Gasp....Solo's positive Surf Tech post.

General Discussion
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True, Herb, I’m finding that out myself. I was telling myself, ‘dude I wish I could have a quad, it’d be cool to have a fish quad. balsa gun . . . Or how about a thruster with Blake’s trux?’ But there’s a money issue, so I’m looking to make some for myself and see what all those shapes are about . . .

whats funny is Jim Phillips boards also stole the ASR show and top guys were scoping them out.

The surftech model is great if you are into assembly made / labels. But there is no thought put into them. Like star bucks, the coffee is good, and it sells. But I’ve been to a hookah place and the Turkish coffee has awesome flavor, larger size, at a better price, tastes very good w/out excess sugar / fat stars puts in theirs . . .

Boards shaped by someone that surfs they can put thought into it is better than some production mass market aimed at the general populace. Bill B said

http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=305607;search_string=magic;#305607

said some key facts about an experienced shaper helping you surf better by being able to taylor a board to you.

Of course this can backfire also since there’s a human element involved and sometimes humans make mistakes.

My brother is into moto racing and he says a custom tuned bike to the rider is what helps certain riders reach their potential.

No matter what surftech (or China or any import country that uses non surfing workers can do), it can’t do what people like Jim P, the guys Moonlight, or any other good shaper can do.

Although someone said surftech is like differentiation between shapes or materials. . . like longboard, fish, shortboard, or balsa or foam . … thats true. No matter what people say, surftech is here to stay. Even if suddenly something catastrophic happened (don’t laugh, look how many niya’s were caught with their pants down with Clark) there’d still be 4-8 years of surftech in stock . . .then some people would think they are special like clark foam . . . and it’d be “cool” to have one.

in regards to surfing and shaping . . . Oneula’s thread here has some great things about it

http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=305039;search_string=LONG%20READ;#305039

A great handshaped board . . . It’s like surfing itself, you can’t experience the truth of it, until you do it. No amount of video gaming, or skating, or imagination can do that. Only the act of paddling out, catching one, and riding down the line can you do that.

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Foam board versus foam board is like Spy versus Spy in Mad magazine.

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Roy, good one, I was rolling . . . there was this video game system called Nintendo, it popularized console video games (and set a standard like the thruster trifin did to 80’s surfing) in Japan and the US . . . they had a Spy vs Spy game and it was like the comic . . . It’s like you were saying haha . . . LOL

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"the nature of rampant capitalism just doesnt agreee wiith me

destruction of forests fisheries etc etc.

everyone that does this shit has some justifaction

but to me the only motive is greed"

this is a good point silly. even my government robbing me blind

has their justification. if only we could really know a person’s

motives instead of being stabbed in the back by their actions.

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hey barnacle… SURFTECH HAS A NICHE …!!! if your a young surfer thats on your game, hitting the waves 5 or 6 times a week. pushing your surfing, of course you want a custom board… maybe 3 or 4 of them !!! but hey eventually everyone gets older or more responcible and you dont get in the water as often … you make more money take care of your family, but you lose YOUR GAME !! then you want a familiar board that is how do you say more giving… a little longer, a little easier… you could get a poly 10 footer that would weigh in around 25 lbs… if you even touched a rock or put it in your pickup it would ding… or you could get a 10 foot surftech that weighs around 19 to 20 lbs. this board is really hard to ding, even tho they will break in half… so there it is = for the older dude who brain still surfs , but body doesnt want to follow there is a market… and also dont forget the begineer, but thats another story…

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Some thoughts on Surftech and other mass produced imported surfboards vs the one you have custom shaped for the way you surf by a friend: Ooooops ~ No more thoughts.

