United States
Australia
This week-end, the first Challenger Series will be launched at Snappers Rock. All the best surfers from around the world will be competing there to collect precious points that will validate or not the golden tickets to qualify for the WCT.
After a good season on European events, our team rider, Tim Bisso got qualified and will be competing in the first Australian contest.
He took the time to sit down with us and have a little chat before flying to Australia.
Hey Tim, for those who don’t know you, could you introduce yourself?
I’m Timothé Bisso, Tim for the ones who know me, I was born in Guadeloupe, a french island in the Carribeans. I grew up in Saint Francois on the UCPA Beach, a nautical base where my parents used to work when I was young.
What about today, are you still leaving there?
After travelling a lot to attend to the WQS contests, I had the chance to discover a lot of places throughout the world and I’ve decided to settle in Ribamar, a small village 40 minutes far up north Lisbon in Portugal.
To me, Portugal is one of the best surf destinations, there are more than 150 spots along the coast and so many different waves !
From time to time, it happens that I miss the Caribbean weather but thanks to its lifestyle and waves, Portugal is now a place that I feel like calling “home”.
I guess becoming a professional surfer was kind of a dream, how and when did it become real ?
My dad used to teach windsurf and became a shaper when I was 2 years old, so surfing was part of my life as far as I can remember. I naturally came to competition and after winning a few French and European titles as a junior, I decided to confront myself to some of the best surfers in the world by giving a try and attend some WQS.
How do you spend your time when you’re not surfing ?
Not surfing ? Well that happens not so often ! I would say that I’m in my car driving around to check the spots and the sandbanks, so that when the winds turn offshore you’ll always find me on the right spot !
What would your ideal day be like ?
My ideal day would be, waking up around sunrise knowing that the forecast for today is very good (1m60, 13 sec NNW strong offshore winds) then drive to the local bakery shop in Ribamar called “Clamar” and get psyched on coffee, After that I would go and check a certain left slab that works on high tide! (my favorite spot but don’t expect to get more details from me haha)
Ideally I love to arrive early and chill on the cliff watching empty barrels pass by when the tide is too low… and when I see a makeable one, it’s time to run down the cliff, put on my wetsuit, get out there and surf as long as my feet allow me to!
After that, get a sandwich at the BP (local gas station) and surf the tide going down in a right slab that also works with the same size and swell direction until the sun goes down!
According to you, which skills make a good surfer ?
Of course there will always be the technical skills, even more when we talk about contest surfing, but to me the most important is to see the surfer having fun and having a big smile on his face after surfing his wave.
Back to professional surfing, can you tell us more about this season and your objectives?
My main goal was to qualify for the Challenger series, which I achieved. I’m really excited to compete my first heat this week-end at Snappers and be able to surf this wave with only people in the water ahaha.
Moving forward, I’d say that my next objective is to qualify for the CT. It’s a long way ahead but I’ve been working hard for it !
Well, Tim Thanks for your time and in the name of Salty Crew, we wish you the best for this new challenge !
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