This is a very good questions and one I get a lot, let me give you the same answer I gave when asked why I became involved in RebelBoards.
Every time we had changes within the surfboard manufacturing industry, there's always been a negative vibe and slow acceptance. For example, when the first Urethane blanks were introduced a lot of us thought no way. Too light, ding too easily, didn't like the "white" appearance of it, too soft, etc. Look where we are now! Also, when I was working at Weber Surfboards when we introduced the first "shaping machine." It was actually a milling machine and Dewey spent a lot of advertising money to explain that these “machines” could replacate boards more accurately. People could not comprehend how a machine could replace the hand craftsmen. We can laugh at it now because most boards are now "shaped" by machines but it was a hard sell in the beginning. For another example, Dewey Weber tried to market the first "affordable" board for beginners. It was a no stringer,no color, no frills board. It had reasonable success but eventually died because of the "kook" image. Forty years ago, the market was not ready for it. I think Dewey was ahead of his time. For those of you who remember, several innovations developed between the late '60s and early 70s such as boards going shorter, the development of the thruster (why so many fins), lighter equipment, etc. Through it all, in the beginning, surfers thought of these concepts as weird, wacky, funny, and ridiculous. Not only did a lot of these innovations work, they took their place in surfing history. The last laugh is that now we're riding four and five fin boards, under six feet and as light as a feather.
One of the biggest events that occurred to the industry was Clark Foam deciding to close the doors to the facility that supplied 85% of the blanks. It changed the face of the surfing world. It was a bleak day for surfboard builders who initially panicked but the industry proved to be flexible and creative. Blanks came streaming in from South Africa, Australia, South America, Mexico, China, and Taiwan. This event also accelerated the acceptance of the molded board, the EPS blanks, graphite shells, etc.
Now, more and more top branded manufacturers are taking their production to China. Also, the major surf shop retail chains both on the West and East Coasts are now bringing boards from China and have been doing so for some time. In today’s economy available spending money is a little tight; this forces surfers to look at buying a good quality board at an attractive price no matter where it was produced and companies are responding to this market force.
I was the first person to manufacture surfboards in Japan. My initial plan was to make these boards available solely for the purpose of exporting to the U.S. I was met with only skepticism and rejection. The first boards only sold to a few rental operations. No one thought I could ever manufacture surfboards in Japan nor did they think the Japanese public would ever take to surfing. Japan today is the third largest surfing country in the world behind the U.S. and Australia. Plus they arguably make some of the best quality boards in the world.
Why do I describe my experiences in Japan? Because now we come full circle to the development of Chinese made boards and a similar reaction I encountered for the Japanese made boards some forty plus years earlier. Two to three years ago, it was almost unacceptable for surf shops to consider carrying a line of Chinese boards. I was in the apparel industry for a long time where made in China, Taiwan, UAE, India, Vietnam, Mexico etc., was part of the norm rather than the exception. Currently, primarily due to the use of so many foreign made blanks and the top branded labels going to China, the "Made in China" stigma is also becoming part of the norm.
So there you have it. I believe offshore boards are here to stay so we may as well embrace it.
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