Technology and Resistance to Innovation

[Darrell]

Hi, I’ve occasionally glanced at the forum over the years, but here’s my first post.

Let me introduce myself; my name is Darrell, I’m a mechanical engineer and I’ve been surfing for about 30 years now. I worked at the Channel Islands factory about 15-20 years ago and had the pleasure of helping them get their first milling machine up and running along with helping Al and the team “digitize” their shape portfolio. But the best part was helping different team riders develop their own boards and models. One memorable project was the deep-six project with Kelly. Since then I’ve moved to Switzerland and persued a career in eingineering. I also don’t get to surf nearly enough.

So the point of my thread is actually to discuss what developments and innovations have been made in surfing and why most of them don’t leave the ground. My experience has involved the shape, but not so much the construction methods. From my perspective there are two camps; the craftspeople and the industrialists. And I think both are creative and innovative. There are probably thousands of small craftsmen trying new techniques, but I suppose most of these ideas are not economically viable for the large scale production. On the other hand technology like Tuflite for example is possible to mass produce and offers advantages in quality and durability. So why doesn’t Surftech dominate the global market? I feel they have been able to hold down a niche market share. I also think the reason why their growth is limited, is because customization with their method is costly and because a good deal of surfers have stigmatized pop-out surfboards.

Over the years, the only advancement which has been widely accepted is the use of cnc machines and the use of eps with a divergence from the wooden stringer but instead a touch of carbon or composite stiffener materials.

Otherwise we saw things like Salomon’s S-core, and Incide, along with multiple different rail “parabolic” composite stringers. Most of these have been short lived. What do you guys think? Is Incide being used? If not, what happened? Are surfers for the most part satisfied with the state-of-the-art as it is today? Or do surfers and builders prioritize customized shapes and sizes over construction techniques?

What direction do you see innovations moving in the future? What about hollow laminating methods? Airinside is doing this with sail and foilboards; could we see this with surfboards? What other innovations are out there?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Cheers

[Huck]

Hello. Happy to chime in here, but full disclosure, I am not a pro, just a backyard hobbyist.

Its a big topic, and the title of the thread kinda carries the implication that there is a resistance in the surfing community to innovation and progress.

So yes, there has always been a resistance to innovation in any field, as new ideas can be difficult to digest, expensive to implement, or may outdate existing prototcols that would be expensive to alter or abandon. Early users of the thruster fin setup describe being laughed at on the way to the water. I remember riding a twin fin fish in the mid 70s in Ventura, and people asking me where the rest of my board was. So those are just examples of new ideas being hard to digest at first sight. Big Business has a history of squelching innovations that might be too expensive to implement profitably.

And make no mistake, the corporate / industrial aspect of making surfboards is all about the money. Its not about improving anything other than the bottom line.

Some ideas have been introduced to improve blank performance, but I don’t know how dramatic the results were, and there isn’t a huge margin in surfboard selling to finance expensive improvements that may impact retail cost and hence, sales, in a negative way. Surfboards don’t sell for a giant profit, and anything that raises the cost significantly will be met with resistance.

To circumvent this reality, the industry has turned to third world labor with little safety protections and countries with lax or nonexistent environmental protections.

Both craftspeople and the industry people are creative - craftspeople being creative in the areas of surfboard design, and industry people being creative in finding ways to exploit for profits. I can’t think of any design innovations that came from the industry, all that I am aware of came from surfers and tinkerers. I guess it may be said that the Shortboard Revolution came from within the industry, but at a time when the “industry” was composed of surfers and tinkerers.

Foil boards, tow-in boards, boogie boards, finless boards, stringerless boards, even compsand (i.e. SurfTech) have all originated from backyard madmen, and the ideas that are utilized by the industry were hijacked by the corporate entities. Even the thruster fin setup came from a surfer. And it may be noted that while the industry has made some big financial gains with these innovations, they have been diligent to credit and reward the designers with absolutely nothing.

As far as the future, I think the industry is wanting to move the technology in a direction of proprietary rights, similar to the direction of the auto industry: the only people allowed, authorized, or qualified to work on their product will be their own technicians.

I will use the softtop as an example of a product that is very difficult for a consumer to repair or work on, the industry loves this. In this case, the most viable option for many is to just buy another one. I see disposable-ness as an industry priority (other than SurfTech, who at least have seemed to make durability a priority). The current model of lightweight boards with minimal glass is great for repeat business.

I also see wavepools as a popular concept for making money off surfing, to own and charge for each wave has to be a corporate wet dream. Also maybe motorized “surfboards”, to reach a wider market. Flood the waters with people who can’t actually surf, but can buy expensive toys to motor around the lineup on.

For the backyarders, I see all kinds of ongoing innovation in channels, asymetricals, finless, wood surfboards, flex, stringerless, carbon fiber, and more. Just stuff creative people do cuz its fun and when you make your own boards you can do it.

Design and performance wise I think the foil boards are in the spotlight of innovation and breaking barriers.

But at the end of the day, for the majority of consumers surfboards are just water toys for having fun, so I think the idea of “progress” needs to be viewed in that context. Although admittedly, to the industry progress is measured in dollars. So you have to pick which definition you are discussing.