since childhood with the inventor of the modern bodyboard, Tom Morey. Since 1998, Stewart has manufactured his own line of boards under the label Science Bodyboards.
Fashion designer specializing in lingerie, swimwear and activewear. I’ve been a consultant & designer in the industry for over 17 years. I became a Cultural Broker once I understood the importance of a systemic approach in sustainable fashion!
A fashion designer specialized in lingerie, swimwear and activewear, I’ve been a consultant & designer in the industry for over 17 years. I became a Cultural Broker once I understood the importance of a systemic approach to sustainable fashion! In 2014, while living as an expat in Vietnam, I founded the creative consultancy and sustainable sourcing office ENTADA TEXTILE. Research and trends coexist with resource innovations that lead to product and manufacturing solutions. Assisting and guiding designers, existing brands, future DNVBs, manufacturers, press and trade show organizers is my daily exercise.
I have a particular attraction for research from a style & sociological point of view. I develop presentations on trends, market intelligence and analysis of brand DNA (stylistic, fashion) as well as design proposals and resulting sourcing. Pooling these skills, I create editorial content in the form of Masterclasses, articles and conferences for the press, fairs or schools. Finally, I have just become Bleaders of BcorpTM because their tools offer a systemic, synthetic & operational vision that is aimed at everyone.
Expatriation has given me the unique experience of adapting to cultures and new situations. This has allowed me to become more intuitive, dynamic, cooperative and thus to evolve towards a service and “cultural broker” profile.
Originally from Newcastle, UK, Gabe became a professional surfer at the age of seventeen, embarking on a career that took him from the cold North Sea around the world. He picked up numerous surfing titles and represented his country at World Championships and at the XXL Global Big Wave Awards.
Originally from Newcastle, UK, Gabe became a professional surfer at the age of seventeen, embarking on a career that took him from the cold North Sea around the world. He picked up numerous surfing titles and represented his country at World Championships and at the XXL Global Big Wave Awards. But that’s not all. Gabe also has extensive experience working in television, film and printed media and with brands such as Quiksilver, among others. Inspired by the radical marine conservation group Surfers Against Sewage to focus on environmental action, his aim is to drive the surf industry towards a more positive future. In his current role as Ocean Marketing Manager EMEA at Patagonia, a company whose sole purpose is to ‘Save Our Home Planet’, he can now combine his love for surfing with his connection to the environment. It should come as no surprise that Gabe is leading this charge, pursuing better ways forward for surfers, ocean loving surf communities and the wider surf industry, to strive for and share a positive future.
A Climate researcher at the French National Meteorological Research Center (CNRM) David Salas y Mélia is Head of the department on air quality and climate research.
A Climate researcher at the French National Meteorological Research Center (CNRM) David Salas y Mélia is Head of the department on air quality and climate research. This entity’s missions are to increase understanding of the processes and impacts of climate change, to study air quality, to develop a seasonal climate forecast model and to regularly produce climate simulations as support to IPCC reports. David Salas y Mélia mainly works on understanding and assessing past and future climate evolutions through models. More specifically, he focuses on the role and evolution that marine ice plays within climatic systems. To this end, he has namely created and developed a model to represent the evolution of the Arctic and Antarctic ice packs.
About the CNRM:
The CNRM is a Mixed Research Unit, which includes the CNRS and Météo-France. Research and development activities, which are mostly based in the Météo-France sites of Toulouse, Grenoble and Lannion, mainly focus on forecasting atmospheric events, namely extreme events, and the study of climate, climate change, the water cycle, as well as interactions between the ocean, the atmosphere, the continents, ice, snow, atmospheric chemistry and urban meteorology. Research and development also includes work on models for digital weather forecasting and the development of measuring tools.
Richie has experienced both brand side and agency life. Having spent the majority of his career to date being just in front of the curve, he’s found his niche. Launching vvast has allowed Richie to blend his client experience and brand expertise to deliver an innovative, low- impact entry to market for brands BUT crucially plugging them into a relentless R&D roadmap based on shared learning.
Richie has experienced both brand side and agency life. Having spent the majority of his career to date being just in front of the curve, he’s found his niche. Launching vvast has allowed Richie to blend his client experience and brand expertise to deliver an innovative, low- impact entry to market for brands BUT crucially plugging them into a relentless R&D roadmap based on shared learning.