Good Waves, Rich

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i know a few guys in there 50s still ripping on 6 2s

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i spose i could spray it like a surftech

but it just adds weight

so cosmetics are dodgy as they always are for my own boards

anyway just to show im not blowing smoke out my arse

this is the recycled compsand

i peeled the skins off the first compsand/board i built(a mini mal)

and used them on some insulation foam

weighs about 6 pounds with the fins (fcs m7s)

construction time was 8 1/2 hours

and i think its better (strength/flexwise)than any surftech ive seen to date (yet to see the so called flexible ones)

if i had to make it with new skins it would have cost a tad under 300 nz( i think its about 200US Btw)

if someone paid 650 to 700 nz for something like this

which is a few hundred less than a surftech

id still be earning around 50$ dollars an hour

so if i can undercut a retailer selling surftechs and still earn 50$ an hour from home

and a cobra factory workers gets 300$ a month

hmm

surftechs suddenly dont seem that good value

in fact the cheapest chinese board i can buy (online) is 550$ nz

and that would have a say 6 month life span

the skins on this new/recylcled compsand are over 2 years old and are unblemished

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so if i can undercut a retailer selling surftechs and still earn 50$ an hour from home

and a cobra factory workers gets 300$ a month

hmm

surftechs suddenly dont seem that good value

and your board is better than a Surftech, because you made it… but… the profit for Surftech is nowhere near that per board. Surftechs require more man-hours to build than yours did - since there are more steps, and the workers aren’t all as skilled as you. Cobra gets a slice to pay their rent, utilities, management, etc. Then there’s shipping to wherever the boards get sold, storage when they get there, sales reps, marketing guys and advertising, trucks and drivers, insurance, royalties to shapers, etc… and finally, dealer markup.

There’s not a lot of money left over per board by the time they sell. Surftechs, like all surfboards, are the lowest margin item in the shops. Surfboards - whatever construction method or brand - are what makes a surfshop a surfshop. They drive the industry. Teeshirts cost $3 to make and sell for $20. Sunglasses cost about $2 to make and can sell for over $200.

We as surfers, and the shops have been responsible for the low margins of surfboards. As surfers (I’m as guilty as anyone I know) we are always looking for deals. Early on, dealers realized they could make more money selling accessories than the boards, and kept prices low to keep customers. They also started making house brand surfboards so they wouldn’t have to pay shapers or middlemen and still be competitive.

If you’re willing and able to make your own boards, what Surftech does shouldn’t have any effect on you. If you make your own granola, you don’t need Kellog’s either.

I just don’t know why Randy is painted as an evil capitalist, and the focus isn’t more on companies that employ the same tactics making products that we all buy. A surfboard is a big purchase, and a very personal thing. We put a lot of thought into what we ride. If we applied the same conditions to the other stuff we use, we’d live like Quakers.

I personally believe it’s OK to make a living in the surf industry. Randy has found a way to succeed. He’s feeding many families in the proccess. As far as I know he didn’t sign a deal with the devil.

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Quote:

so if i can undercut a retailer selling surftechs and still earn 50$ an hour from home

and a cobra factory workers gets 300$ a month

hmm

surftechs suddenly dont seem that good value

and your board is better than a Surftech, because you made it… but… the profit for Surftech is nowhere near that per board. Surftechs require more man-hours to build than yours did - since there are more steps, and the workers aren’t all as skilled as you. Cobra gets a slice to pay their rent, utilities, management, etc. Then there’s shipping to wherever the boards get sold, storage when they get there, sales reps, marketing guys and advertising, trucks and drivers, insurance, royalties to shapers, etc… and finally, dealer markup.

There’s not a lot of money left over per board by the time they sell. Surftechs, like all surfboards, are the lowest margin item in the shops. Nice response Kendell…I will disagree with you a bit here. The cost of a Surf Teck longboard is around $525 to $550 to the dealer. They are not selling from between $895 and over $1000. With boardworks many shop owners buy the molds and make more than double on the boards with their names on them. It’s legal…it’s business…so…nothing wrong with it. The only reason shop owners have got behind the popouts and chinese made boards is margin. Like I said in my original post…it’s either get with the program or go out of business. Board builders that still build from scratch shouldn’t deal with shops that sell their competition and their eventual replacement. Thats the game big surf companies including Surf Tech and boardworks has played with shops and shapers for years. Surfboards - whatever construction method or brand - are what makes a surfshop a surfshop. They drive the industry. Which has always suprise me that shapers have taken the lazy way out and collected royalties when they could have called crap on popouts early on and gone direct to the customer. In the long run they would have had more control seems to me. Good point though. If any of the popout companies decide to go direct it will be really cheap prices and that could become interesting with regards to the surfboard buying public. Teeshirts cost $3 to make and sell for $20. Sunglasses cost about $2 to make and can sell for over $200.

