Volcom Europe’s Bright-Eyed Posterboy’s 2019 HIghlights

For the last two decades, Volcom Europe has quietly maintained one of the most celebrated teams in the Old World.

Young Frenchman Charly Quivront, along with his pal Willie Aliotti and Portugal’s Alex Botelho, are the newest world-class recruits flying the Stone. 

The edit above features Charly over the last year, in Indo, at home in Europe, and enjoying a Caribbean score at a wave Kelly Slater has often referred to as the best in the world on its day. 

We caught up with Charly below for a wrap-up of his 2019, some watering hole recommendations for anyone rolling into his second home in Hossegor, and more.

Portrait of a Young Frenchman at Full Stride: Charly Quivront, Indo 2019. Frame: Alessio Saraifoger

Stab: How much time do you spend at home in France?
Charly Quivront: Honestly, the past three years have been pretty non-stop since I’ve been on the QS. It’s been hard to stay home more than two weeks straight. Last year I was home 4 months all year. I definitely try to be home as much as I can, especially when the waves are firing. I’ve been lucky enough to be back at the right time for swells lately, feels good! It doesn’t happen all the time. 

Is there another stretch of beachbreak you love more in the world? 
That stretch of beachbreak has so many faces and so many different banks everywhere—I haven’t seen anything better yet, for sure.

Timing and searching for the best banks is key in France. Score a new sandbar, only your friends around, stay all day at the beach—can’t get much better.

Quivront on one of the rarest and sought after Caribbean Dreams. Frame: Alessio Saraifoger

What’s the Volcom Europe family like? 
Volcom as been part of my life the last 11 years; the rest of the guys in Europe have been there for decades, also.

It’s amazing to have such a tight team. We used to have a Volcom House in Hossegor; at 14 years old I lived there for three years going back and forth between my parents’ house and the V house with the rest of the team. It was definitely some of the highlights of my life.

We all grew up together; as a teenager, it’s hard to think anything more fun than having a house all to yourself and the boys right at Les Culs Nuls, just behind the dunes. Good times [laughs]. 

You’ve done fairly well in the QS, and have put out some banger clips the last two years. How long can you keep doing that? 
Last year was a fun run on the QS, and I want to do better in the future. But trying to score good waves and get clips has always been a big part of the motivation for me to push my surfing; getting the “right place right time” footage.

But being on the QS takes more time and energy, as soon as you get closer to your goals. I’ll try to pull out few edits here and there as long as I can, like I have been doing in the past.

Last year, I went to Indonesia for a month, but I ended up staying there for two months just before the European leg. I was lucky enough to score a few swells while it was flat in Europe and film this part.

Always worth the flight change. Frame: Alessio Saraifoger

I’ve got one day in Hossegor—where am I surfing, where are we dining, what are we eating and drinking, and where do we end up after the cafes close? 
Let’s hope for you that you’re lucky to surf pumping La Graviere. Once you’re cooked, you gotta stop at Cafe de Paris in downtown Hossegor for a beer or two. (We usually forget to eat after a good day of surfing just eat beer haha).

But for dinner, you go to Le Touring for a Magret de Canard (duck) or pierre a feu (steak on the stone). L’etiquette is a good place to share wine and food. 

After the cafes close, you have to make your way to La Centrale where you’ll find all the nightlife happening between the bars (that close a 2am) and then into Le Bakua or Le Klub the two most famous clubs in town (which almost never close).