Rémi Vila, eternal flame and passion.

The award of the 2024 Olympic Games to Paris, have been showcasing our nation and our athletes across the planet for seven years. We're there now! The Olympic title in windsurfing is being defended for the first time above the water by the advent of the foil. Starboard is the manufacturer that has brought the iQFoil to men and women. Behind the scenes of this world leader, Rémi Vila has greatly supported and defended this project. Originally from Martinique, he moved to Thailand to develop the Starboard range, and Marseille is part of his history, having won the 1991 French Championship in the Heavyweight Raceboard category in front of 75 highly motivated riders. As fate would have it, he returned to the same site in 2024 to oversee the technical aspects of the Olympic riders' equipment.

This is an ideal opportunity to highlight Rémi, one of the great contributors to windsurfing over the last thirty years.

• Rémi, ... globe trotter?

Globe trotter, yes! I've been traveling for windsurfing since the age of 15. I traveled all over the world, first competing in international championships as a racer, until I met Svein Rasmussen in 2000 and started working for Starboard. I settled permanently in Thailand in 2008 and continue to travel a lot professionally at nearly 56. 😊. Japan, Thailand, Penghu (Taiwan), where the wind is terrifying, and the Gorges (USA) have had the greatest impact on me, along with Martinique and the bay of Fort de France, my native land.

• How did you get into windsurfing as a youngster?

I started sailing at CN Schoelcher at the age of 5 in an Optimist, with my family, then windsurfing at 10. I practiced both before switching definitively to windsurfing at the age of 12. I'm still a member of CN Schoelcher. At the club, we sailed a lot, just with friends, even between noon and two when we had school, until I went to a college where I had every afternoon free to sail during the week and all day at weekends.

• You were first discovered in mainland France in 1991, when you won the French Heavyweight Raceboard Championship in Marseille, up against some very strong contenders. We remember Rémi wearing a cap and dark glasses, in closed mode on the water to win, and more open on land. What memories do you have of this first championship, and what did it open up for you personally?

 I went there having finished my military service in the navy in Martinique, three months earlier. I was able to train every day in preparation for that first French championship, which was a revelation, a turning point for me. I won a month before the North American championship. Until then, I'd been condemned to the Olympics on a Lechner board because I was too heavy to perform. Pumping was also forbidden. Raceboarding allowed me to express myself fully on a medium that was adapted to me, more powerful, with results.  

Yes, as you say, I was very closed before the regattas, in my bubble with reggae in my walkman, concentrated, checking my equipment 10,000 times. But when I got back on land, everything opened up and I became very approachable again.

It's incredible that it all started in Marseille for me in 1991 and to be there this year for the Olympic Games. It's come full circle! Déclic in 1991 and the Olympics in 2024.

• What were your biggest subsequent performances, and on what media?

Mainly in raceboarding, I was European vice-champion and twice world champion, in Oregon (USA) and Puck (Poland) in 93/95. I trained a lot to be really sharp. I then moved on to Formula 42 (raceboard and slalom races) where I missed out on the world title in Japan, also in raceboard, due to a hardware failure. I went on to finish double runner-up in the world championships in both these disciplines!

I then moved on to Formula, where I still have fond memories of the French championship in Brest, where I battled with Antoine Albeau in some anthology heats, in 40/45 knots with head-on waves. I was the only one who could hold off Antoine all the way to the finish.

After that, I dropped down in intensity for professional reasons and continued in Formula Expérience, where I was World Master Champion in 2008 and 2011.

• Did any riders or designers influence or inspire you at the time?

The one who has always inspired me is Peter Thommen. I loved his first contact, which I'm sure he doesn't remember from a long time ago. I was impressed by what he did with Bjorn Dunkerbeck. I still meet him regularly. I really appreciate his mentality and way of thinking. He's a great shaper with a lot of personal feedback.

• When did the switch from world-class racer to designer for a leading brand take place?

The turning point came in 2000 when I met Svein Rasmussen in Thailand during a championship in Pattaya. He suggested that I stay with him to benefit from my analysis and suggestions for improving the shapes. A proof of concept convinced him that the modifications I had proposed worked. I started by coming to Thailand three or four times a year to develop boards. After a major health problem resolved in 2007, he suggested I come back full-time.

