typical Surftech mumbo jumbo

[scroopulis]

If its good enough for Matt Damon, its good enough for me.

[longbum]

FFS, I wish they'd just stop saying that they're a hi performance surfboard.. They're just not !!
You look at the Shane Dorian model or any other "pro" model they produce and just by the looks of them you can tell they've been designed for the beginner-intermediate surfers.... fat and ugly.
I seen the Slater TL2 when I was walking thru the factory in Thailand and they're just the same fat looking things with a different finish basically.

[squidly]

Agree with saltman. Surfing has become big business in recent years from boards, accessories to travel. For most of us, surfing is something that's simply pure to the soul and it's what gets us through each and every day. Sorry for sounding philosophical. At any rate, I applaud anyone who can make a more than decent living doing something they truly enjoy.

[Nick Carroll]

Speaking as the only one of us who's actually ridden a TL2 blank, I think they're a considerable advance on the original Tuflite -- a lot nicer movement underfoot -- and still seemingly quite hard to dent or ding.

I've ridden two, a KS prototype (which wasn't fat at all longbum, maybe they changed it in model production but the one I rode was a round pin, 18.25 x 2.2, single concave fairly straight rocker like what Kelly rides nowadays) and a chubby little small wave model.

Couldn't be f**ked getting into the supposedly moral issues, they're paper thin and tear too easily when exposed to developments of the past five years or so. Doesn't seem to me like any of the good board designers are suffering or that designers have stopped experimenting as a result of Surftech et al's presence in the market, and if ya want to look at where the surfboard money really all went, you don't have to go further than that prince of Dana Point, Gordon Clark. He makes the rest of the surf billionaires look like the Dalai Lama.

[fong]

Speaking as the only one of us who's actually ridden a TL2 blank, .

do i sense a shareholder

nick knack......there F.UCKED.....great for beginners....surf schools....swedish tourist....

there not going make it get on the phone too the broker....repeat after me.....SELL...SELL....SELL

[Jamoe]

Speaking as the only one of us who's actually ridden a TL2 blank, .

do i sense a shareholder

nick knack......there F.UCKED.....great for beginners....surf schools....swedish tourist....

there not going make it get on the phone too the broker....repeat after me.....SELL...SELL....SELL

FONG ON!

[Nick Carroll]

do i sense a shareholder

nick knack......there F.UCKED.....great for beginners....surf schools....swedish tourist....

there not going make it get on the phone too the broker....repeat after me.....SELL...SELL....SELL

I have no financial interest, stake, shareholding, private stock, or investment whatsoever in any surf or surf-related company of any kind, including SurfTech or any other surfboard maker.

So ya know I'm not speaking from the other side of a bankroll...

Fongy you haven't seen the TL2, you can't know what the blank's like or what a board made with it feels like. I check stuff like that out for its performance value and quality as part of my professional duties. If it sucked, I'd say it sucked. Truth is, whatever you think of the people who make 'em, the TL2 doesn't suck and I'll wager a lot of really good surfers will ride 'em and be stoked.

[ric_vidal]

I check stuff like that out for its performance value and quality as part of my professional duties.

Factory test pilot

Don’t think Surftech or whoever the amalgamation is of Thai, US and Australian interests is listed as a public company. NC might be able to shed some light?

Different technology now Fangster, probably driven by some peoples’ dislike of the original Surftech technology, eh Nicholas? Got to give them their dues for evolving/improving what they do instead of stagnating. Still bloody cheap labour though Fing, but that is the global economy in which we trade.

Couple of guys in our longboard club have them and you can see the seam in the divinycell. It is only really cosmetic, but you wait, they will get the product made bigger for their needs.

[Nick Carroll]

Don’t think Surftech or whoever the amalgamation is of Thai, US and Australian interests is listed as a public company. NC might be able to shed some light?

Dunno actually. I always suspected Surftech (privately owned at present) were kind of a target for one of the big surf brands to just buy 'em outright -- Quik being the obvious choice there. A quick way for a public company to expand.

[longbum]

Don’t think Surftech or whoever the amalgamation is of Thai, US and Australian interests is listed as a public company. NC might be able to shed some light?

Dunno actually. I always suspected Surftech (privately owned at present) were kind of a target for one of the big surf brands to just buy 'em outright -- Quik being the obvious choice there. A quick way for a public company to expand.

I honestly don't think someone like Quik would like to align themselves with a product like surftech.

[ric_vidal]

Don’t think Surftech or whoever the amalgamation is of Thai, US and Australian interests is listed as a public company. NC might be able to shed some light?

Dunno actually. I always suspected Surftech (privately owned at present) were kind of a target for one of the big surf brands to just buy 'em outright -- Quik being the obvious choice there. A quick way for a public company to expand.

I honestly don't think someone like Quik would like to align themselves with a product like surftech.

Maybe they should just buy Cobra and be done with it.

[smw1]

Don’t think Surftech or whoever the amalgamation is of Thai, US and Australian interests is listed as a public company. NC might be able to shed some light?

I believe it is a private US corporation, with subsidiary companies established in its key country markets.

If Surftech continues to grow its business as it appears to be doing, I would have thought it would make a superb investment opportunity for one of the global surf corporations in due course (but that would obviously depend on all the economics).

SMW1

[collnarra]

At the risk of stating the obvious, the problem that surftech has is that its products are percieved as low end boards aimed at the kookocracy. As long as this image problem persists, surftech would make a bad investment for one of the major companies.

It's interesting that FireWire hasn't had this perception problem (although it is early days). It's positioned itself as a high end product, sponsored Taj Burrow, limited supply, made noises about the availability of "custom" boards, and put itself forward as a brand.

Although there are surftech branded boards, most of them are "models" which further reinforces the market perception that they're nothing but pop outs (ie, Kelly Slater model Channel Islands) etc.

You can't get a Channel Islands FireWire. Yet. This might change. FireWire bangs on about how it has patented its technology, but I find this hard to believe. Not that I've done a patent search. The basic principle of perimeter stringers must exist in prior art.

I've ridden a webber surftech and it didn't do much for me. It would be interesting to see how this new blank changes the market's perception.

It's also interesting to see that the mags are starting to get on board. Surfing recently had its "what board should you ride" feature (and annointed Bert Burger, who developed the firewire tech, as its shaper of the year). Waves (or is it Tracks) has a story this month about whether the handshaped board is dead.

and so on. Times are changing.

[longbum]

[
Longbum - not sure what you mean by someone like Q? and a product like Surftech - in the end the market wil decide if TL2 has a place (I suspect it will) And its profitability will decide if its a target for one of the big 3
Quiksilver is a listed company held by superannuation funds and others interested in a profit.
They need to expand their market desperately, their stock has gone nowhere in 2 years. Their purchase of ski company Rossignol and the appointment of a new director with close associations with the NBA might indicate the direction they are going

Meaning I don't think they would align themselves too much to a board that is marketed toward a beginner to intermediate market. They would rather look at a higher end product like firewire for example. They have very strong marketing policies and ideas and I just don't think this would fit with them. But I understand at the end of the day they do have to make the profit.
For me the surftech thing has very much plateaued with a swing back to poly boards, TL2 may change this but I don't think so imo. Firewire will change a lot of things tho.

[Hawkeye]

FireWire bangs on about how it has patented its technology, but I find this hard to believe. Not that I've done a patent search. The basic principle of perimeter stringers must exist in prior art.

I have done the search, albeit a few months ago. Nothing appeared for firewire or perimeter stringers. Lots of other weird and improbable stuff though, including hinged and spring-loaded tail-rockers and other ideas that the test of time has marked FAIL.