He was 12 when Arnaud got his first Stark board. He learned to ride shortboards before trying out one of his father's old boards, a Willis Brothers brought back from a trip to Hawaii. “It was a thicker board than I was used to surfing. It just clicked, and I loved it. It is this direction, this path that Arnaud wanted to go from then on. “I also discovered old boards thanks to Litmus. The film got me into Single Fins.“ With a single, Arnaud discovered, above all, the sense of gravity and understood the need for a real bottom turn to get back up high on the wave. “That's where you can pick up speed and ride a wider line. I want to ride perfect waves and, above all, to have fun. » Today, boards inspired by old designs have his full attention. “Catching a nice wave and riding a good line is all that matters. I'm not here to surf big waves, but perfect ones. It is, however, at surf spots like Avalanche or Lafitenia that you can find him lugging his 10 '4”, a replica of a board made for surfing Sunset, for waves 4 meters and above. “When people see me coming up with this, they tell me, you're going to kill yourself, but I have no desire to push my limits too far. For me, surfing is a passion, not a sport. That's how I was brought up." Arnaud, who has always been a member of the Biarritz Surf Club, the oldest surf club in France (1963), long chaired by Jo Moraiz, was now evolving toward a technique that he mastered and loved.
Today, through the family shop, Arnaud pays tribute to this corner of the world where he grew up. Located under the arcades of the municipal casino facing the Grande Plage, "Aux Guides Baigneurs'' serves as a mythical surf destination in the Biarritz landscape. “In the beginning, the store wasn't my thing, but when my father died, after passing by it several times, I finally did what I had to to keep it going. Beyond surfing, what interested me most was Biarritz's maritime heritage.” Arnaud likes to say he was lucky. Surfing was passed on to him. It has always been there. In line with the paternal legacy that was transmitted to him without force, it is this bug that he is passing on to his two daughters. “The 5 and a half year old seems interested in surfing. I sometimes find her in the garage wearing a wetsuit standing on the boards. The older one likes the ocean a lot, but doesn't seem interested in surfing. She prefers to row at sea, it's a different approach to the ocean. She introduced me to coastal rescue. Through the shop, we share an interest in the history of the "Guides-Baigneurs", in short, the circle is complete.”
