Watch: Tandem with Ainara Aymat And Sophie Bell
If you haven’t guessed it already, Ainara Aymat is one of our favourite surfers. Apart of this year’s class of Bright Young Things, Ainara is fast rising in talent and notoriety in the free surf world. Sophie Bell on the other hand is someone we’ve only recently come across, but aren’t we bloody glad we did. With the release of Tandem, a surf film featuring both Ainara and Sophie, shot by Kylian Castells we thought it was about time to get familiarised. Tandem takes two surfers from very different parts of the world (South Africa for Soph and Basque Country for Ainara) to prove that the silly little sport of surfing holds a special power in bringing people together to ride on a piece of fibreglass. In typical surfing fashion though, Sophie was in Mozambique well away from any kind of reception when this went live, but we managed to smoke signal a quick chat about the film regardless and got Ainara to chuck in a playlist. Watch, listen ,enjoy. Congratulations ladies.
First up, what are three things about you Sophie that the rest of the world doesn’t know yet?
I grew up on a sugar cane farm and moved to the beach when I was thirteen. I love reading books. I also love tequila.
How did you and Ainara link up in the first place?
I met Ainara surfing in Bali when I first got on Vans. A few months later there was a duct tape event in Cape Town and we hung out a bit there. She mentioned doing a trip together and I was honestly so honoured she even wanted to do a trip with me. A few months later she messaged me when I got back from Hawaii and said book your tickets we’re going to Sumbawa and of course I was never going to say no. I’ve always looked up to her so I was blown away by the opportunity. Ainara is the most interesting and intelligent surfer I have ever met.
Is Tandem all filmed in Sumbawa?
Most of Tandem was filmed in Sumbawa but I actually stayed on in Indo for another month to try get some better clips for the project because I wasn't too stoked with my clips haha. Unfortunately, there was no swell during that whole extra month I even went to Sumatra with Kylian Castells and we got properly skunked, it was one foot the whole time. So I guess in surfing it doesn’t always work in your favour wave wise but we had to make do with what we got.
You’ve had a couple of premieres around the world for Tandem, which was the rowdiest one?
For sure Milan in Italy. I had one huge night, I was one of the last to leave and I ended up getting lost on the streets in the pouring rain for two hours trying to find our accommodation. Luckily someone let me use their hotspot and I was able to find my way home. That party was so worth it though it was that fun.
What’s your personal favourite part of the film?
Probably Ainara picking me up on the tandem bike. I look like a child getting picked up and it kinda felt like I was learning from Ainara that whole trip. She became like my big sister, we had some great conversations.
What’s it like having a piece of film wrapped up and out there for the world to see?
Tandem is the first project I feature in. I’m super grateful Ainara wanted to work on something with me I think it was the perfect timing. I got on Vans last year and that’s the direction I’m going in with my surfing so I feel like it was a really nice start for me being involved with someone who is really clued up.
Any crazy stories from time on the road?
Ainara thought she got skin cancer (laughs) - she got so sunburnt that whole trip she even reached out to her doctor friend at home. But for the most part we kind of just surfed and took great Siestas in the afternoon and ate a lot of food. It was wholesome.
South Africa and Basque Country seem like pretty different places, what’s something you learned about Basque Country hanging out with Ainara?
First-world countries rule. It was my first time in Europe and seeing where Ainara has grown up was amazing. The culture is really strong in the Basque Country and I can’t believe how great the Siesta time is for everyone that lives there. Definitely going to spend more time there when it’s not summer and we can do surf missions as it’s so easy to cross borders in Europe.
What’s your local break in South Africa?
A right-hand point break. My surfing definitely prefers heavier waves as I live on a coast where the waves are pretty heavy all year round. I was freaking out a bit in Sumbawa because it was mostly just small lefts (laughs).
Who won the most games of chess?
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to beat Ainara at chess. She is the chess queen.
What’s next for the Tandem team?
Tandem team has some ideas and there will for sure be something coming in the future, this is just the beginning.
Keep up to date with Tandem here.