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AV Boards – Brand Situation & Vision

AV Boards has entered a new chapter. Aurelio, the former owner, has left the brand to join the Cobra factory, where he now focuses on quality development. Since the very beginning, BAM Distribution has been the French importer of AV Boards, and today we have fully taken over the brand – from shapes and R&D to sales and distribution.

We continue to work closely and with full confidence in the Kinetic factory in Vietnam, which provides us with the highest level of quality and service. Our relationship with them is not only professional but also personal, built on trust and mutual respect.

Research & Development remains rooted in France, where prototypes are shaped locally and tested by our professional riders such as Lohan Jules, Tristan Algret, and Camille Juban. This ensures that every product reflects both innovation and real-world performance at the highest level.

AV Boards will remain a small, high-quality brand with a premium image and strong values. It is a family business, born among friends, with the clear ambition to stay authentic and true to its vision. With more than 13 years of experience in the windsurfing industry, BAM Distribution is confident in delivering not only the best products on the market but also the best after-sales service.
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AV Boards, is entering a new chapter in its history with a renewed organization and strengthened team.

To lead this new era, AV Boards has put in place a dedicated and highly experienced team:

Hervé Bastide, CEO of BAM Distribution, brings over 13 years of experience in the windsurfing industry and will oversee the brand’s strategy and global operations.


Robin Christol, professional photographer and designer, will be in charge of AV Boards’ brand image, creative direction, and visual identity.

Tristan Algret, former professional windsurfer and ex-development rider at Starboard, will support research and development while also coordinating the AV Boards rider team.

“AV Boards has always been about quality, authenticity, and performance. With this new structure and a passionate team, we are committed to keeping the brand small, premium, and rider-driven. Our goal is not volume but excellence – delivering the best products with the best service,” said Hervé Bastide, CEO of AV Boards and BAM Distribution.

AV BOARDS HISTORY: FROM TUSCANY TO THE CONQUEST OF THE WORLD, THANKS TO SURF

Aurelio Verdi met his great love, the creation of surfboards, in 1997: in that year, in fact, he began his career as a shaper on the coasts of Tuscany.

The following year, the meeting with Roberto Ricci gave a decisive turning point to his destiny, thanks to the entry into the RRD’s factory, and the beginning of a long season of successes, which continues today.

To understand how the story of the shaper of the fastest surfboard in the world really began, however, it is necessary to take a step back, and return to the sunny summer of 1996, in Castiglione della Pescaia.

Aurelio and his brother Attilio, at that time, were simple boys engaged as waiters. The fascination of a surfer’s life, however, attracted them right away, making them dream of a life kissed by the sun and bathed by the sea. For this reason, the two took a basic surf course, and only a few months later, thanks to common friends, a meeting with Roberto Ricci took place.

WORK PHILOSOPHY

From the first day of work, spent observing Roberto Ricci’s creations, Aurelio Verdi’s goal was to experiment with the use of new materials and working methods.

This is how the shaper, still young but already supported by a strong experience, was able to develop increasingly extreme and fast boardlines, managing to forge strong ties with the strongest riders in the world.

Thanks to his friendship with some of the most important athletes in the world, Verdi was able to create boards based on the feedback received, integrating everything with the use of accurate technologies.
This is how advanced products were created which, starting from a classic shape, managed to reach remarkable levels of complexity, guaranteeing at the same time functionality and versatility, and this was possible only thanks to custom hand-made manufacturing.

Aurelio Verdi creates boards for those who love surfing, guaranteeing specific solutions for the needs of all customers, and for all those who want to try kiteboarding, sup and windsurfing as well.
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PURE SPEED APPLIED TO TECHNIQUE

Aurelio Verdi’s mission is to make surfboards that are real technical prodigies: strong of this goal, the shaper managed to achieve in 2015 the fastest windsurf board ever, and to get on the top of the world thanks to the winning boards of the PWA World Tour Champion in the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 seasons.

These results, however, did not come by chance, but rather as the result of tenacity, passion and a spirit of sacrifice.
In each of his works, Verdi is capable of transferring his vision, his spirit, which blends perfectly with the technological tools he’s able to manage. It is in this continuous mixture of reason and feeling, together with technique and artisan gesture, that the Tuscan shaper acts to create boards able to challenge the laws of physics, and to bring the strongest athletes to dominate the highest and most fearful waves.

The use of computer equipment, CAD and CNC systems, therefore allows the creation of unique productions, with precise and clear hydrodynamic lines, able to guarantee constant performance and high speed.

A LINE THAT DIVIDES SKY AND SEA

Aurelio Verdi gives his customers the chance to sail the sea with confidence and power: in fact, in his small factory located in the splendid territory surrounding the Maremma coast in Italy, the shaper works daily to spread the quality of his new brand, AV Boards.

A new, fascinating challenge that aims to introduce international enthusiasts to what it means to have the fastest surfboard, kiteboard, sup and surf in the world.

It will only be after jumping up on your new AV Board, though, that you will be able to see the ocean in a new way, and to challenge the waves with contempt of danger: only then, in fact, it will be possible to fully understand the gift that Aurelio Verdi and his boards give to all water lovers.