Some of you guys should check your facts. Boardworks it owned by a guy named Craig Cooper. He is from Louisiana and does not surf or care about surfing. As for old shapers being the ones using the company some are and some are phonies like Yancey Spencer who is not a surfboard shaper and is only in it because he can put up $2500.00 to purchase the mold then steal or use another shapers shapes that he buys for $230.00 shorty and $300.00 for a longboard then doubles his money and says they are his reputable shape. I know some other shapers who thought the quality was crap and opted out only to have Spencer buy their molds and put his name on them. Ask Jeff from M10 about it. It’s all about money and cheesy surfshop owners who want to pretend to be famous so they can rape uneducated beginners. What I can’t figure out is why the surfing public who know the difference in real shapers have not tuned up about this stuff. What’s going to happen when these shapers designs end up in SAms wholesale or worse? You want someones shaper and your a surfshop owner. You go buy one have it copied send it to Boardworks and there you have it. With your own logo on it. Christian fish and all. Just a thought.
I know Bob Miller is one of the shapers for Boardworks. He is the most accomplished shaper in the city (SF), does windsurfers and surfboards, and has been in business for decades. He takes his own designs, gets the molds done, and gets the epoxy laminate product for sale in his own shop. He speaks quite highly of its potential impact on his business, and its organization. The bottom line is that quality shapers can and are involved in operations like Boardworks and Surftech, and they are putting their designs up for sale as the “intellectual property” for these companies. The manufacture, however, is essentially outsourced. I would think long and hard before I accused Ben Aipa or Eaton or Bob Miller of using some else’s design in their molded boards. These are not fly-by-night shapers - these are some of the most intelligent and hard-working and business-successful shapers around, looking at what could be a new direction in the market.
It aint about racism…it is economics. If the boards were made in America let’s sa in some white state…but let’s say they didn’t have o pay taxes here or they didn’t put there money back into america isn some way…I would be opposed to that too. I can’t imagine surfing on products made in China…I just can’t!!!
Sorry but I never said Boardworks were made in China, I know they are made in Slovika, or however its spelled. The American Boardworks the first poster was asking about is made in china. So tell me this oh great board whores, when there are no more manufacturing jobs left in the good ol USA, for whatever reason, whos is going to be able to afford to buy a pile of crap made in China or Slovika. The only jobs left in america will be lawyers and service industries/table waiters. Also Im really shocked that Ben Aipa, a very tradional and talanted surfer/shaper sold out to boardworks, I have personaly know this guy for 20+ years and never in a million years would have thought he would do this. I guess getting older does something to your brain. On another note if the surftech/boardworks things are so high tech and great why cant they make it in the market? As I said before boardsworks has gone out of business unless someone has recently brought them back from the dead.
Without degenerating into the irrelevant racist commentary on this thread, I must comment that the US Label/Foreign Made Board deal has been going on for years. Ron Jon has their own RJ label boards made for them in the Far East, and has been selling them for at least 10 years now. If you ever attend the Surf Expo in Florida you can go to the booth operated by Espo’s Surf Shop in Long Island, NY who has bought the rights to old labels like Surfboards Hawaii, Challenger, etc. and has been producing foreign made boards under these labels for at least 5 years. They claim to wholesale them for considerably lower than US made boards and that is their main selling point. You have probably seen ads for “The Spoiler” (a short/longboard type shape)in Longboard Mag’s Board Forum section and not known you were looking at one of these boards. Espo’s wholesales these low budget sticks to anyone and everyone they can. So all you noble types out there who villify the faceless “Corporate Industry” for the demise of the “little guy”, take note that in this case a local shop is perpetuating the demise of the local made surfboard. Guess they like to make $$$ also.
Blakstah, I never said Ben Aipa and the other guy stole other peoples shapes, I said there are people like Yancey Spencer who don’t really shape but put there name on them like they do and they get their shapes from other people and some without their permission. That 6’8’’ lazor Egg YS model is a Steve Forstall design that Yancey Ripped off and I will bet he is not the only one. You know what there are no contracts to protect the shaper either, if you don’t believe me call Craig Cooper. I have nothing against Craig Cooper for trying to make money, but I can’t believe so many reputable shapers are buying this horsehockey. The mags are trying to sell this crap like it’s something new and windsurfers have been made this way for twenty years. It’s not new, it’s not better, and it’s nothing but filthy lucre. Over hyped. Who is going to want to buy a popout in 25 years?
I heard from a longtime boardworks associate that the Slovakian factory was shut down for not paying the taxes they deducted from their worker’s paychecks. They are reopening in China with new molds. The quality of the Slovakian boards is pretty bad, I’ve seen them unload a container and sort out the obvious flawed boards- a large portion of the shipment! I’ve seen their boards leak around the leash plug, near the fin box too. They came with future fins(maybe knock offs).Some of the shapes are good some of them not so good but the construction…yuck! Why buy a board from China when you can buy something made in your neighborhood or state or country?Back to MKIA’s racist hate spew- the working guy in China isn’t at fault for the global economy- Boardworks and Surftech are owned by white americans. Do you call Ben Aipa “slanteyes” to his face?I bet not. Johnny Rice and Doug Haut both made plugs for boardworks and now are Surftech guys- it would be interesting to hear why.
Ben Aipa is from Hawaii not China, so he aint no slanteye, chink or pointyhead. I will call him a sellout to his face though.
I would love to see you breakdown in your car in compton or china town and here you mouth off like the racist bigot you are.You would be humbled quickly.But, basically I wish you would go away to your little box you live in and take your small-minded anger with you.Go away!
Bro you will be hammered about that board on this website. Go and ride it and enjoy the waves you catch on it and dont worry about the rubbish that will be written on the reply’s that come underneath your message. I will say however that I would never buy a surfboard that had a sticker of a map of america or any other propaganda on it, that sort of thing immediately says that is was not made by a hardcore surfboard company.
well for one why argue on the internet someone getting stoked is cool then they will want to buy better. i have one too. everybody stay stoked and embrace the brotherhood of the water. plus even if they are out of business good but owning on keeps it out of the land fills. so peace to you all