Did Caity Simmers just ruin ‘big’ surfboard manufacturing? One could argue that John has basically done the same thing. What the hell am I even on about, you might ask.
Well, if you’ve kept up with the WSL World Tour over the last two years then you know about the Vissla Shaper Rankings – the Woz’s response to Stab’s effort in finding ‘the world’s best surfboard’. In a broader, more effortless attempt, the WSL has decided to award points to the shapers in which the CT surfers are riding.
It basically works like this – a surfer gets his or her points based on their final result at each event, and the same goes for the shaper or board building brand. The catch is that since ‘big’ manufacturers have such a stranglehold over the broader surf talent, a surfer representing your brand has to make the QF’s or better to snag any points. To give an example of this monopoly, 8 of 33 Men on Tour (before the Cut) were on Mayhem’s this year, that’s 24%. Giving points strictly to Quarterfinalists or better gives the smaller brands like, say, Rusty, a fighting chance – in theory.
As of this moment, it’s too early to tell. But if we are going off of a recent history basis, one can not ignore the success that a World Title brings to a shaper. Pyzel opened a store in San Clemente in 2018, just two years after John John’s first World Title. Sharp Eye went from having Filipe Toledo as the lone rider on the team, to currently having 5 men on the CT. And now, Caity Simmers might have just sentenced Chris Borst – Guilty By Association. Again, time will tell, but I can already imagine hordes of local groms and grommets wanting to ride anything and everything that Caity stands on.
Matt Biolos is now the back-to-back Vissla Shaper Ranking Champion. I bet if he had the chance though, he would trade both of those in for one Griffin World Title. Now just because he doesn’t have a Men’s champion (yet), doesn’t mean the orders are going to come to a halt. But it does indicate that people might want to try other stuff. If Mayhem has 20+ team riders between the CT and CS, how is he supposed to build boards specified to each surfer?
Surfboards have never been a ‘one size fits all’ deal. Sure, if someone surfs well enough they can rip on a door, but your average surfer needs something catered to their ability. I see way too many guys and gals and groms out in the lineup trying to ride high performance shortboards because that’s what they think they should be riding. That’s what they see everyone else riding, that’s what is promoted in all surf media, and that’s what’s on the racks in the surf shops. Marketing 101 – if you see something enough times to gain familiarity in your headspace, you are much more likely to purchase that item over something brand new that you do not recognize.
As Biolos tried to send shots out on his Instagram by saying “no hired guns” and #homegrowntalent, both John and Caity won their respective titles on shapers they have been riding their entire lives. I’m sure that Griffin and Matt have a great relationship, as do Cole and Matt, and Eli Hanneman and Matt, and Kolohe and Matt, but all I’m saying is, that is a lot of focus spread around. After this Finals Day showing, I would not be surprised to see more surfers span out and look for different established shapers to build a tighter working relationship with. The surfer-shaper connection should never be underestimated.
If you were to guess on some shaper brands making a comeback in the next few years, what names might you throw out there? We’ll keep an eye on this, but here are a few brands I foresee gaining some traction soon:
Chilli
LSD
Rusty
Chemistry
Chris Borst, of course
Chuck Dent
Cheers,
hwilsin