But the first board I shaped with Guy de Chavigny was in 1987, a slalom board. The following year, I made a Division 2 board, again with Guy, from a Davidson mold, hollow for the hull and solid for the deck.

• What's a typical week like for Rémi Vila in Thailand? How often do we see you in airports or on social networks? How many "miles" a year do you travel? ...to where and what?

I work a minimum of 54 hours a week, but I love it. I've traveled a lot to develop boards and meet riders. Right from the start of my career, I've tried to gather as much data as possible, so that I'll have the right automatisms and be able to find solutions quickly. This basis enables me to be efficient when developing a model. I rarely make three prototypes to get the right one. I travel less now. From 10 trips at the start, I now make no more than four.

I also spend time on social networks to share my passion, always with a positive side. Communicating that life is beautiful is important to me.

• Getting back to the big topic of the moment: Rémi and Olympism? A new chapter in your life with the recent appearance of IQFOIL, or a long personal and professional history?

 I've never been big enough for the Olympic brackets, so I've never been able to express myself as a racer. It really frustrated me! A real regret. On the other hand, I told myself that when I had the opportunity to ride an Olympic board, I wouldn't miss it.

My mentor, Jean-Pierre Deltato, had been involved in the development of the Olympic Windglider and at the age of 13, I jokingly told him that I would make an Olympic board. In the end, I did, but it was a long story, and it's a shame he didn't get to see it, as he died underwater fishing a long time ago. With Svein Rasmussen and Tiesda You, we made our first board in 2003. We proposed the Z class, a kind of formula one meter wide with a pointed nose and a bow. Our board came in second behind the Mistral Prodigy, and in the end the RS:X was chosen! In 2008, we came back with a board similar to the RS:X, but with a more advanced design, including batwing. In the end, the RS:X went straight back to the drawing board, but all the development work went back into launching the Phantom 377, with great success to this day. We came back to present a formula, and there it was, a big failure due to its lack of versatility below 8 knots, compared to the RS :X. 0 points from the 19 voters! The fourth attempt was the right one in 2019 at Lake Garda with the IQFoil, unanimously chosen by the 20 test racers chosen by World Sailing.

• Proposing foiling as an Olympic sportboat implies a mature technology, yet paradoxically, foiling is a very recent development. What was it that made this proposal possible, without the risk of making a mistake in terms of reliability and strict one-design? Your experience was limited on this type of support. It's easy to imagine that there's no room for error here.

Thanks to Tiesda You, who created his own structure to develop foils. Thanks to him, we were able to present a foil support to World Sailing. As it was new, we needed reliability, and we got it. In terms of rigging, Severne has adapted to offer 8 and 9m² rigs, fine-tuned by Gonzalo Costa Hoevel. To reduce the physical commitment in the future, the surface areas should soon be reduced to 8 and 7.3m² for men and women, without compromising the ability to fly early.

• What was your mission on site during the week of the Olympics?

My mission began with the handover of the equipment to the selected teams on July 20, following a draw. I also assisted World Sailing as a technician for complaints on technical issues. I was also the Starboard referent, accompanied by Gonzalo for the Starboard class.

• As a privileged spectator from the inside, what do you feel is special about the Olympics compared to a World Championship you've experienced many times before?

 It was a kind of revelation. The tension, the pressure and the level are at their highest and it's very palpable. The most composed riders who knew how to handle the stress found themselves at the top of the rankings. It wasn't necessarily the top performers who could win, but rather those who knew how to manage the event through self-control. We had the example of Nicolas Goyard, who has since spoken out. He clearly said he wasn't mentally prepared. Very rigorous, very analytical and very diligent in his approach, he broke down in the face of the race committee's astonishing management of certain points. Yet he had more than enough talent to achieve a fantastic result. At the Olympics, the mental factor is by far the most important.

• The Olympic Games are presented by the media with a great deal of euphoria. What's the mood like in the middle of an event? All the more so as the wind has made itself felt under a blazing sun.