He is passionate about the concept of creative destruction and feels genuinely privileged to have seen the inception and gradual impact of ‘the internet’ on society and brands. Richie builds teams with a shared love of brand; a stoke for surfing, biking and music; and a drive to deliver epic work.
About VVAST:
vvast are fast proving themselves to be the D2C ecommerce expert for brands looking to scale at pace whilst maintaining brand equity. Proudly partnering with a global portfolio from VF (Jansport) $13bn turnover to Stance; and YETI $1.5bn turnover, to Troy Lee Designs; vvast are pro their brands consumers right at the heart of the conversation. Having fast tracked ISO accreditation, the business model is geared to support clients trading in the US and looking to break into Europe as well supporting brands already in territory. vvast understand that D2C is far more than systems and processes and have built a model based on a foundation of collaboration and many years of experience from trading 200+ brands across EMEA.
“I focus on human and environmental values and lead business transformation towards sustainable production, the circular economy and fair trade” Ludovic QUINAULT is operational, transformation and sustainability consultant.
Ludovic QUINAULT has been Director of Operations at Rip Curl Europe, Managing Director at Cube Bikes France and Managing Director at Skunkfunk / SKFK. Today he is an Operations Consultant at HI-EX CONSULTING.
“I focus on human and environmental values and lead business transformation towards sustainable production, the circular economy and fair trade.”
He is also a board member of UNU MONDO, a non-profit association that runs expeditions in the Arctic for research and to raise awareness on climate change.
About HI-EX Consulting :
Hi-Ex is a consulting firm, that was founded in 2009 and specializes in Operations and Sustainable Transformation. Its main activities are:
Grew up working in UK surf and skate stores during the 90’s. After some years in France as a wakeboard coach returned to the UK to join the Extreme Group sourcing and designing apparel for wholesale and ecommerce channels. Currently at O’Neill Wetsuits since 2005 specialising in wetsuit design and compliance in conjunction with the product development team in Santa Cruz, CA.
Grew up working in UK surf and skate stores during the 90’s. After some years in France as a wakeboard coach returned to the UK to join the Extreme Group sourcing and designing apparel for wholesale and ecommerce channels. Currently at O’Neill Wetsuits since 2005 specialising in wetsuit design and compliance in conjunction with the product development team in Santa Cruz, CA.
About O’Neill:
O’Neill, the original California surf, snow and lifestyle brand was founded in 1952 when a young man named Jack O’Neill took his unstoppable passion for surfing and used it to beat Mother Nature at her own game.
Pioneering the world’s first neoprene surf wetsuit, Jack had successfully found a way to extend his surf sessions in the bone-chilling breaks of Northern California. He opened up the garage doors to his first surf shop soon after. While many things have changed since those humble beginnings, Jack initial vision of producing functional and innovative riding products continues to inspire people and empower them to do what they love doing most.
Currently hold the position of European Sales Manager for Rip Curl Europe. I have worked for Rip Curl for over 20 years, starting in Trade Marketing and Team/ Events before moving into sales. I progressed from an Area Manager to UK & Eire Manager and then North European Sales Manager, before holding my current position.
Currently hold the position of European Sales Manager for Rip Curl Europe. I have worked for Rip Curl for over 20 years, starting in Trade Marketing and Team/ Events before moving into sales. I progressed from an Area Manager to UK & Eire Manager and then North European Sales Manager, before holding my current position.
About Rip Curl, The Ultimate Surfing Company:
The Ultimate Surfing Company Rip Curl is a company for, and about, the crew on The Search. The products we make, the events we run, the riders we support and the people we reach globally, are all part of the Search that Rip Curl is on.
Jenny is the genuine guardian of the company’s values. She embodies these values, these virtues…She is the Commercial Director and ensures that our values are behind all our business relations and interactions.
Jenny is the genuine guardian of the company’s values. She embodies these values, these virtues…She is the Commercial Director and ensures that our values are behind all our business relations and interactions.
About Les Chanvres de l’Atlantique :
The company was created in 2016, under the impulse of Vincent LARTIZIEN, ex-professional surfer, who after more than 20 years playing on the biggest waves of the great Oceans of our planet, made the following observation: it is up to us to act and improve everything that goes wrong in our world. But in order to act, he needs a tool and hemp comes as an obvious one. The mission becomes clear: To nourish the health of all, through Hemp / Cannabis.
