Mathieu Maréchal
A Billig & classic longboard, with no clichés
with Mathieu Maréchal
Without sounding cliché, it is raining in Brittany when I interview Mathieu Maréchal. A fine rain has been going on for weeks. It is never really wet, but everyone agrees it is annoying. It is mid-July and summer is still not on the horizon. “Better weather should be on the way, all of Brittany is waiting with impatience. It’s the official subject of discussion. It’ll do a lot of good” he says to me with the optimism of someone used to it. Mathieu was born in Quimper, but his family comes from southern Finistère, and for a long time, he was told he was from the Bigouden region. Yet, when I ask the question, where are you from, his answer ends the debate, "I'm Breton, that’s it.” He grew up around La Torche, the region’s most famous surf spot. "My grandmother lives right next door, and my grandfather was a fisherman. He had a boat and died very young. One day he went to sea and never came back. So when I was teenager, my grandmother wasn’t very at ease when I went surfing."
"When you live by the sea, I think you have to love it. "
From the age of 7, Mathieu spent all his time in the water. "When you live by the sea, I think you have to love it. It must be in the genes.” He later joined the Brittany Espoir Division (young, non-professional surfing development). Back then, the only objective was results. "When you train a lot, you become programmed to surf. I participated in every competition for a year when I was about 18. That was when I burned out.” Mathieu abandoned his boards and finally sold them. He didn't go near the water for a year and a half, the reaction of someone who really overdid it. "What I enjoyed most of all was the calm and graceful aspect of the longboard, I simply liked to nose ride. In competition, it’s only a matter of criteria, maneuvers and points scored. There is little space for style. I thought it was abusive. Today, when I surf, the opposite is true. It's just fun; I do what the wave wants me to do. I listen to it.“
During a getaway to Biarritz that lasted more than 5 years, Mathieu tasted the effervescent Basque Coast surf spots and refined his classic style on traditional single fin boards redesigned by Thomas Bexon, the famous Australian shaper. The longboard passion was alive and shared among good friends during the sessions. On his noserider without a leash, his sleek, sharp and elegant style caught everyone’s attention. From that moment on, for the one everyone calls Marech’, and according to retro culture, seriousness would have no place in the water. Cross steps to the nose, reverse cross steps back, bottom turn, cross steps to the nose, and so on. Over and over.
In spite of quickly adapting to the south, the distance took its toll, calling him directly and unsurprisingly home. And, without adding another cliché, his mother's crepes had a lot to do with it too. "When I was in the Basque country, I even brought my Billig* along. I was very popular! A Breton always has his Billig on hand! My ritual, since I was a really little, is crepes at home every Wednesday. Today, Marech’ works with his parents in a local bar, the true heart of the village. "It has had the same customers for 30 years," he says. "The calm, the surf, family and friends, this is what brought me back to Brittany. Here, you only need to go a few miles to easily find a spot where there are either few or no people at all. Brittany is still wild. I’ve been fishing a lot with my buddies for the last few years. When there are no waves, you take the boat and go fishing."
In all weather, Mathieu is at home here. He never tires of the landscape, the inlets, coastal pine trees, rocks and dunes, the iodized scent of the open sea, deserted beaches, people-free waves, crab claws and abandoned scallop shells, pontoons littered with fish, and fishing boats all painted the same blue. He has even decorated the porch of his new house in La Torche with it too. ”There is a big road that leads directly to the surf spot, and we live in a small, rather classic house lined with big cypress trees, located just in front of the spot. Grabbing a quick session on foot is a pleasure!"
When we finish the interview, clearer skies are still nowhere to be found. But thanks to Mathieu, with his smile and outlook, we almost catch a glimpse of summer. And, as they say in Brittany, “Better that it rains today than on a beautiful day.” The famous optimism of the locals.
*Billig: A traditional Breton crepe maker
