I heard a rumor that Boardworks, the molded company out of Slovakia, is no more. Apparently some disagreements between the partners couldn’t be resolved. Anyone with any more pertinent info?
I was talking with Ben Aipa out at Three’s last week and he mentioned the same thing when I asked him how his epoxy models were doing. Something about the factory changing owners etc., the bottom line being that no more boards were coming out of there, for now anyway.
Maybe that is why Thane Pope is in Mex? What will happen to the Bisects?
It’s a sad day when sailboard makers lose interest in our little activity. Rob Olliges
Thane Pope was in my neck of the woods, he is no more savy than the rest of the sheep! He bought into having one of the worst shapers “DUPLICATE” his boardworks models (for free to get his name out there) for the Mex factory. Model one is so far from the original, it’s unbelievible. No on to the rest of the models! Free, don’t you get what you pay for?
“The backyard revolution was arguably the most important tectonic shift ever to occur in modern surfing history. The very idea that an enthusiastic surfer could build, in a backyard shed or garage, a better riding board than any put out by the major manufacturers, is earth-shaking when you really consider it. Think about how fast things progressed from '68 to '74- this advancement sure as hell didn’t come from the stuck-in-the-mud majors. Anything other than this sort of cutting-edge, surfer-elite-led progression is just mindless, lumbering overhead and a smokescreen of unsubstantiated claims made by cigar chomping “innovators” who nurse the fads and fancies from high-rent industrial condos, sweaty-assed with fear that a backyard “skunkworks” will lead the buying public away from their stockpiled inventory of aquatic Pintos and Pacers- and they won’t be able to make the payments on their bass boats, Range Rovers and golf course memberships.” Dave Parmenter — IMPENDING DEATH OF THE CUSTOM SURFBOARD-(FRANCE, THAILAND, SLOVAKIA) GCN- Only time will tell but this writer believes the custom board era is coming to a close. Below is a partial list of Shapers offering epoxy molded clones of their shapes: BIC: Bob Pearson, Gerard Dabbadi, Peter Pan BOARDWORKS: Ben Aipa, Don Hansen, Claude Codgen, Carl Schaper, Yancy Spencer, Steve Walden, Bill Frierson, Bruce Jones, Gary Linden, Mike Hynson, Bob Miller, Mike Eaton. with McCrystal coming soon. SURFTECH/TUFLITE: Offering 47 different models. Velzy, Yater, Takayama, August, Haut, Nuuhiwa, Munoz, McTavish, Jeff Clark. Who can argue that these are some of the best shapers in the history of board building? No one. The technology is fantastic, offering proven shapes with superior construction. Gordon Clark saw this coming 15 years ago, ranted and raved about it in his yearly diatribes. A threat to the King is at the gate. How Clark deals with the invasion remains to be seen. He’s got his millions, he can just close up shop and retire. With all the EPA concerns and God knows how many other hassles who could blame him. The clone boards are going to eat up market share. Will falling foam demand force closure of Clark Foam? Will Walker or other new manufacturers step up? Will surfers reject the clones? How long before the prices of Clones drop? Will the royalty deals be enough for the above select group of shapers? A lot of interesting legal issues down the road re older shaper estates etc. Of the three manufactures above Boardsworks has great classic and contemporary graphics. Surftech goes overboard with the wood laminates / gaudy noseblocks (Gilding the Lilly), some nice solid graphics on others. Bic needs the most work on appearance as they look like complete pop-outs. The artistic individualism in board decoration will die. No more custom air sprays or exotic pin line jobs. Special laminates? Forget it. Who’s going to defile the clone’s finish? A few kids with spray cans I suppose. The cost of foam and fiberglass construction will prevent cost cutting for traditional board builders to compete with clones on cost and will most likely result in cost increases for the “Specialty old school foamies”. All shapers of merit better sign a Clone Deal soon or get left in the dust. Those without Clone deals could be considered “Second Rate”. Glassers, Sanders, Glossers and Airbrushers better start looking into trade tech. Me included. Its a Brave New World… Jan 2003 http://surfcrazy.com/stanleys/html/surfgossip.htm
…In the 60s the threat was domestic pop-outs …where are they now? …In the 70s Hollow W.A.V.E.s and foam injected molded boards were the enemy…where are they now? …Boardworks,Surftechs,Bics,Mexico?..3 down 3 to go !!! …Oh yeah,KEEP BUILDING!!!Herb
Did you really post surf gossip?
The first thing that happens when a shaper gets big is he quits selling to smaller shops that would really sell his boards in favor of big shops who order more to stock their shelves and give zero information about the product. Now some of them have competition from Thailand and they don’t like it. I personally don’t like the whole pop out and cheap chinese boards, but they have little effect on shapers who are in touch with their customers. They are simply another segment of the market that will eventually run their course. The core shapers with talent will remain through it all.
Strange thing is Clark Foam is busier than ever. Clark Foam is bought and paid for and geared toward supporting the custom industry. I doubt that the custom demand is going to go away. Even if the demand went down, Mr.Clark can just scale things back. If anything, this drive for stock shapes will just drive the hardcore surfers more towards customs. Sluggo
Hey, Sluggo’s got manners now. What’s up with that? Hallelujah brother!
Underground Boardworks is alive and well on Tybee Island…handshaped and glassed by the same guy…me!
I was in the shop the other day talking to Bob Miller and in comes this customer with a Boardworks shortboard that had a crack going along the rail of the nose. The guy said he only surfed it two times and never fit it on anything. Bob told him that a few of the boards have had the same problem. After the guy leaves, Bob called someone who I think was Thane. Bob sat there talking on the phone about how the boards had major glassing problems and to see what he was going to do about. After Bob got off the phone he looked a little stressed. I didn’t say much to him about it but I knew what he was probably thinking. Boardworks is going to give him a bad rap. It’s a good thing that Bob’s poly boards are top notch.
Boardworks (Acme) certainly are not the innovator, just a follower in concept. Check one off the list.