We as surfers, and the shops have been responsible for the low margins of surfboards. As surfers (I’m as guilty as anyone I know) we are always looking for deals. Early on, dealers realized they could make more money selling accessories than the boards, and kept prices low to keep customers. They also started making house brand surfboards so they wouldn’t have to pay shapers or middlemen and still be competitive. ha ha so true…getting a deal at a surf shop has become a right of passage.

If you’re willing and able to make your own boards, what Surftech does shouldn’t have any effect on you. If you make your own granola, you don’t need Kellog’s either.

I just don’t know why Randy is painted as an evil capitalist, and the focus isn’t more on companies that employ the same tactics making products that we all buy. A surfboard is a big purchase, and a very personal thing. We put a lot of thought into what we ride. If we applied the same conditions to the other stuff we use, we’d live like Quakers. Randy has tried to paint himself as this person that is looking out for surfing and the shapers in the industry when all along he has simply employed the same tactis as Quik and the rest to make the big bucks. It’s legal…nothing wrong with it…but hype does have a back lash with some who your trying to ride the backs of and eventually replace. Also…with many …it’s just sour grapes.

I personally believe it’s OK to make a living in the surf industry. Randy has found a way to succeed. He’s feeding many families in the proccess. As far as I know he didn’t sign a deal with the devil. Right…he is simply part of the giant over hyped surf industry. The sooner folks see Surf Tech and the industry in general for what they are the easier it will be for many to simpy put them in their proper place as a niche for mostly beginners or those that want to ride the same shape all the time without too many pressure dings. Hey…it may become the standard…who knows. Look at the modern Shortboard…it’s the standard and about as worthless a product as you can get for your averge surfer over 30.

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I don’t want you to think I’m on a soapbox promoting Surftechs, because I’m not. Over the last two years I’ve somehow managed to acquire a few, but they are not what I’d call my magic boards. I just don’t see the evil as others seem to. I know Randy, and I think he’s a great guy. He’s shrewd. He’s in business to succeed. He’s agresive. He’s also a core surfer, and his company is filled with other core surfers. Cutom boards show up at the office and the guys gather around to lust after them. Surftech is just another surf business. Instead of selling leashes made in Asia, they’re selling surfboards.

I’d be more worried about the traditionally produced boards that are coming out of China. Al Merrick’s Anacapa line is a case in point. They are near copies of CI models. They have a better finish than CIs. They sell for over $200 less than comparable CI models. The dealer gets the same dollar amount by selling a $650 CI or a $400 Anacapa. CI is shooting their brand in the foot by cannibalizing sales with an offshore brand. That mentality is putting huge pressure on other shapers to consider doing the same thing.

On a personal level, the best thing we as surfers can do for shapers is pony up a decent price for our boards. Shops keep the prices low because that’s what their customers expect. Shapers keep their prices low because that’s all shops will pay. Customers going direct to the shaper expect savings because they’re cutting out the dealer. Guys that rip expect shapers to cut them deals just to get their logo in the water with a shredder.

Rather than thinking how much we can save when we buy boards, we should think about how our purchase helps keep the art of boardmaking alive. These days I pay top dollar to the little guys. I don’t feel bad paying cost or taking freebies from some of the bigger guys. My Surftechs were free. I don’t own any other Asian made surfboards.

