Lahcen.

Lahcen Aguerd is a smooth mover in every sense of the word. Outside of the water - a composed young man; humble, elegant and eloquent with a certain wisdom beyond his years. In the water, his agility on a board and expression of surfing in its purest form has caught the eye and imagination of the global scene, resulting in accolades from Joel Tudor and invitations to the Duct Tape. Hailing from the mecca of surfing, the beautiful blank canvas that is Imsouane, it comes as no surprised that one of North Africa’s longest waves has helped shape Lahcen into the surfer that he is today. That being said, we’ll leave the floor to the star of Morocco’s longboarding scene – Lahcen.

For those of us that don’t know you - introduce yourself.

I’m 29 years old, born and raised in a small fishing village in Morocco called Imsouane.

Describe your journey in surfing so far.

My father used to be a fisherman, and my brothers have always worked locally in Imousane where the waves are – so I've been surfing there pretty much since I was young. My brothers or my father, would always take me there and play at the beach and let me surf. Since then, I was hooked - I didn't graduate high school, because surfing took a big part of my mental capacity so since then, I’ve always surfed!

During COVID I was fortunate enough to go to Europe for an event in Portugal - it was my first time ever there. It was really challenging to get there with all the restrictions so I was stoked to make it. I first met Mikel Urigoita, the Vans team manager there, after that I was invited to the Duct Tape and was honoured when he asked me to join the Vans EMEA team.

How would you describe the Moroccan surf scene?

Firstly, we have a lot of good waves, so that’s a good start! I would say Moroccan surfing is doing pretty good… There's a lot of good surfers, everything from CT and competition guys like Ramzi Boukhaim to big wave riders like Othmane Choufani. As well as a whole host of underground surfers and longboarders of all ages that I spend a lot of time with. I feel proud that we are part of this Africa-wide revolution in surfing – we have so many good waves and amazing surfers. I hope the surf scene in Morocco keeps on blooming and growing, and to see more surfers here.

How would you describe your hometown of Imsouane?

A small fishing village, in a big bay with a beautiful wave.

Since the 70s, there are stories of hippie surfers from Australia and America spending their summer in Europe and driving their vans south for the Moroccan winter, finding empty waves and amazing setups, since then it’s been on the radar. For a while though the wave stopped, the sand moved and it just kind of disappeared, this lasted maybe five years or so, but it’s been back since 2014. Since then it’s grown a lot with a lot of surf schools and ‘industry’ here – I guess you could say it’s become a hotspot. Things have really rocketed in the past 10 years, it’s now a thriving village based around surfing. For better or worse, the crowds that come with that mean that you have to be selective when you surf to avoid the crowds. However, the wave is still really good, and the vibe is still good – you just have to navigate the crowds.

How do you feel that Imsouane has shaped your surfing?

I'm really grateful because it's a really good wave, and I guess it made my surfing good. Well I wouldn’t say good but what it is, and made me love surfing because of the consistency it has. It’s especially amazing for longboarding. It is just really long, you have time and space for long nose rides and nice pockets and usually offshore winds. It can and has the potential to be really, really good – the wave that every longboarder dreams about. I mean whatever board you ride on the right day, you can fall in love on the right swell and wind direction…

Where do you like surfing outside of Imsouane?

Well there are some other point breaks around home that you can ride on smaller boards, I love going there on weekends when we have free time with my friends. We mostly camp because there are some waves that are not really easily accessible. I love all around the Imsouane area because there are a lot of waves and empty waves. I also like going up to north Morocco as well, as I'm a goofy footer and there are a lot of lefts, it’s pure and beautiful up there. As well as further south, Anchor point is great wave too. Outside of Morocco – to be honest I haven’t really travelled much in my life, but I was privileged enough to go to J-Bay which I found amazing.

On boards, talk us through what you have been riding recently?

I’m still riding longboards in their most traditional form with maybe a few tweaks here and there. I'm not really the best surfer on smaller boards, but I like drawing high lines and nice turns on twin fins or shorter boards. It’s great as the waves in Morocco give you a nice canvas to draw these lines.

You put out a lot of edits shot at home showcasing your surfing to the world, how do you find that process?

I love making and working on small edits. I have a good friend of mine at home that is mostly the one on the beach filming. We always hang out and get creative thinking of angles, stories and ideas for edits. It’s something we really enjoy and we’re stoked if people like to watch them.

What do you like to do when you are not surfing?

I love to spend time in nature, hiking and camping. I love listening to music and also just enjoying Moroccan culture. I love the hospitality here, you can go to all these different places around Morocco and everyone takes care of you. I really love the Moroccan food and going to the old medinas in Morocco and exploring all the old cities as well. It’s beautiful here.

Who are your role models in and outside of surfing?

I would say my family are my role models. I spend a lot of time with my parents, and brothers. I have nephews and nieces. When they have school holidays I take them to the beach and we surf together which I find really grounding. There’s also a lot of great surfers that inspire me and that I look up to. From friends that are older me in Morocco, who set the stage and the scene before me to international surfers like Harrison Roach, Justin Quintal, Clovis Donizetti and Mikey Feb.

Joel Tudor has always had a big impact on my surfing, I always like how he talks about longboarding, and how he explains things - for example switch stance tricks. It changed the way I ride waves through his approach – it really inspires me.

What’s next for Lahcen?

Next summer I want to go to Indonesia, and make a little project around Indo with my friend. I am really excited to explore new islands, see the scene and waves over there. I’m hoping we get it off the ground. After that, I’m actually building a house here in Morocco so that is taking a lot of my time, hitting pause on chasing waves and getting a roof over my head in-between my future missions. It’s a beautiful process, hard at times but I am learning a lot.

Any last words?

I’d love to send my respect to the older surfers before me in Imsouane and to the entire community there. To the ones younger than me, I would say stay real, stay humble and keep surfing.