July 2, 2008, 1:42 pm : The Great Foreign Surfboard Debacle
Filed Under: News, SurfingDiscussion: C[1]mments
As surfers, we love our surfboards possibly a bit more than most people can understand. A great board is deemed “magic” and once it finally breathes its last gasp of surfing life, it is replicated in hope of recreating that magic.
Surfboard shapers toil for hard-earned notoriety to develop names for themselves, and maintain their living and existence in a difficult position. So it’s more than disheartening to see the market open up to foreign, mass produced boards that have never been touched by the hands of a true craftsman.
I’ve visited with some of the manufacturers of these foreign made boards at trade shows, particularly Cobra, makers of the Surftech Tuflite boards. These guys are powerful and capable of a high degree of output and quality control. But…you still can’t get exactly the board you want, develop rapport with a shaper, etc. So my take is that this movement is dividing shapers within the US to a great degree. Why? How many shapers have royalty contracts with Surftech? There are several dozen, all of whom are big name shapers that want to retire at some point and not have to mow foam. Good for them. Not good for U.S. board builders overall.
The shift is worrisome to some degree, but its also been driven by the amount of relative neophytes picking up surfing in the last several years, demanding boards that are similar in price to a handcrafted polyurethane or EPS board, but will last much longer. However, top pro and amateur surfers are still looking for custom quality boards shaped by hand, and they can and do get it. There is a certain palpable sense among long-time surfers that a mass produced board is lacking soul, spirit and that certain “magic”.
To me, one of the litmus tests in this debacle is the stock on hand at local surf shops. Sure, you’ll see Surftechs and a smattering of other mass produced boards, but real surfers still stock their quivers with boards that are not mass produced. One example is Unsound Surf Shop in Long Beach, NY. I know those guys well, and I keep an eye on what sells there when I visit. Its still the good old foam and fiberglass, typically US made boards that lead their board sales.
I believe that surfboard design still has many, many leaps and bounds of discovery and innovation to be made. And guess what, no factory in China or Thailand is going to get the feedback of someone riding their board, coming into the shop (factory), tuning the rails, fins, thickness, etc to get it just right. Nor will these mega board makers have any interest in leading design research and innovation. They will always follow the market trends, which are set by the tried and true, foam mowing, dust-belching shapers. Same follows for material innovation. The foreign manufacturers view new materials warily, as so many new foams and board-making methods have been developed, its too risky for them to invest heavily in one new material or method until it is a de facto standard.
This is a hot-button issue in the surfing community, I’m interested to know your take.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:19 am
[...] just found this and thought it made for interesting reading relating back to my first post on the topic. Mt. Wodgee Surfboards, based in Currumbin, Queensland, Aus, has a sufboard ethics manifesto that [...]