These two boards by Reno cost me nearly Three grand. Until then, the most I’ve ever spent on a board was $300. These boards were beautiful, and Reno needed the money to survive. I just paid a grand direct to a shaper for a noserider for my girlfriend. He’s making other boards for me at wholesale, that I turn to dealers, but for this one I wanted to pay full pop. It just made me feel better about myself. I don’t have any wall-hangers. All my boards get ridden and beat to crap. Maybe in ten years I’ll start a surfboard art gallery in my house, but until then it’s all about utility.

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Actually, it’s not ALL about utility. The visceral thing plays a big part of it too. I’m surrounded by surfboards nearly every day. When I see a beautiful board, I still get shivers down my spine.

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hey Kendall

i wouldnt say there better

stronger and flexier yes

but not better

im still a novice shaper and lazy with cosmetics

maybe one day!

or perhaps i can get an experienced shaper on board to help me with that aspect

my main problem with surtech (besides the cost over here in NZ)

is more about the fact that as companies like surftech and quik etc

get larger market share and expand

they end up being staus qou

they control the industry and set pricing

its the same in any industry

what i fear the most is cobra type boards available in wharehouse/walmart stores for half the price

and the pressure it will put on our breaks

a smart shaper would have to hone there markerting skills in the accesories department if they are to survive

or improve product

in the rules of capitalism small guys are randys enemy(his competitors)

his job is to make more product and put his competitors out of business

thats just the nature of capitalism

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I don’t want you to think I’m on a soapbox promoting Surftechs, because I’m not. Over the last two years I’ve somehow managed to acquire a few, but they are not what I’d call my magic boards. I just don’t see the evil as others seem to. I know Randy, and I think he’s a great guy. He’s shrewd. He’s in business to succeed. He’s agresive. He’s also a core surfer, and his company is filled with other core surfers. Cutom boards show up at the office and the guys gather around to lust after them. Surftech is just another surf business. Instead of selling leashes made in Asia, they’re selling surfboards. Another good post Kendall…even if you wanted to promote surf tech that your right. I have had some dealings with Randy as well. He is typical surf business guy…arrogant and with a giant ego…selling mostly hype and “cool”. Thats this industry when your shooting for the quik level or the big bucks. I see no evil at all in what he is doing…only…I personally dislike the way he does it and the attitude that goes with it. Go to any tradeshow and watch pretty much any company operate…they pretty much all act the same. Schrewd…possible…probably. Also lucky to be in the right place at the right time with a good eye for something and a vision. Like I said…not a bad thing to have in business. If sucess and money are your goals then being aggressive can be a plus if you have something unique that the newness does wear off after a few years. The jury is still out on that one with Surf Tech…you know how our industry is…whats the next in thing. Your last sentence sums it up pefectly.

I’d be more worried about the traditionally produced boards that are coming out of China. Al Merrick’s Anacapa line is a case in point. They are near copies of CI models. They have a better finish than CIs. They sell for over $200 less than comparable CI models. The dealer gets the same dollar amount by selling a $650 CI or a $400 Anacapa. CI is shooting their brand in the foot by cannibalizing sales with an offshore brand. That mentality is putting huge pressure on other shapers to consider doing the same thing. I love this part of your post. Very true. I don’t care what the claims are, but I will bet you that plenty of Merricks, Lost and Rustys have been made over seas for years. They already came close to mass production with their little light glass jobs and waifer thin surfboards. Your are very right…other shapers are being faced with jump on board or potentially go by by.

On a personal level, the best thing we as surfers can do for shapers is pony up a decent price for our boards. Shops keep the prices low because that’s what their customers expect. Shapers keep their prices low because that’s all shops will pay. Customers going direct to the shaper expect savings because they’re cutting out the dealer. Guys that rip expect shapers to cut them deals just to get their logo in the water with a shredder. There are surf shop customers and then there are customers looking and willing to pay for unique local or handshaped surfboards. I never deal with price shoppers in my business. I gladly allow them to find their local shop with it’s shelves full of thin glassed production look alike thrusters or popouts. Most of the shapers I know…don’t give deals any longer and have all the business they can handle. Point well taken though there is alot of this in the industry.

