EXCERPT FROM THE LATEST FOAM E-Z BLOG FEATURING EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH CLARK FOAM FORMER EMPLOYEES:
In 2005 Robert Kelly Slater won his seventh ASP World Title, famously to the ire of runner-up and long-term adversary, Andy Irons. In 2005 Ben Stiller made an unexpected cameo appearance in the Taj Burrow classic Fair Bits!, alongside the likes of super-talents such as the Malloy brothers and Rob Machado. In 2005 the ever-fickle Mundaka event was cancelled when the waves, in a less than shocking manner, failed to arrive. On December 5th, 2005, Clark Foam unexpectedly closed its factory doors forever.
It’s been just over a decade since the surfing industry was thrown for a loop when it’s largest supplier of surfboard blanks called it quits, leaving thousands of board builders, industry insiders, and surfers scrambling for emergency solutions. Speculation over the cause of this sudden closure and what it would mean for surfing in general flew rampant (with varying degrees of truth and accuracy), and people were justifiably scared and confused. In the time since, much has been said and written about this incident, and of course the sport and industry has recovered, and in fact even grown, as a result.
Yes, by now almost everything that could be said about this occurrence has been. Our intention is not to provide you a play-by-play history of the final days of Clark Foam. Even the most cursory Internet search will provide you with that information. The fact of the matter is that Clark Foam was both directly and indirectly a part of many peoples lives and livelihoods, and often time the true nature of any event lies in those more personal experiences. For the former employees and distributors of Clark Foam, this is truer than for most. Though Clark is no longer around, it’s legacy and standard for quality have shaped what the surfboard industry has become.
FWIW,
I was talking about this with a close friend and neighbor who happens to be one of the smartest people I’ve ever known.
Math genius, excellent shaper and surfer, super talented artist etc.
This guy was Buckminster Fuller’s right hand man and he also worked for Hobie back in the 60’s.
He said Grubby Clark is by far the smartest person he’s ever known.
Unclegrumpy- Gordon is definitely one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, too. His refinement of processes at the Laguna Niguel factory was amazing.
reverb - the industry here in US was always kind of sketchy, but the 70s, 80s, and 90s look like the good old days now that everything has gone totally to hell.
The molds - as the article says, Clark didn’t feel he could sell them because of liability issues. They did return our plugs (to the shapers who had done blank designs for them). The idea was that the designs were our property and we could “sell” them to new foam companies. I still have my four plugs.
…hello MD, I see; so may be one of the shapers tried to sell them? May be to the guys that then opened US? I remember that some were advertised for sale…
Anyway, what a shaper would do to have the honor to design a plug? I never shaped US but now a guy bought a container here so I purchased a few to check (I asked J. Dunlop there in Florida, for opinions on it)
I see that many have the same too much foam in some parts, others are too flat in other parts (Arctic have that problem too)
Ok Ok, you can say something like why do not you cut your owns from a PS chunk of foam? ha ha
I won’t tell you to cut your own - but it is one way to get what you want lol.
Anybody could submit a plug to Clark, the hard part was getting them to consider doing a mold and putting it out on the market. I got lucky on my first blank and had an idea for something that was very timely (in 89). It took two shots at it and I had to wait through the “no new molds” period in 90-91. Some may remember Clark had an “issue” then that turned out to be caused by not by their blanks but by changes to resin formulations in California. When that passed, the blank became available in 92 it was very popular in all areas.
The last time I saw Gordon was a few weeks before they closed and he wanted me to shape another plug for them. He also showed me some of the regulatory paperwork he was having to deal with. Little did I know that while I was working on a new plug for hybrid boards in the 6’4"-6’8" range, he was getting closer and closer to closing shop. I believe he just got fed up. One thing I know about him is that he wants to do things his way. When he saw that wasn’t going to be viable anymore in that area of California he just shut the doors.
Good to see Clark and the Peruvians doing well. He got a second life and they got the smartest Patron in the Sheep business. I’ve got a friend who runs sheep on various leases in Calif. It’s a tough biz. Funny too; he has the same last name as the Ranch Clark bought.
Had the operatives at Clark Foam complied with the standards set by fire officials in regards to proper labeling and proper storage of hazardous materials right from the get go, the later issues they faced would have never come to be. Their hard headedness and attitude that no one can tell me how to run my business is what ultimately led to their closure.
Trust me on this.