Somebodys got to admit it. Were living the best, but last years of the American Surfboard manufacturing. With all these cheap imports, the handwriting is on the wall. http://www.dirtyradio.net/~tylero/tsr.m3u
Tri-Fins, Coming from you, that’s a very disconcerting statement. I’ve actually watched a number of our projects go to China and return. I had a meeting with one today. We’re back on-line next week. It’s still about the passion and the ability to respond. Think positive!
Tri-Fins, Coming from you, that’s a very disconcerting statement. I’ve actually watched a number of our projects go to China and return. I had a meeting with one today. We’re back on-line next week. It’s still about the passion and the ability to respond. Think positive!
It’s not a problem. Because surfers like myself will never buy that crap. We only get boards from people whose hands we can shake and who will share a beer with us. If I want a chinese made board, I’ll go to China, order it, and surf it there (even though I doubt their waves are all that good). Buying a board off the rack is fun sometimes, but not on a regular basis. Good surfers ride custom jobs from local shapers. It has been that way for hundreds of years and will likely stay that way. Surftech Sucks, and I’m sticking to that.
It’s not a problem. Because surfers like myself will never buy that crap. We only get boards from people whose hands we can shake and who will share a beer with us. If I want a chinese made board, I’ll go to China, order it, and surf it there (even though I doubt their waves are all that good). Buying a board off the rack is fun sometimes, but not on a regular basis. Good surfers ride custom jobs from local shapers. It has been that way for hundreds of years and will likely stay that way. Surftech Sucks, and I’m sticking to that.
Surftech is satan!
Surftech is satan!
I don’t know. Perhaps when I was younger, I hung out with a less affluent crowd. Now, I know many people with multiple boards of all kinds–shortboards, longboards, hybrids–fish, eggs, tri fins, single fins, quad fins. Some love the heirloom quality retro boards with the artisan glassing. Hell, throw in a Surftech for good measure! I’m not in the business but it seems to me that we are in a Renaissance period for surfboard making. A Chinese factory will never be able to duplicate the art of surboard making.
I don’t know. Perhaps when I was younger, I hung out with a less affluent crowd. Now, I know many people with multiple boards of all kinds–shortboards, longboards, hybrids–fish, eggs, tri fins, single fins, quad fins. Some love the heirloom quality retro boards with the artisan glassing. Hell, throw in a Surftech for good measure! I’m not in the business but it seems to me that we are in a Renaissance period for surfboard making. A Chinese factory will never be able to duplicate the art of surboard making.
Im a realist, here are my predictions: I think within the next 10-20 years well see mostly mass produced, molded surfboards, and very few custom builders will remain. Molded boards will control the largest retail sales, dominating the beginner to intermediate market. The big mass producers will continue improving their products quality and become very inexpensive. The best surf stars will win big contests riding pop-outs. This will generate the ultimate in publicity because by then at least one of the major surf magazines will be owned (also the photographers) by a molded board manufacturer. 95% of all surfboards will be produced and marketed just like any other piece of sporting equipment. Supplies preferred by home builders will become very expensive and difficult to obtain. Eventually the best materials will be exclusively manufactured and used overseas. Entirely proprietary and impossible to obtain by anyone outside of that company. By then there will be so much over-crowding in the water that surfing wont be fun anymore and most everyone will want to quit. Then the big offshore popout manufacturers will begin tanking after their numbers start to drop. Home builders will continue modifying and tinkering. Eventually the cycle will swing back around because surfing will have become a sport for uncool outcasts. There won`t be too many surfers left and only a handful of aged ex-shapers. Plenty of empty waves. Perfect!
Im a realist, here are my predictions: I think within the next 10-20 years well see mostly mass produced, molded surfboards, and very few custom builders will remain. Molded boards will control the largest retail sales, dominating the beginner to intermediate market. The big mass producers will continue improving their products quality and become very inexpensive. The best surf stars will win big contests riding pop-outs. This will generate the ultimate in publicity because by then at least one of the major surf magazines will be owned (also the photographers) by a molded board manufacturer. 95% of all surfboards will be produced and marketed just like any other piece of sporting equipment. Supplies preferred by home builders will become very expensive and difficult to obtain. Eventually the best materials will be exclusively manufactured and used overseas. Entirely proprietary and impossible to obtain by anyone outside of that company. By then there will be so much over-crowding in the water that surfing wont be fun anymore and most everyone will want to quit. Then the big offshore popout manufacturers will begin tanking after their numbers start to drop. Home builders will continue modifying and tinkering. Eventually the cycle will swing back around because surfing will have become a sport for uncool outcasts. There won`t be too many surfers left and only a handful of aged ex-shapers. Plenty of empty waves. Perfect!
i just say lets stick with the same old foam and resin, then we wont have to pay $$$ to get on of the new boards using new technology.
i just say lets stick with the same old foam and resin, then we wont have to pay $$$ to get on of the new boards using new technology.
ck the archives for ‘the dig’. that could be the future.
ck the archives for ‘the dig’. that could be the future.