The project is vast and the main ambitions are:
I grew up in the heart of the mountains, in Savoie. My parents were both ski instructors, so I naturally inherited their passion for boardsports. Professionally, I started out in the snowboard department at Rossignol, where I met Emmanuel Debrueres, the current President of Oxbow.
I grew up in the heart of the mountains, in Savoie. My parents were both ski instructors, so I naturally inherited their passion for boardsports. Professionally, I started out in the snowboard department at Rossignol, where I met Emmanuel Debrueres, the current President of Oxbow. I then moved across France to wind up on the coast in the Landes, where I joined Emmanuel at Billabong. I was a Product Manager in the outerwear department there, for 6 years. Those were incredible years during which I was lucky enough to combine my passion with my career.
In 2014, I decided to start my own project: Arcosse, an ecoresponsible technical apparel brand for mountain professionals. It was a three-year adventure with ups and down, but I learned a lot. I then created a product development consulting agency, Peak2Sea, and assisted several outdoor brands. In 2020, Emmanuel called me up, to tell me about his project and vision for Oxbow. I was immediately onboard and joined the family. Today, I am in charge of the 85 and Collector ranges, whose objectives are to reconnect with riders and the brand’s roots. Made in Europe and in France with local organic and recycled materials, these two ranges are perfectly aligned with my own values.
About Oxbow:
As individuals and companies, we are all responsible for the planet we live on. It is entirely up to us to contribute to protecting our living and playing environments in order to pass them on to future generations! That is the vision that French brand Oxbow shares with its committed ambassadors, its employees, its management but also its many customers who demand change. These customers demand transparency as well as meaning when it comes to what they buy and their consumption habits.
We are not so pretentious as to say that we are exemplary today. The process of transformation is long and will take time to be complete. It is a mission we have undertaken since buying the brand in 2020 and we are proud to see that day after day, our employees, our partners and our consumers are moving in the right direction. We also implement these changes hand in hand with our suppliers and partners, in total trust.
We can no longer turn a blind eye to the emergencies of tomorrow. As users and people genuinely passionate about natural environments, it is our responsibility to systematically implement solutions that include the environmental factor, to offer a practice of our sports that has been thought through as well as to fulfil our duty educators.
It’s about living, enjoying, sharing and having fun, but the most responsibly possible through our adventures, our messages and the projects that the ambassadors we support carry out. And of course, it is about the products that we create and sell.
We « Stay alive » in how we face and stay aware of the world around us. We « Stay alive » through the sustainability we give to our products. We « Stay alive » through the ties we build with our partners, which we want to be both long-lasting and close and finally we « Stay alive » by constantly challenging ourselves for a more responsible present and future.
For more information on our CSR policy and actions:
Nin Castle is the Co-founder of Reverse Resources, a SaaS platform for the fashion industry that enables mapping, matchmaking and tracking of textile waste from source to recycling, closing the loop of material flows.
Nin Castle is the Co-founder of Reverse Resources, a SaaS platform for the fashion industry that enables mapping, matchmaking and tracking of textile waste from source to recycling, closing the loop of material flows. With extensive experience in working with pre-consumer and post-industrial textile waste since 2006, Nin runs RR’s international programs collaborating with NGOs, brands, manufacturers, waste handlers and recyclers across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Finally, Nin leads the Reverse Resources’ recyclers network, matching textile waste streams with the best possible recycling solutions.
Driven by the passion for surfing and people, Wilco arrived in this industry at an early age in the mid 90’s. His career took him from being a trainee at Rip Curl, to different positions in product management, marketing and sales to become the president ceo at the age of 36 in 2013. He also was the president of Eurosima from 2016 untill 2019.
Driven by the passion for surfing and people, Wilco arrived in this industry at an early age in the mid 90’s. His career took him from being a trainee at Rip Curl, to different positions in product management, marketing and sales to become the president ceo at the age of 36 in 2013. He also was the president of Eurosima from 2016 untill 2019.
Together with Stephan Moretti, they created The Salts Only. The Salts Only is the European Licensee for T&C Surf Designs Hawaii, Rivvia Projects and the European distributor for several other brands.
The Salts Only – Products for the Ocean
We are here to share the lifestyle we live. The Salts Only is for those, who are inspired by and who live in and around the ocean. Our core purpose is to create a smile in the water!