Rather than thinking how much we can save when we buy boards, we should think about how our purchase helps keep the art of boardmaking alive. These days I pay top dollar to the little guys. I don’t feel bad paying cost or taking freebies from some of the bigger guys. My Surftechs were free. I don’t own any other Asian made surfboards. Even if you did buy a popout or chinese board…it’s a free country…nothing really wrong with it. One day…the chinese boards and popouts will no longer be the deal and will go up on their pricing for the same reasons you rarely see “made in Japan” on the labels of some items now.

These two boards by Reno cost me nearly Three grand. Until then, the most I’ve ever spent on a board was $300. These boards were beautiful, and Reno needed the money to survive. I just paid a grand direct to a shaper for a noserider for my girlfriend. He’s making other boards for me at wholesale, that I turn to dealers, but for this one I wanted to pay full pop. It just made me feel better about myself. I don’t have any wall-hangers. All my boards get ridden and beat to crap. Maybe in ten years I’ll start a surfboard art gallery in my house, but until then it’s all about utility. Hey…pricing means something. I see no reason to overpay or for Shapers to rape folks on the prices…but prices were so underpriced for so long that they now appear high and compared to some asian stuff they are. If I were a shaper…I would deal with shop one…I would hire my own salesperson if I didn’t feel like selling myself and go direct to the public. Protecting dealers is what has got many of them in trouble. Many of those same dealers were to first ones on the popout and China gravy train.

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I know Randy, and I think he’s a great guy. He’s shrewd. He’s in business to succeed. He’s agresive. He’s also a core surfer

to me, this is an oxymoron. a “core” surfer is not in it for big money. period. surfing has never been about making money. period.

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Working for a living is about making money… but it doesn’t need the “period”. Everyone without a trust fund needs a job. If you’re a surfer, and you want to spend all day thinking about surfboards, what’s wrong with working in the industry? Randy didn’t start Surftech thinking he was going to rule the world, or even change the industry… he had an idea of how he wanted to make boards, convinced Velzy to work with him, and it just took off from there. Surftech’s first boards were traditional compsands with exotic koa skins. Some of the most beautiful boards I’ve ever seen. Everything else just evolved from there.

Just because Randy was successful in business doesn’t mean he can’t be a core surfer. If a guy is an excellent banker, does that mean he can’t surf too? Is it wrong for him to dream of the perfect Bali session when he sleeps instead of the Prime Rate?

I don’t want to have to be the guy that keeps defending Randy and Surftech. When I lust over surfboards, they’re not popouts. I just think it’s narrow minded to think he’s evil for doing something he loves. In the process, he’s also helped support many of the shapers who’ve shaped our sport.

You can live in a bubble, and think all surfing should be free, no one should make a living from it, and the beaches should remain uncrowded. You can also believe that without guys like Duke, Tom Blake, Velzy, Brewer, and countless others who’ve made surfboards their focus, and their vocation, you’d still think the way you do. You’d be wrong. Organized surfing has delivered a cohesive design conciousness. It’s shown us what can be done with and on surfboards. It’s prevented developers from bulldozing beaches. It’s giving opportunities to guys who can rip on surfboards, but can’t do much else. It’s an easy target for “free surfers” who think they’d be where they are without it. Without “the machine” we’d still be surfing mats and bodysurfing (not that those are bad things). We wouldn’t be in our garages making our spears of fine art, and complaning about guys who make a living doing what we do for a hobbie.

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Working for a living is about making money… but it doesn’t need the “period”. Everyone without a trust fund needs a job. If you’re a surfer, and you want to spend all day thinking about surfboards, what’s wrong with working in the industry? Randy didn’t start Surftech thinking he was going to rule the world, or even change the industry… he had an idea of how he wanted to make boards, convinced Velzy to work with him, and it just took off from there. Surftech’s first boards were traditional compsands with exotic koa skins. Some of the most beautiful boards I’ve ever seen. Everything else just evolved from there.

