i figured i would restart this thread as its a subject which is nowhere near finished …
plus a reminder to marz to tone it down and stick to the facts …
marz , if you search this site youll find a wealth of information from crew who have been involved with surfing , some for up to 50 years …
im familiar with some of your current views (i got your email )
but this isnt sensationalist jounalism …
you put 2 and 2 together and get the biggest conspiracy theory ever , and then print it like it was fact …
im not even going to bother defending some of your blatant mis-statements from the locked thread …
youve been involved in two threads here on sways and both times youve come in here and posted , the thread was locked with your last statement …
so that pretty much sums up the value of what you have to say …
as much as i would like to cave in and start rattling off who rides my boards , ive realised that nothing i could ever say or do has any value to you marz and ive never had a decent reasonable conversation with you , so i wont make myself look like a fool in front of others just to prove something to you …
im past that these days marz, i will just let you find out for yourself through what ever bits of information you might be sifting through …
marz i realise you feel strongly about the asian imports …
and i agree its a serious threat to our lifestyle and industry …
but you must see the other side of the coin …
in regards to surftech , they are more expensive than any locally made p/u boards …
why are people buying them ???
because they cant get them locally …
who does a custom version of that tech ???
ive seen you ride the boards personally marz , and i can tell you one size doesnt fit all …
i will back you 100% in some areas …
the fact that retailers have blantantly said , they dont give a rats who goes out of business by stocking asian imports …
to me those type of statements drip with greed and an ignorance of the future consequences for surfing …
who will nurture the next wave of grommets if there are no local shapers to support them ???
we used to say years ago that backyarders were a threat to the surfboard industry , but when material wholesalers were asked to not sell to backyarders , it was " get stuffed they make up half my market "…
a surfshop is usually the first contact a person has with the surfing lifestyle …
so there lies a difficulty already , a consumer just doesnt know he is wiping out the surfboard industry every time he walks out with an imported board under his arm …
this is just another threat to our culture …
but ultimatly who is responsible there ???
we can say that if webber or merrick didnt brand imports then everything would be ok …
we could say that if kym thompson didnt move to thailand and help cobra into the surfboard market , everything would still be ok …
but the buck stops with the retailer …
greedy retailers have sold us out , full stop …
if retailers didnt buy , then they couldnt end up in the hands of the consumer …
marz im glad you raised the alarm in one sense , you have a way of bringing attention to things with your bold statements…
but , who has an answer for the curent situation …
why was i the only board builder in west oz , to outgrow the place and move on to bigger things (appart from nev who also outgrew the place)??
when most others are closing up shop …
why was i immune to the pressure of imports ??
theres 2 sides to the argument and pressuring government , or pressuring kids at the beach for owning the wrong board , and making loud noises about buying local is one way …
so on one hand you have a threat to an industry and on the other you have market demand for a product that an industry cant deliver , or refuses to deliver …
who is going to shield or protect an industry that has just got plain lazy …
how many board builders in margaret river have recently closed up ???
yet last time i talked to marty littlewood , he was asking me about my vacuum system and how he was about to scale his up for some serious production …
so the only board builder in town who does sandwich boards is expanding , while 6 other p/u builders are closing shop , and guess what , they actually can get blanks to , so thats not the problem …
if buying local means buying inferior crap , then you will have a hard time convincing anyone not to buy imported …
yes retailers are making good margins , but the price to the consumer is the benchmark , and there is plenty of room for a manufacturer to sell direct and make good money …
in fact the local board builder could easily charge an extra 150 for the fact its custom …
i wouldnt worry to much about imports , they are putting huge numbers in the water …
how many good surfers do you know who ride moulded boards ???
ok there is another side to that argument at the moment but lets put it this way …
how many good seasoned surfers would ride a moulded p/u ??
see my point , a good surfer will always get the custom from the local shaper …
the fact surftechs have made such an impact and good surfers are actually riding them , is because the tech is superior and they couldnt get a custom if they tried …
no good surfer would even contemplate getting one of the generic chinese boards or 7s in p/u …
those boards are usually brought by entry level surfers …
so why are crew buying moulded surftechs ???
because they have no domestic competition …
so before you go trying to black ban retailers and beat up kids at the beach for having the wrong board , first you should be encouraging board builders to get smart and out do the imports and put them back in the realm of the entry level board …
right now the industry in the states that survive have the ability to re-invent them selves …
i was thinking today , a thought similar to gregs , in years to come the yanks will be kicking our arse , because theyve been forced to look at better tech and alternatives and as a whole will leave the world behind , so many of the previous hickups with eps/epoxy will be solved with so many minds working all at once …
marz , please dont take offense and try and find some hidden cynical comment you think ive made in my statement to you , its a broad open statement of the facts apart from the intro where i was talking to you …
try and keep it civil , id like it if you hung around sways and picked up more about whats happening in the surfing world , im sure it would level out some of your strong opinions and help you to see the many sides to every issue …
knock knock …
hey marz , i thought i would get a speed ball delivered to your house , so you can vent on that …
o and also theres a picture of my face in the bottom of the box , for you to stick on , so you can pretend its my head …
have fun , i hope your gettin waves on the good side , its been flat here ,and im not talking it up either …
as much as we think our waves are average back home , man you got no idea what its like to surf waves where the lip doesnt know if its coming or going …
at least if a west oz lip doesnt change its mind and if it does its only to speed up and nail you before you were ready …
regards
BERT