Our mission is to offer qualitative products in a sustainable way with great service, fully adapted to the needs of any surfer.
#createasmileinthewater
Frédéric Tain specialises in the evolutions of consumption and its impacts on non-food business. He manages sport-guide.com and its independent magazine, which have become key sources of information for buyers and retailers, providing in-depth analysis of the best and not so good practices to be found in the industry, and forecasting future evolutions.
Frédéric Tain specialises in the evolutions of consumption and its impacts on non-food business. He manages sport-guide.com and its independent magazine, which has become a key source of information for buyers and retailers, providing in-depth analysis of the best and not so good practices to be found in the industry. The team also works towards anticipating and forecasting future evolutions within the industry.
Every day, the hardened team of European journalists interviews key players from heads of leaders in retail, challengers as well as project carriers. Their analysis focuses on data from brands and retailers. Their motto: “information that is useful”.
Dave Mailman was born in California where he grew up surfing, skating and snowboarding. After studying French at UCLA and the University of Bordeaux he moved to France in 1994. Since then he has been an editor at Onboard European Snowboard Magazine, Marketing Director at Quiksilver Europe, Co-founder of the Ticket To Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour, …
Dave Mailman was born in California where he grew up surfing, skating and snowboarding. After studying French at UCLA and the University of Bordeaux he moved to France in 1994. Since then he has been an editor at Onboard European Snowboard Magazine, Marketing Director at Quiksilver Europe, Co-founder of the Ticket To Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour, President of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Europe, writer & presenter of the EpicTV Surf Report, and main announcer of the Freeride World Tour as well as many other international surf, skate and snowboard competitions. His is currently working in TV post production doing scriptwriting and voice over work on the highlight shows for the Freeride World Tour and the FIM EnduroGP World Championship.
The 21st Eurosima Surf Summit will take place next October 13 & 14 at the Hossegor Casino.
The annual “European surf business” conference invites you to come meet inspirational individuals to help us build the future of the Action Sports industry together. A genuinely collective event, the Surf Summit brings together 350 participants for two days of outstanding conferences, focusing on the economic, social and environmental key issues we all have to face.
Since 2017, I’ve spoken at various conferences as a management consultant. In my workshops and initiation sessions for experts and beginners alike, I share my vision of my sport and discuss what it means to push your limits to reach well-being. Thanks to my titles and records I can focus on sharing my experience and what I’ve discovered.
Taking risks, pushing limits, stress management, personal fulfilment. These are some of the key topics I discuss, while interacting with the audience.
Globally as well as in France, hardware, apparel and footwear markets are growing. What conclusions can be drawn from of sales evolutions analysis over the last 18 months?
As a shaper, nothing beats feedback that someone has just had a magical experience on a board you’ve created for them. This spurs me on to design surfboards that go faster, carve harder and showcase a continual evolution of performance virtues. Along the way, I’ve been pushing the boundaries of high-speed tow surfing, have worked closely with the world’s best surfers to feed their information back into the design process and have constantly strived to develop manufacturing credentials that are both sustainable and world’s best practice.
Arthur GUÉRIN-BOËRI is the most decorated French athlete in the history of freediving - 5 world titles & 8 world records. He will lead a breathing workshop on Friday, October 14 at 8:30 am during the Surf Summit.
Mike Stewart has been recognized as one of the top wave riders of our era. He has redefined many aspects of modern wave riding, along the way earning a multitude of world titles for bodyboarding and bodysurfing. Encyclopaedia of Surfing Matt Warshaw has describes him as one of the most innovative surfers in history.
According to the latest IPCC report, the planet’s climate has increased by 1,1°C since the 19th century, with snow and ice caps that have receded and ocean levels that have risen. These changes, which are linked to human-generated greenhouse gases, also translate into visible evolutions in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, whether it be droughts, heat waves, severe rain or cyclones.
Oikonomia is the greek word for economy + ressource management. We are all responsible for what we share, for making our economy matter and for the fact that our ecology is being consumed. All performance, even individual, requires team work, whether within a brand or a sponsor, and each member is a guardian of the shared home.
How can you get a handle on circular sourcing in the sourcing chain of value? What are the realities and limits of circularity in sourcing? Can circularity allow our industry to become independent in terms of ressources? Why or why not?
As a live sketching artist for the past 5 years, and passionate about water sports such as surfing, sailing or kitesurf, I love to combine my two passions.
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