Just because Randy was successful in business doesn’t mean he can’t be a core surfer. If a guy is an excellent banker, does that mean he can’t surf too? Is it wrong for him to dream of the perfect Bali session when he sleeps instead of the Prime Rate?

I don’t want to have to be the guy that keeps defending Randy and Surftech. When I lust over surfboards, they’re not popouts. I just think it’s narrow minded to think he’s evil for doing something he loves. In the process, he’s also helped support many of the shapers who’ve shaped our sport.

You can live in a bubble, and think all surfing should be free, no one should make a living from it, and the beaches should remain uncrowded. You can also believe that without guys like Duke, Tom Blake, Velzy, Brewer, and countless others who’ve made surfboards their focus, and their vocation, you’d still think the way you do. You’d be wrong. Organized surfing has delivered a cohesive design conciousness. It’s shown us what can be done with and on surfboards. It’s prevented developers from bulldozing beaches. It’s giving opportunities to guys who can rip on surfboards, but can’t do much else. It’s an easy target for “free surfers” who think they’d be where they are without it. Without “the machine” we’d still be surfing mats and bodysurfing (not that those are bad things). We wouldn’t be in our garages making our spears of fine art, and complaning about guys who make a living doing what we do for a hobbie.

Good post Kendall,

I agree with much of it. I think what happens when one gets sucessful is they find they enjoy all the hype said about them and their egos get the best of them. Then they try and control their market. Thats where the resentment starts. Most business people are not content to have only their share. Eventually…they want everyone else’s share and for the market to march to their drum. People fight it naturally because they don’t want to become a victim of it and want to keep their freedom from having to work with it but not themselves control their own destiny. With a slogan like in the last ad we discussed…" You (shapers) are the future of Surfing…we (surf tech) are the future of surfboards." can you blaim anyone. No one likes a show off or an type A trying to run everything.

I make part of my living from Surfing and have made 100% from it at one time. Heck…Maybe I will try and beat French at his own game. Then again…maybe not. I personally think it’s mostly just surf industry business as usual. Flip over the Surf tech coin and on the other side you see Quiksilver or another of the same ilk.

I love handshapes of epoxy or poly…but even having to deal with a shapers prejudices in surfboards get to be a pain. Which is probably why swaylock is a great place. To encourage doing your own. Too bad we don’t all have the same talents.

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Working for a living is about making money… but it doesn’t need the “period”. Everyone without a trust fund needs a job. If you’re a surfer, and you want to spend all day thinking about surfboards, what’s wrong with working in the industry? Randy didn’t start Surftech thinking he was going to rule the world, or even change the industry… he had an idea of how he wanted to make boards, convinced Velzy to work with him, and it just took off from there. Surftech’s first boards were traditional compsands with exotic koa skins. Some of the most beautiful boards I’ve ever seen. Everything else just evolved from there.

Just because Randy was successful in business doesn’t mean he can’t be a core surfer. If a guy is an excellent banker, does that mean he can’t surf too? Is it wrong for him to dream of the perfect Bali session when he sleeps instead of the Prime Rate?

I don’t want to have to be the guy that keeps defending Randy and Surftech. When I lust over surfboards, they’re not popouts. I just think it’s narrow minded to think he’s evil for doing something he loves. In the process, he’s also helped support many of the shapers who’ve shaped our sport.

You can live in a bubble, and think all surfing should be free, no one should make a living from it, and the beaches should remain uncrowded. You can also believe that without guys like Duke, Tom Blake, Velzy, Brewer, and countless others who’ve made surfboards their focus, and their vocation, you’d still think the way you do. You’d be wrong. Organized surfing has delivered a cohesive design conciousness. It’s shown us what can be done with and on surfboards. It’s prevented developers from bulldozing beaches. It’s giving opportunities to guys who can rip on surfboards, but can’t do much else. It’s an easy target for “free surfers” who think they’d be where they are without it. Without “the machine” we’d still be surfing mats and bodysurfing (not that those are bad things). We wouldn’t be in our garages making our spears of fine art, and complaning about guys who make a living doing what we do for a hobbie.

