Watch A Skimboarder Take On A French River Bore

All over the world, river bores have big and enthusiastic followings who turn out on all different craft to sample the delights of tidal river surfing.

An average day on the Severn Bore in Gloucester see’s bodyboarders, SUP’ers, Kayakers, and men women and children riding all manner of surfboards, however we’ve never seen someone attempt to catch a ride on the river on a skimboard, until today.

The clip below was filmed a few days ago and features French skimboarder Laurent Lozes running at the bore from a sandbank, floating a little white water section and enjoying a nice clean ride.

While the length of ride isn’t up to much by usual Bore standards (the world record is 10.6 miles, on the Bono in Indo) the whole excursion certainly looks like a lot of fun.

River bores are formed when spring high tides are squeezed through a small river mouth opening, forcing the head of the tide upstream. Just like in the sea, the way the wave breaks is determined by the shape of the shoreline and the river bed. You read more about this unique phenomena, and the unique surf community that has grown up around it in Gloucestershire here.