Watch: The New Portugal CT Wildcard Can Fucking Fly

Repetition creates patterns — not necessarily boredom.

Euphemistically titled, Gatien Delahaye’s new edit ‘Wiggles in the Wind’ is unapologetically repetitive. Filmed over three days — same location, same wave, same direction, same conditions — it condenses a very narrow yet well-oiled part of his repertoire into four minutes of runtime.

Priding himself on his consistency, Gatien dishes out a rapid burst of (mostly) backhand finners, blowtails, and airs into the Guadeloupe trades. Downplaying his efforts, he mentions how the conditions on his adopted island make doing airs “super easy.”

At the age of two, Gatien moved with his parents from France to the windward French Caribbean archipelago, where the predominantly easterly swell is often paired with strong winds from the same direction.

While the invisible hand of nature might help make his airs loftier, logic tells us Gatien’s blowtails are anything but easy against the wind and chop.

“I’ve been doing that blowtail reverse since I was a kid,” he says. “I’ve been trying to throw my tail since I was super young, doing chop-ups all over the place and not even doing turns. That’s all I wanted to do.”

If you came here for full-rail carves, you’ll leave a disappointed customer — straight to furiously one-starring Gatien on Yelp. “I’d rather send myself at full speed into a big ramp and onto the flats than do turns,” Gatien says earnestly.

Previously contractually required to spend four months a year in France at the request of his former sponsor, Gatien has been enjoying the perks of being a free agent, living and surfing in a land largely overlooked by the media. “Once we’re here, no one hears about us. We’re on a rock, and no one knows what’s up. There’s no surfing industry over here.”

His words carry more relief than lament. “We’re trying to push ourselves and show people that we have waves, and can do just as much as everybody else.” A bit of a contradiction, considering he later tells me his sessions aren’t often filmed. “When I saw the charts, I had to tell Simon, ‘Please, just free up some time over the next few days and let’s go film. I want to make something!’”

All that empty white space on his surfboard comes at a cost. “For now, everything is coming out of my pocket,” he shares. “I’m just trying to create as much content as I can and show people what I’m capable of.”

At home, Gatien hardly goes right. “We get some rights, but we mostly go left,” which, as a self-professed closeted goofyfooter, he seems to enjoy.

Raised on a diet consisting mostly of Dane Reynolds’ Marine Layer clips and Kai Neville productions, contests were never really his cup of tea — despite past contractual obligations. “I was always asked to compete, but in my mind, that’s not really what surfing is about. I’ve always preferred free surfing and dreamed of putting out my own videos.”

Would he ever chase points on his own terms? “I’m going to give myself the chance to do the first three contests of the year. If I get a big result, I’ll keep going. Otherwise, I’ll just stop there and keep creating content.”

His intentions were made quite clear in the clip above.

“I just wanted to drop a banger at the beginning of the year with no stickers on my nose, and show everyone that I’m still going and can still throw my tail.”

But tables do turn. As the highest-ranked European surfer below the qualification line in the 2024 Challenger Series (#25), Gatien received an unexpected call from WSL Tour Manager Renato Hickel, who suggested he pack a cold-weather suitcase and some step-ups for his inclusion in the Portugal event as a wildcard.

In 2023, Gatien received a wildcard into the event but injured his ACL while freesurfing at Carcavelos. He was then replaced by fellow French surfer Tiago Carrique.

If Gatien was doubting his place in competitive surfing, this invite might just postpone his plans to go the freesurfing route exclusively.