Interesting post, using my nickname at Surfer Mag Dot Com. TFAD stands for TRI FINS ARE DANGEROUS. Thanks for posting my link to my underground radio show too. Yes, these are the Dark Days of Surfing, but why are you imping me?
Interesting post, using my nickname at Surfer Mag Dot Com. TFAD stands for TRI FINS ARE DANGEROUS. Thanks for posting my link to my underground radio show too. Yes, these are the Dark Days of Surfing, but why are you imping me?
“By then there will be so much over-crowding in the water that surfing won`t be fun anymore and most everyone will want to quit. Then the big offshore popout manufacturers will begin tanking after their numbers start to drop” Already there in places like Southern California…but nobody seems to be quitting, and those who do certainly don’t do so in numbers high enough to equalize the pressure. The one and only hope of expanding the resources is the artificial wave. Wavepools all over the country. If you don’t already own real estate within walking distance of the ocean in Southern California, and don’t stand to inherit any, then I bet you don’t have more than maybe a 10% chance of ever being able to buy any. Ocean access is an ongoing problem from any viewpoint. Freeways choke with traffic 7 days a week - on a weekend in summer if you aren’t at the beach by 10 a.m. even in my former hinterlands plan on an extra 30 minutes of driving. Parking, etc…seems Endless, eh? And then there’s ocean water quality…crowds…and the unpredictable nature of the waves themselves. Nobody says it, but the facts are if you aren’t already on a media/competition fast track by age 18 you have just about zero chance of seeing your picture in Surfer magazine. You are either into the professional thing or the recreation thing - cut and dried. You do it for love, or you do it for money…and how much fun is it slugging it out with crowds and inconsistant waves and conditions and water which shares molecular characterisitics with Taco Bell burritos? The future of recreational surfing lies away from the ocean, but with waves. A lot of people think that means nothing but safe, soft surfboards, and that will probably be partly true at first if this happens, but look at the best of the wave pools and you see what can be. No need for surfboard design to stagnate under this view. Of course, I said “if this happens”. I also said this is the “future of recreational surfing”, surfing being riding waves. It might not happen. Should that be the case, I would think there isn’t much of a future. After 5-7 years even the most enthusiastic surfers will probably pack it in…which will obviously be good for the surfwear business. Gotta keep that branding demographic young!
“By then there will be so much over-crowding in the water that surfing won`t be fun anymore and most everyone will want to quit. Then the big offshore popout manufacturers will begin tanking after their numbers start to drop” Already there in places like Southern California…but nobody seems to be quitting, and those who do certainly don’t do so in numbers high enough to equalize the pressure. The one and only hope of expanding the resources is the artificial wave. Wavepools all over the country. If you don’t already own real estate within walking distance of the ocean in Southern California, and don’t stand to inherit any, then I bet you don’t have more than maybe a 10% chance of ever being able to buy any. Ocean access is an ongoing problem from any viewpoint. Freeways choke with traffic 7 days a week - on a weekend in summer if you aren’t at the beach by 10 a.m. even in my former hinterlands plan on an extra 30 minutes of driving. Parking, etc…seems Endless, eh? And then there’s ocean water quality…crowds…and the unpredictable nature of the waves themselves. Nobody says it, but the facts are if you aren’t already on a media/competition fast track by age 18 you have just about zero chance of seeing your picture in Surfer magazine. You are either into the professional thing or the recreation thing - cut and dried. You do it for love, or you do it for money…and how much fun is it slugging it out with crowds and inconsistant waves and conditions and water which shares molecular characterisitics with Taco Bell burritos? The future of recreational surfing lies away from the ocean, but with waves. A lot of people think that means nothing but safe, soft surfboards, and that will probably be partly true at first if this happens, but look at the best of the wave pools and you see what can be. No need for surfboard design to stagnate under this view. Of course, I said “if this happens”. I also said this is the “future of recreational surfing”, surfing being riding waves. It might not happen. Should that be the case, I would think there isn’t much of a future. After 5-7 years even the most enthusiastic surfers will probably pack it in…which will obviously be good for the surfwear business. Gotta keep that branding demographic young!
Tri Fins Are Dangerous: I agree with your opening statement, but I think the soul of surfing cannot be extracted from surfing. The act ultimately draws the soul. So you have offshore companies sucking the soul? Nothing you can do about that. However, they will ultimately increase the sheer numbers of people in the water. This actually leads to education of a sliver of those masses, who in turn will go to their local shaper for boards, and will actually avoid going overseas. We’re not buying full efficient cars here, afterall; we’re buying surfboards, something far nearer and dearer than a commuter vehicle. I believe the shaper and glassing business will hold steady, not necessarily benefiting or falling away. But then again, I couldn’t run a busines to save my ass, so who am I to say. Just 2 centavos on the bar. Keep surfing, -nep