In brief
The Glassy House, in St Gilles-Croix-de-Vie in Vendée, is a static artificial wave unique in France. On the last weekend of February, it hosted a stage of the City Wave Pro Tour. This international competition takes place only on artificial surf spots in the 4 corners of the globe (Switzerland, Japan, Israel, Austria…).
Le concept de The Glassy House est de produire une vague artificielle statique à hauteur modulable afin de la rendre accessible à tous les niveaux (du surfeur débutant au surfeur confirmé).
AN IDEAL TRAINING FOR SURFING AT SEA
The artificial wave "The Glassy House" is an ideal spot to perfect your surfing skills as it allows you to ride waves continuously and repeat your maneuvers endlessly. This wave is also accessible all year round under optimal conditions: water temperature remains at 26°C throughout the year, and there are daily waves. So, it's a perfect activity on flat days! 
In order to learn more about this artificial wave, we went to meet Jean-Christophe "JC" Bourru, manager of The Glassy House in St Gilles Croix de Vie, Vendée.
HELLO GLASSY HOUSE, HOW ARE YOU? CAN YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF, JC?
Hi Wildsuits, everything is fine here, I’m JC, I’m 43 years old, I’ve been surfing for more than 28 years and I’m the development manager of The Glassy for more than 3 years already !!!
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT GLASSY HOUSE?
The Glassy House is the first French concept of indoor surfing (indoors) on static waves. In a space of more than 1500 m2, you will find a surfshop, a bar, a restaurant, a Pilates and yoga room, a seminar room and above all an incredible and perfect artificial wave where the water is at 26° all year round. Whether you are a complete beginner or an experienced surfer, you can (re)discover surfing and improve your skills.
WHY DID YOU CREATE THIS ARTIFICIAL WAVE, HERE IN SAINT-GILLES-CROIX-DE-VIE?
The town of Saint Gilles Croix de Vie is ideally located, the Surfing St Gilles is one of the biggest surf clubs in France. He was crowned French Vice-Champion of Clubs in 2018. Finally, this city is an incredible surfing spot where for a few kilometers you can find different waves for levels ranging from beginner to expert. So we thought that surfers would be delighted to find a spot open all year round to come and surf when the conditions at sea are not good.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN ARTIFICIAL WAVE AND A WAVE IN A NATURAL ENVIRONMENT?
The big difference is that you are fighting against a current, where in the natural environment you are trying to gain speed. Our instructors, who have come from surfing in a natural environment, have very quickly drawn parallels between ocean and artificial.
You are organizing a stage of the CityWave Pro World Tour on the weekend of February 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. Can you tell us more about it?
This was an unique international competition in France, it is only contested in artificial wave, there have already been 4 stages (Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Zurich and Vienna) and we were next !!! We received between 65 and 80 surfers from all over the world (Costa Rica, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France…). These surfers were divided into 4 categories to win points to reach the grand final just before the opening of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.The weekend was completely crazy, surfers with an incredible level will fighted hard to share the €10,000 Prize Money.
WHO WAS YOU FAVORITE FOR THE EVENT?
- In the men’s category, I would say Simon BITTERLICH.
- As for the women surfers, the battle will be tough between Janina ZEITLER and Rosina NEUERERER, both of them trusting the victories on City Wave Pro Tour since the beginning.
- On the side of the junior surfers Celine DORNICK is my big favorite.
- Finally, at the masters we are counting on our regular customers (Franc, Jérome, Mathias, Christophe) to come and upset the order established by Ralph OBERPAUR who is the current leader of the tour.
SO, HOW DID THE PARTNERSHIP WITH OUR BRAND, WILDSUITS SURFBOARDS, WETSUITSCOME ABOUT?
The premise is simple, when you have local businesses (such as Wildsuits) that develop high-quality products in the sport you've been practicing for over 20 years and also reduce your carbon footprint (a surfer has a significant carbon footprint with neoprene wetsuits, resin/epoxy/plastic surfboards, sunscreen, driving alone in a car...), I say yes, and even a big YES. So, it's natural for us to collaborate with brands like Wildsuits, where we can combine usefulness, enjoyment, and work.
We are super excited to collaborate with you; you had an amazing idea, and it was missing in the region! A big thank you to Jean-Christophe Bourru for answering our questions! Check out below the teaser of the City Wave Pro Tour at the Glassy House, on the weekend of February 21st to 23rd, 2020:
A RIDER OF TEAM WILDSUITS ON THE ARTIFICIAL WAVE OF THE VENDÉE.
A former member of the Wildsuits Team, Andrew Diggler, a specialist in artificial and static wave surfing will also participate in this stage of the City Wave Pro Tour. Andrew is one of the best static wave riders (ranked 4th in the Rapid Surf League, he will try to improve his current 17th place on the City Wave Tour ).
