Sasha Becejac - Zero Ego Board Reviews

I'm the Managing Director of a small medical company that specialises in diagnostic tests for cancer. I used to be a Medical Sales Representative, so these jobs have provided flexibility to surf. Both my parents are Serbian, but I was born and raised in Bracknell, Berkshire (epicentre of the surfing universe :) and 3.5 hours from my local break!! I'm 46 years of age, married with 2 boys and a girl.

How did surfing come into your life, and what is your surfing life like?

When I was 19 years old a friend and I took a year out to travel around Asia. We heard from his older brother that there was a cool island in Sumatra  - so we ended up in Nias for 6 weeks in June 1993. All the surfers were pissed because the waves were unusually small, but for us it meant that we learnt to surf in perfect chest high waves. It was exactly like a wave pool. I learnt more in that 6 weeks than in the next 6 years. I then continued to surf in the UK 2 or 3 times a year for about 5 years before realising that this was something that I really wanted to improve on, so I started going more regularly down to North Devon just for the day. I still do this of course, but now I get a lot of good waves at good spots but I remember a good number of times driving 7-8 hours round trip and not being able to paddle out the back! :) 

Now of course we have Wave Pools - I feel this has been an amazing addition, and I believe has improved my surfing in the last 4 years by about 30-40%. The other thing that has really increased my fulfillment with surfing is trying different types of boards, and not always surfing a standard shortboard. In the ocean I surf my 6,6 FORM FLOW STIK mid length more than anything else - and this has made me realise how rarely we actually have proper shortboard waves. 

When did the idea of zero ego board reviews come along?  

I was always interested in the next board that could progress me as an average level surfer but could not relate to pro's or semi-pro's doing reviews in board shorts saying this board is 'sick' and then doing an air on it with dimensions that were totally different to what I could ride. When Surf Snowdonia opened I realised that for the first time I could get clear photos and video footage of myself and the boards and so could do honest reviews - if I say a board is really good, you can see me surf it, and can tell whether I'm surfing better or worse than on another board that I test. Then The Wave Bristol opened and now with the Advanced Plus wave and Expert Wave, the waves are going to be great for really seeing how boards perform. Since the lockdown and closure of the pools I have not reviewed boards, but am in discussion currently with a major surf shop to review new surfboard models that average level surfers will be interested in.

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