Boréal Surfboards

About This Project

“Shapes of the world” is here meet interesting shapers around the globe and learn more about their story, their background, and of course, their surfboards.

We didn’t go too far for our first interview (you know, a thing called work?). We got to hang out with Sebastien Chartrand, the chill dude behind Boreal Surfboards. He’s a young Montrealer who decided to dedicate his life to shaping boards. We wondered what it must be like to shape boards while landlocked, away from the ocean. It doesn’t seem to stop him.

Tell us a little bit about how you got into shaping surfboards?

I’ve been shaping boards for three years now, and my company has been public for a year and a half. After shaping my first board, I was like: “Man, I’m going to start making my own quiver”. I thought it could make a good hobby and I had some space to do it at my parents’. It was pretty marginal to be shaping surfboards in Quebec before Shaper Studios arrived in Montreal, so it got some attention from my entourage. My friends got into it because you know, they’re my friends, so I started to make a couple of boards for them, for my girlfriend, for my surf buddy… After a dozen boards, I was seeing some improvement and I was like “I can shape boards that are not too far from what I see at different surf shops”. I was able to compare my work to the work of shapers at different fairs and all. The first year I sold around twenty boards, and now I’ve really improved on my final product and I can show up at any surf shop with my boards without any shame.

What was the training period like?

It really took a lot of time for me to notice my weaknesses and areas of improvement. After ten boards I had a product that was not bad at all because I took at least a year to really think logically about my mistakes, to get information… It was trial and error.

It’s not always easy. You have to keep in mind that if your board is not 100% perfect, the next one will be better, so you just have to keep your head up, take your time and just go on with the next and try your best… Not get discouraged.

Can you talk to us a little bit more about Boreal and what you are trying to achieve with your boards?

 Boreal is the northern part of the globe. That’s where we’re from. We live in a place geographically far from the ocean, and Boreal is here to keep the local community informed about boards and able to access equipment that suits their needs, whether they are river surfers or regular ocean surfers.

The idea behind Boreal is to try shapes that are a little more marginal than what we are used to. I mean, high-performance shortboard production is massive and available, and the average surfer doesn’t necessarily want to ride the same boards as the pros. I try to help the average surfer to find a board that would work for them and helps them surf better while being aesthetically pleasing.

How tough is it to be shaping boards far from the ocean?

 Well, being a landlocked surfer, being a Montrealer who lives five hours away from the nearest ocean, it sure is a touchy situation. But at the same time, it gives me a bit of exclusivity in an emerging community that is growing fast. Also, traveling these days is much easier than it used to be, so we’re not that far from the east coast, which gets pretty beautiful during the fall. During the fall I’m able to do a lot of R&D on my boards but I’d say summer in Montreal comes with great weather, good river levels and flow rate which make the waves pretty good. And when the waves are good, I’m able to stay on my boards for a couple of minutes and that’s when I can feel the difference between two boards or different fin setups for the same board. We have a playing field here in Montreal to test the boards but it’s not all year round. We’re still at Mother Nature’s mercy.

Does living in Montreal influence your shaping? How’s the surfing community here? 

 Yeah definitely, living in Montreal influences my style a lot. Half of my customers are people that are going to surf the river pretty often. So, it has an impact on the choice of material for example. I work a lot with eps foam, which is lighter and suits more river surfing.

The distribution channel is unconventional. There isn’t any big surf shop around here. We have KSF, but it’s more focused on renting equipment and river surfing classes. People go to the US or other countries to buy boards. If they want something made in Quebec well, there aren’t lots of options, and Boreal is one of them. And the fact that it’s a growing community is a golden opportunity to start with little or no competition. With globalization, it’s easier to shape a board wherever. So if people like your boards and your style, they’re going to follow you no matter where you are based.