MickMc said...
Can't see how surfboard warehouse are hurting the industry. So long as their boards are well constructed, good shapes and they give good backup, all the boxes they appear to tick, then that's a positive for the consumer and keeps prices of all brands down. I've never bought one of their boards but may well do one day if they come up with a shape that suits my weight and style. It's the same for the Blue Planet boards and Stonker Torquay, which I have bought. Not quite as cheap as surf board warehouse but much cheaper than the big brands for carbon. Great boards, great prices, win for the little man with the smaller wallet.

Sandsy1 said..

And don't tell me about R&D etc, etc, they are just big surfboards so that old chestnut is not on.

goodnightirene said..
Plenty of people riding cheaper boards are ripping and plenty on expensive boards are utterly spudding it up (and vice versa of course). That said, if people are beguiled by the marketing of the big name brands and want to drop massive wads of cash on boards that are on the whole only marginally more robust than something locally made then good luck to them. I don't buy this idea that if you don't support the big brands by buying expensive boards then you're not supporting the industry though. Supporting the industry is using a local guy to make you a board isn't it? That's what it always used to be anyway.

Surf4Sanity said...
Ok I'm going to chime in.

I have been shaping SUP's since 2009. I realised that the first board I tried was too big & heavy to surf with so shaped a few based on my surfboard shaping knowledge. Totally my own designs & shapes.....and they ripped.
We started doing production boards in 2010 and have a huge range of shapes and sizes.
We do a heap of R&D on constructions methods, materials & composites both in our factory here in Sydney & also in our manufacturing overseas, and have a solid crew who ride our boards and love them.

When it comes to supporting the industry as you say.... I work away doing what I can:
It may come as a surprise but retail shops won't stock every brand that approaches them, they prefer the big names that attract customers. I went down that road a few years ago but ended up pulling out as the margins were not there for it worth my while most of the time. (I am looking again but need help in the sales dept. as I'm too busy in the shaping bay )

I don't come on here much and I have never pimped my brand or what I do behind the scenes but for the record: I helped set up and run the Cronulla Sutherland SUP club back in late 2009 which had surf & race events, we also ran the Naish river race & Coreban river race. I setup the Botany Bay SUP club to do Downwind races across Botany Bay every Tues arvo which is still going strong, I put on a charity event called Talin's Rose that raised over 10K for a very sick kid, I was involved in Laird's trip to Australia & I compete in as many events as I can get to. We are also the major sponsor for the Husky SUP club.

We are a family business who shape surfboards, custom SUP's and have our production boards, and I am in this industry because I love it, NOT because I think I can make a quick buck, NOT to screw the industry, and NOT to make cheap boards to sell on ebay.

Surefire Boards is here for the long haul and we will continue to support the industry & continue to push the design of surf sup's and materials.

Deep breath.........exhale......Rant over.

Surf4Sanity said...
Ok I'm going to chime in.

I have been shaping SUP's since 2009. I realised that the first board I tried was too big & heavy to surf with so shaped a few based on my surfboard shaping knowledge. Totally my own designs & shapes.....and they ripped.
We started doing production boards in 2010 and have a huge range of shapes and sizes.
We do a heap of R&D on constructions methods, materials & composites both in our factory here in Sydney & also in our manufacturing overseas, and have a solid crew who ride our boards and love them.

When it comes to supporting the industry as you say.... I work away doing what I can:
It may come as a surprise but retail shops won't stock every brand that approaches them, they prefer the big names that attract customers. I went down that road a few years ago but ended up pulling out as the margins were not there for it worth my while most of the time. (I am looking again but need help in the sales dept. as I'm too busy in the shaping bay )

I don't come on here much and I have never pimped my brand or what I do behind the scenes but for the record: I helped set up and run the Cronulla Sutherland SUP club back in late 2009 which had surf & race events, we also ran the Naish river race & Coreban river race. I setup the Botany Bay SUP club to do Downwind races across Botany Bay every Tues arvo which is still going strong, I put on a charity event called Talin's Rose that raised over 10K for a very sick kid, I was involved in Laird's trip to Australia & I compete in as many events as I can get to. We are also the major sponsor for the Husky SUP club.

We are a family business who shape surfboards, custom SUP's and have our production boards, and I am in this industry because I love it, NOT because I think I can make a quick buck, NOT to screw the industry, and NOT to make cheap boards to sell on ebay.

Surefire Boards is here for the long haul and we will continue to support the industry & continue to push the design of surf sup's and materials.

Deep breath.........exhale......Rant over.


Keep up the great work Surf4Sanity. Living and breathing it.
I feel lucky to have met so many great people through Sup. Especially the innovators, shapers and producers of these fun machines that keep the froth and stoke flowing.

NNSUP said..




Only thing is I'm yet to see any of those smaller brands support the clubs, races, large demo days, learn to SUP days etc. (ECS excepted)
While the sport is strong and semi thriving, the indicators are there for another "windsurf "phenomena. Luckily SUP is simple and in reality pretty cheap compared to windsurfing.

goodnightirene said..




I'm coming at it from the surf angle rather than the downwind as I've never done or been interested in the latter so maybe it's different for that area of the SUP industry where designs may have changed quite a lot over time? But I just can't see what having clubs, comps, demo days, team riders and R&D budgets does to 'support the industry' - which seems to be a broad brush term for simply putting money in the pocket of international manufacturers. I will concede that there are more board shapes available now that the big boys have flooded the market - but I'd suggest that's because they want to sell more boards and they're trying to differentiate from their competitors rather than it being a genuine wholesale shift in the development of better board shapes. I've got about 8 years worth of SUPs in my garage and with the exception of the first couple which were pretty embryonic the general shape of the best performing (surf) boards has changed only very slowly and incrementally in that time. I just don't buy this notion that we need big R&D budgets and team riders to develop the industry. It works perfectly well with organic development I think.

Just my opinion of course, I've frequently been know to be wrong before!

Surf4Sanity said..
Ok I'm going to chime in.

I have been shaping SUP's since 2009. I realised that the first board I tried was too big & heavy to surf with so shaped a few based on my surfboard shaping knowledge. Totally my own designs & shapes.....and they ripped.
We started doing production boards in 2010 and have a huge range of shapes and sizes.
We do a heap of R&D on constructions methods, materials & composites both in our factory here in Sydney & also in our manufacturing overseas, and have a solid crew who ride our boards and love them.

When it comes to supporting the industry as you say.... I work away doing what I can:
It may come as a surprise but retail shops won't stock every brand that approaches them, they prefer the big names that attract customers. I went down that road a few years ago but ended up pulling out as the margins were not there for it worth my while most of the time. (I am looking again but need help in the sales dept. as I'm too busy in the shaping bay )

I don't come on here much and I have never pimped my brand or what I do behind the scenes but for the record: I helped set up and run the Cronulla Sutherland SUP club back in late 2009 which had surf & race events, we also ran the Naish river race & Coreban river race. I setup the Botany Bay SUP club to do Downwind races across Botany Bay every Tues arvo which is still going strong, I put on a charity event called Talin's Rose that raised over 10K for a very sick kid, I was involved in Laird's trip to Australia & I compete in as many events as I can get to. We are also the major sponsor for the Husky SUP club.

We are a family business who shape surfboards, custom SUP's and have our production boards, and I am in this industry because I love it, NOT because I think I can make a quick buck, NOT to screw the industry, and NOT to make cheap boards to sell on ebay.

Surefire Boards is here for the long haul and we will continue to support the industry & continue to push the design of surf sup's and materials.

Deep breath.........exhale......Rant over.