I was very disappointed with the broadcast, which was obviously allocated to Eurosport, a pay channel. In my opinion, it's unacceptable that spectators can't access the broadcasts free of charge. Paris 2024 chose to give all the rights to a single channel. Media coverage of windsurfing was below what it should have been. At the same time, the PWA was broadcasting the Fuerteventura X slaloms live for free!

As for the atmosphere, despite the titanic blazing sun, it was great to hear the fans screaming from the shore as they passed the buoys. I'd never seen anything like it, not even at a world championship, except maybe once in Japan, which is very good at organizing events with a really enthusiastic public.

• In terms of equipment, how did you manage Starboard's technical support for riders at the Olympics? How much stock did you have just in case?

 I was technical support on the water with Gonzalo and Valérie. If a competitor broke down on the water and couldn't get back to shore, we could change anything he or she needed on the spot to avoid missing the next round. We were able to repair, replace and sand on the spot. This service was much appreciated and saved the JOs of several racers.

For 48 competitors, we had 5 extra boards and foils, 6 sails and masts in both sizes. We had all the equipment on the boat on a single board, to save space.

• And after the Olympic Games, how do you see the future professionally? ... return to your usual routine.

We're already thinking about 2032. In 2026 or 27, there may be a new World Sailing assessment, and we'll be working on proposing new foils and sails for after Los Angeles 2028, so that IQ Foil racers can continue to perform well in open world championships with free equipment.

We've also identified small improvements to be made for L.A. 2028.

• What are your priority areas for development, or the most promising for the future? All media combined.

Starboard has all types of boards for all disciplines in its catalog. We'll always do our utmost to meet everyone's needs. Where there's most interest, we'll be putting more resources into staying on top. Right now, we're focusing on isonic and X-15 boards.

• On the raceboard front, Severne has not offered a sail for several years. Is a comeback possible?

I work sporadically for Severne, but it's true that we haven't worked on this program for a while. We could start a new development for the 2027 range, as 2026 is already almost complete.

• Do you think the iQFOil rig would perform well on a Raceboard? Is there a variation you'd like to make?

Yes, iQFoil sails are made for raceboarding from 15 knots upwards. They're very, very stable and high-performance. You can hold them very far while remaining very light compared with an RS:X sail, for example. In light winds, however, they're too stiff to choose. The sail pictured in our catalog with the Phantom is an iQFoil. I really enjoyed it.

• Finally, how do you manage your ongoing commitment to windsurfing and family life? Will "Rémi Junior" soon be following in his daddy's footsteps, and on what kind of board?

I'm lucky enough to have a supportive family and I have a son who's 11. He's starting to take an interest in windsurfing. He's still trying to decide between windsurfing and other sports. He started windsurfing at the age of 5. He knew how to glide in straps without a harness, and now does the same thing in foil. The day he managed to sail with a harness, he didn't want to do a fin anymore, finding the foil more fun. I can understand that, because I like foiling, but I also like raceboarding for its phenomenal feel on the edge. It also reminds me of my past in championships. ... but my son chose foil.

• What's your motto?

I'd say I have two: "never give up". You must never give up, whatever you do.

You start something, you finish it. You learn that in a regatta. You start a regatta, you don't give up. You break a piece of harness, you finish without a harness. You never give up.

My second motto: "What doesn't kill, makes stronger". I've been through nine lives already and I'm still here, hopefully for a long time to come. 

• Do you have a special message for everyone?

I'd say, academically, it hasn't gone very well for me. I don't even have my baccalaureate. I think they wanted to impose a system on me that didn't suit me. I had skills elsewhere, but they wanted to push me into something that didn't suit me. The generalist system has its merits, that's for sure, but when it's too generalist, I feel like I'm going round in circles wondering what good it's going to do. When you're more technical, mathematical or literary and you want to specialize, the system is too general. Conversely, the American system is too specialized and lacks generalism. I don't know what the right system is, but in any case, I didn't experience it well as a teenager. In the end, I found my calling in sport. It's what I wanted to do and I did it without letting anything or anyone get in my way. Never give up on your dreams, that's the most important thing. If you're cut out for it, do it to the max, push yourself to the limit and, with a bit of luck, you'll make it.