there is no need to defend Randy from me. i don’t think he’s evil at all, i’ve never met him. in fact some people who i hold in high esteem (including you and many others on this board) have many good things to say about him. i’m sure he’s a great guy. but, i stand by what i said before. a shrewd business man who is in it to succeed and sell the most surfboards that he can is FAR from MY definition of a “core” surfer. to me, the two could not be more opposite. as far as i’m concerned, the vast majority of “core” surfers in this world are not names that you or i have ever heard about. to me, a “core” surfer is one who does it simply because he or she loves doing it. they are out on the worst days as well as the best days. they don’t want to get anything from surfing other than stoke and aloha.

i don’t see anything wrong with somebody making surfboards their focus. it bothers me when people use surfing or surfboards as a means to extract as much money as they can. i understand that it’s the way of the world but, i hold the art of surfing in high esteem and it bothers me when people cheapen it in this way. there’s a lot about the “surf industry” that bothers me. “Organized surfing” has taken the Lion from the jungle and put him in the cage at the SFO Zoo for everybody to gawk at while they eat their popcorn. it still looks like what it was but what it’s been reduced to is heartbreaking.

do we need to have pro surfers or “surf” companies to look to to tell us the we are doing it right?

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"Organized surfing" has taken the Lion from the jungle and put him in the cage at the SFO Zoo for everybody to gawk at while they eat their popcorn.

You’re right. I’m guilty of being a consumer and brand whore on occasion. Back in the 70’s when I used to think I was going pro, the best surfer I knew of was Pat Schultz. He was a few years older than me, and better than any pro I ever saw surf - to this day. He never surfed in crowds and never showed off. He’d be out by himself in totally crappy surf, and just rip the place apart. He wasn’t sponsered, even though everyone wanted to have their stickers on his boards. He had none. I don’t even know who shaped his boards. That guy was core. He was also totally mysterious. No one seemed to know anything about him. I wonder what happened to him. He surfed Rat Beach, Haggerties, Indicators, Lunada Bay…

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You’re right. I’m guilty of being a consumer and brand whore on occasion.

as am i. i’ve done a lot of things regarding

surfing that i wish i hadn’t.

i don’t always succeed but,

keeping high standards makes sure that i

will always have something to strive for.

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Back in the 70’s when I used to think I was going pro, the best surfer I knew of was Pat Schultz. He was a few years older than me, and better than any pro I ever saw surf - to this day. He never surfed in crowds and never showed off. He’d be out by himself in totally crappy surf, and just rip the place apart. He wasn’t sponsered, even though everyone wanted to have their stickers on his boards. He had none. I don’t even know who shaped his boards. That guy was core. He was also totally mysterious. No one seemed to know anything about him. I wonder what happened to him. He surfed Rat Beach, Haggerties, Indicators, Lunada Bay…

thanks Kendall =)

right on man

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As for the boards themelves (surftech) what cracks me up about them is not the construction ( it’s just more foam) but the designs. . . . the longboard designs are such outdated rubbish really, and it’s kind of pathetic that all the ‘great’ American longboard shaping names can’t come up with something more functional than their endless stream of ice cream stick noseriding slowboards . . . . it’s all old hat, and of course the longboards are too light. . . … . all of which is why I like to see other surfers riding them !

Cheers!

Roy, with all due respect, and I do respect your wooden boards, noseriding is not some sort of disfunctional activity, it’s a part of surfing. I like noseriders, and I like em a bit heavier too. I think surftech boards have their problems but hey, like you I have a giggle when it’s a bit windy…

As for the rest, pretty much in agreement. Concern for thai and chinese labour is questionable from a country which has it’s own history in labour exploitation, but heck, some folk call me socialist…

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Dave,

I agree that noseriders are part of surfing. . . . but they are not as functional as they could be. . . . cool but semi dysfunctional. . just like this bike: