Rusty

Rusty team rider Jayke Sharpe is one of Australia’s top Pro Juniors and posted a great opening round 1 heat win today defeating fellow Australian Julian Wilson in the Billabong World Jnr Championships held at North Narrabeen / Sydney to move into round 2. Stay tuned…….

Breaking News;

Sometime over Christmas break, vandals broke into Rusty North America’s headquarters and made off with top secret clothing samples and left the building in disarray.

Just part of the missing couture includes the coveted Ecostrech Hybrid Boardshorts and many of their innovative 2009 Fall and Holiday samples leaving a large question mark in the minds of the merchandisers; what will the reps be able to sell without the prototype clothes to work off of?

Interestingly, the perpetrator(s) AKA Santa Bandit did not take any of the valuable surfboards, plasma tv’s, computers, digital photography equipment or the m&m cookies we left him only what seemed a targeted list of items that Rusty’s competition would need to hold back Rusty’s recent onslaught of capturing coveted market share. (yes, the 2009 Fall and Holiday product lines look that good)

With New Year’s Eve around the corner, the missing samples will have to be located before December 31 in order for business to go on as usual. Irvine Police and CSI Rusty has numerous finger prints now on file the crack pot Rusty Merchandising Team will have nothing to worry about.

Dirt here reporting from the North Shore of Hawaii. Yeap  that’s right  home of the Pipe Masters and Rusty team rider Jaime O’Brien. So today I rock  up  off the plane from cold rainy cali ,straight into a  Hawaiian kona rain squall. I bolted down to the event too catch Jamie’s heats. Its poring down rain ,pipe looked like muddy  Puerto Escondido. I guess with all this rain the rivers are draining out to the ocean .Pretty narly considering you cant see the reef below. Waves are pumping Im pumped I finally arrived here .
Jaime’s blazing through heats with ease all the way to the Quarters finals but was then stopped short  by  the man himself Kelly Slater, but we all know “O’Brien owns Pipe”. With a little luck  Slater found waves  to  dropped a 9 an 9.63  to wrap the heat up. Kelly  then  took  his mojo against  Chris Ward in the finals. Lets just say slater has one more Pipe Masters title. Check back  here at RUSTY.COM  for more action here on the North Shore. DIRT OUT!!

Day one of this years Australian Junior Surfing Titles saw sets up to 3m (10 feet) pounding the famous south west surf coastline of Western Australia and Australia’s top junior surfers were put to the test with many reveling in the power at the high performance wave of Surfers Point Margaret River.

One surfer who really felt the power of Margaret River today was 17 year old Gold Cast surfer James Woods who copped a severe thrashing over the appropriately named “Surgeon’s Table”, a shallow reef section of the break that ripped his rash vest from his body during an extended hold down.

“ I’ve been surfing 1 to 2ft waves on the Gold Coast for the past three months so it’s a serious change to get out amongst some real waves today” Woods exclaimed after his heat.

“That wave that dragged me over the reef was probably close to 10 feet and mid way through the tumbling my rash vest was ripped up over my head and sort of had me all tied up – I had no choice but to keep ripping it up and free myself of the vest so I could swim, see and breath when I finally came up and that’s the last I saw of it !”

Regardless of the wipe out, Woods showed he’s a serious contender here by easily winning his heat on a two wave tally of 12.90 out of a possible 20 with 2nd placed surfer in his heat, Mitch Baker for Victoria, well behind on 7.5.

Winners across the Boys and Girls 18 division and Boys 16 division will become automatic selections for the Australian Junior Team which will compete in Ecuador next March at the ISA World Junior Titles.

Surfing Magazine is in the middle of their “Month of the Shaper,” where each day they feature an interview with a different world renowned board builder. Read the full interview with 2008 Shaper of the Year, Rusty Preisendorfer…

Name: Rusty Preisendorfer
Zone: Twilight
Years Shaping: almost 40
Boards Per Week: then…handshape 20 plus; now…program 30 to 40 finish 15 to 20
Specialty: none really…I pride myself in being very versatile

Is your business better or worse since the Clark Foam shutdown?

Overall numbers are down. There is a lot more to it than Clark’s closure. Short supply of good foam immediately following Black Monday had a discernable impact on the US surfboard market that winter. It opened the doors for more imported boards…not just from Asia. Consumer confusion on what construction was really a positive step forward slowed sales. General economic concerns have taken over as probably the number one reason why many people are trying to get a few more miles out of old faithful. Better or worse? We are all having to make adjustments but I feel it’s better in the sense that it is more challenging which is more stimulating. I think we are all being forced out of our comfort zones, for better or worse, into the next big chapter in surfboard construction.

Do you feel polyurethane foam/polyester resin will always be the dominant surfboard construction?

Not always. I don’t see too many wood tennis racquets around anymore…collector’s items mainly. Persimmon drivers, steel bikes, wood airplanes and so on. For the most part, things keep moving along. At some point superior materials and construction techniques will replace most of the PU/PE in the marketplace except for art’s sake. Some folks like driving old cars around because they are cool and have some good memories attached. For the most part, the average consumer is concerned with value: good mileage, safety and comfort. Same thing with surfboards: something that has good performance characteristics is durable, and affordable. Short term, there are some riding characteristics of PU/PE that still appeal to some surfers in certain conditions. Classic longboards, big-wave paddle-in equipment. At some point sturdier materials with the “right” feel will take over more of the traditional market. Also, as the years tick by, isocyanate urethane foam along with polyester resins will become increasingly problematic from environmental standards and legislatively unwelcome…even in other countries.

Do you think there’s an increasing or decreasing appreciation for a custom surfboard?

Our custom orders are up. Most surfers with a bit of experience are realizing the benefits of a real custom board…not just pre-machined foam inventory that happens to match a narrow set of criteria and easy to customize with “your name here”. People trip out when I call them or email about a custom. I don’t do it with every order but if I see something that requires a little more information for me to feel comfortable about the end product, I’ll go after it. Shortened turn around time is a by-product of the times…so this should also be a little incentive for the surfer considering a custom.

Are quads declining or increasing in popularity?

We seem to be building quite a few. Some people are just getting around to trying them. Fin positioning is critical. There isn’t any magic formula. It’s more of a decision on how the rider wants the board to feel: more like a tri or more like a twin…or something in between. I made an asymmetrical (thank-you Carl Ekstrom) quad for a long hollow left I like to surf.

If it hasn’t already, will your surfboard production ever have to go overseas?

I respond to my customer’s feedback. The feedback is becoming louder and louder: “we need well designed, affordable product, with good margin, and we would prefer it to be a brand, not a label.” This does not mean we will stop making boards here. On the contrary, we will be able to spend more time and energy on real custom boards, creative projects, research and development.

What kind of music do you like to listen to when you shape?

I have very eclectic tastes…I have about 16,000 songs on my iPod. In addition I have XM and Pandora.com all hooked up in the room and my office.

How much time do you spend on a single board now?

As much as it takes to get it right.

Do you spend more time on the computer screen or in the shaping bay?

Computer, but I program at home and on trips as well. I still spend a fair amount of time in the room too. I use DSD, APS, and Shape 3D so it’s critical to see how all the different apps translate into cut foam.

How important is teamrider feedback to you?

Feedback is and always will be super important. Teamriders are an important part of product development. Shaun Tomson recently asked me this question: “is your best-selling model teamrider based? For that matter, any does any major manufacturer have a best-seller that is team rider based?” I think the answer points to the average surfer: a design that is user friendly for the everyday surfer. So feedback from the bros is just as important as the feedback from the pros.

What kind of board do you enjoy shaping most right now?

I enjoy my time in the room. The challenges…the stimulating stuff changes all the time.

How often do you get to surf?

Pretty much everyday.

Are you actively pursuing “greener” avenues in your surfboard production?

I’m a big fan of EPS/Epoxy. Is it greener? Compared to PU/PE, I’ve been told it is. We are developing a custom composite program. The process is probably a little greener still. I’ll be honest….my primary focus is on performance and value to the end consumer. If I can achieve that with “greener” materials and methods that it is a win-win.

BIG THANKS TO OUR FRIENDS AT SURFING MAGAZINE!

So Hawaii 08 is in full swing on the North Shore. I have been here for 2 weeks now, and my pasty white haole skin is gone with a solid Hawaiian bronze. I rocked up from flat Cali straight into a solid 10 foot west swell and firing Pipeline. Didn’t get too many waves out there, but just one is better than any wave you’ll ever catch back at home in San Clemente. Just yesterday I was out surfing Pupekea and there were sea turtles swimming everywhere. There was one turtle in particular that was huge, definitely the biggest turtle I have ever seen. So I figured I would swim down and check him out. As I swam down and was getting closer to him, I thought, I wonder if you could grab on the back of him and let him pull you around. Like the stuff you see in the movies. But unfortunately there is a reason you only see this in the movies.It happened so quickly I didn’t have time to clear the area……….. and since I was directly behind him I was an easy target All of the sudden a brown cloud filled the once crystal clear water. Wait whats going on, why is the water all of the sudden brown. Then it hit me. I couldn’t believe it, I just got crapped on by a turtle… As he swam away, I think I heard him say,” welcome to Hawaii haole now go home.”

Come join Rusty nov 14th ,15th,16th at the Jacks Irvine Grand opening . Come meet the rusty team ,Win free Rusty gear and a chance to take home a free Rusty team surfboard .

It’s product week on Cote’s Cube as TransWorld SURF Editor In Chief Chris Cote test rips a new “Redline” from Rusty Surfboards

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MORE FROM TRANSWORLD SURF .

The wait is over…the exclusive Rusty.com Part 1 Podcast of CHANGES is here!

Rusty presents CHANGES, a surf movie that reflects on the environmental changes of our world. The world is changing and we must pay attention–we can’t ignore it anymore. Follow Josh Kerr, Jamie O’Brien and the Rusty team all over the world doing their piece to make this world a better place. Rusty gives the forks to Global Warming, its all about “Global Cooling”, get on it.

Part 2 of 2 coming soon.

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