A French-designed neoprene vest with a gliding chest panel promises hands-free wave riding, and San Diego bodysurfers, bodyboarders and confused lifeguards prepare for the most baffling arrival since the stand-up paddleboard
Hands Free, Board Free, Explanation Required
SAN DIEGO. A new wave-riding activity called skueling, which combines elements of surfing and bodysurfing, is setting its sights on San Diego, according to SurferToday’s report on skueling. The activity is promoted by SKUE, a French-founded project, and uses a wearable neoprene vest called the Kombiboard, which features a stiff gliding panel on the chest. Riders glide along waves without standing up or holding a board, keeping both hands free.
San Diego, a city that has already embraced surfing, bodysurfing, bodyboarding, kneeboarding, stand-up paddling, foiling and at least one man at Ocean Beach who rides waves on a door, received the news with characteristic open-mindedness and a few raised eyebrows.
How It Works
According to SKUE, the gliding surface helps riders catch waves earlier and reach the unbroken face of the wave rather than being pushed toward the shore by whitewater. The company says the vest’s buoyancy is roughly comparable to that of a bodyboard and that it folds small enough to fit in a backpack. SKUE told SurferToday that its rigid external surface helps the rider glide across a wave while keeping both hands free.
The concept was developed by French entrepreneur Tarik Laajili after his own experiences in the ocean, with years of design and testing, including twenty functional prototypes tested in heavy surf. Professional bodyboarder Badr Chajri advised removing extra back padding for a closer fit. SKUE has filed French and international patent applications and received its first pre-orders, with San Diego as its initial commercial focus.
The Lineup Reacts
San Diego’s surf community is famously tolerant, but new wave-riding crafts tend to trigger a predictable sequence of reactions: suspicion, ridicule, curiosity, secret purchase and eventual evangelism. Stand-up paddleboards went through it. Soft-top surfboards went through it. Foils are still going through it. Skueling appears to be entering stage one.
A Pacific Beach bodysurfer, who has spent twenty years perfecting the art of riding waves with nothing but fins and a hand plane, said he was intrigued but wary. I have one question, he said. When I am riding a wave with my chest, why do I need a vest that rides the wave with my chest? Then he thought about it some more. Although, he admitted, my chest is not as stiff as it used to be. Maybe the vest helps.
The Bodyboarders’ Perspective
Bodyboarders, who have long endured jokes from stand-up surfers, have reacted to skueling with something like relief. For decades, they have been the lineup’s favourite target, teased as spongers and accused of taking waves that shortboarders believe belong to them. A new, even more unusual craft gives them, for the first time, someone to look down on.
A Mission Beach bodyboarder summed up the mood. Finally, he said, there is someone weirder than us in the water. We have waited thirty years for this moment. We will be kind to them. Mostly. We will also take their waves.
Safety First
SKUE is clear about one important point: the vest is not a certified life jacket or a US Coast Guard-rated personal flotation device. It is designed for wave riding, not as safety equipment. That distinction matters. As with any ocean activity, riders need to understand conditions, rip currents and their own abilities, and should never treat a buoyant vest as protection against drowning.
San Diego lifeguards, who have seen every kind of craft and creature in the surf, are reportedly preparing for questions. A lifeguard in La Jolla said he would treat skuelers like everyone else. We will watch them, he said. We will rescue them if needed. We will also try very hard not to laugh when they explain what they are doing. That is part of the job.
The Name Game
Surf culture loves slang, and the arrival of a new sport presents an opportunity for new vocabulary. Early suggestions for describing skuelers include chest gliders, vest riders and, from one Encinitas wit, the human surfboard society. Whatever name sticks, observers expect it to be shortened, mispronounced and eventually used as an insult by teenagers, as is tradition.
The French origin of the sport has also prompted comment. California surfers have a long and complicated relationship with French surf culture, which has produced elegant surfers, beautiful waves in Hossegor and a style of wetsuit that Californians admire but cannot pronounce. A French-designed vest arriving in San Diego is being treated as an exciting cultural exchange, although some locals have asked whether it comes with a baguette holder.
A History Of Strange Crafts
California has always been a laboratory for wave-riding experiments. Surfers here helped popularize shorter boards, wetsuits, leashes, bodyboards and countless shapes, some brilliant and some best forgotten. Every innovation was greeted with scepticism before some became mainstream. Whether skueling joins the list of successes or the list of curiosities remains to be seen. In San Diego, where the water is warm enough and the waves gentle enough on many days, it will at least get a fair trial.
The Last Word
At Ocean Beach, the man who rides waves on a door listened to a description of skueling and nodded thoughtfully. Interesting, he said. But can you put a door handle on it? When told that no, the vest does not have a door handle, he shrugged. Then it will never catch on, he said, and paddled back out on his door.