Ruthless.
Stab in the Dark, Stab Magazine’s blind surfboard test, is entering a popular tenth season (I think) with the world’s greatest competitive surfer, Kelly Slater, as pilot. Past winning shapers, including Matt Biolos, Jon Pyzel, Daren Handley and Britt Merrick, had the chance to craft a very specific board for the 11x world champion, though controversy erupted when Slater demanded that Slater Designs shaper Dan Mann also be included.
Stab, preserving access journalism, relented and off it all went, episode three dropping days ago with a fiery revelation from Merrick. Namely, that Slater had deeply betrayed the family with his decision, a decade-ish ago, to leave Channel Islands and purchase Firewire.
Merrick is thoughtful and honest in his retelling, explaining how they were once like brothers, since Slater lived with the family, but now the relationship is 1% of what it used to be.
Sources closer to the situation share that the betrayal was much deeper. Not simply Slater leaving and going into the surfboard business for himself but how he did it, poaching top level talent from CI on his way out the door, biting programs CI pioneered, jumping into CI’s distribution pathways and, worst of all, flooding surf shops with boards made much cheaper overseas on a consignment model.
In short, doing everything possible to put Channel Islands (and other domestic builders) out of business at a time when CI had just been re-purchased from Burton Snowboards and needing mercy.
When Slater is told the way Britt Merrick feels, whilst waxing his board, he chuckles and says, “That’s funny. I’ve never heard that.” Before explaining that he called Al Merrick before purchasing Firewire, saying he needed his blessing. The patriarch told him “Do what’s best for you,” which Slater took as one.
A wild tale, for true, and imagine if Britt Merrick beats Dan Mann in the final frame.
David Lee Scales and I discuss at greater length on today’s episode of The Grit!
Also, a surprise celebrity doppelgänger for Jack Johnston.
Spicy meatball.
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Slater is so emblematic of why the world is burning. Just a total abandonment of doing the right thing for its own sake. As I’ve said a zillion times here, we were right to shun that piece of shit in the 90s. Out for himself first and foremost.
just watched a bit…small but fun…..
there’s a couple of people posting on Swillnet…..who ran across a very young me and copped it…once upon a time I was probably one of the worst in the water…if you thought there was a culture of love peace and happiness…fuck it was anarchy , survival of the fittest and there were serious consequences to what was considered bad behavior…..old school…..enforcers/mad locals/bad blow ins mix it all up…if ya can
t back it up well shut the fuck up….before ya get fucked up!
these days are gone and here we sit chatting ,LOL…
there’s a guy who’s called me out about my hand shaping claim on my website….udo……if ya want to rev him up……”yes I use my hands to shape all boards…contrary to popular beef I use my dick….!” LOL….
fuck ’em all , legacies are very rare (see Marcus Aurelius), just a bunch of jealous cunts
yeah read it …tooo funny…..sounds like a Northern Beaches ghost shaper….haven’t done any boards with Ghost shapers for 25 years at least….LOL.
It’s entirely possible 25 years ago , I could have been very rude unprofessional/HAha WTF…sounds like I upset this guy bigtime……I never worry about when people say he’s not a good shaper……I class myself in the bottom 10% because I am so slow hand shaping with not much of a system…but designing way out in left field , is my forte trying to answer the endless design questions and testing them with the best surfers in the world….calling someone a twat..pommy?
You should ask him how many of my boards did he ride and shape?
Australian tall poppy syndrome stirred with a bit of racial love….ahhhhh
yeah pretty accurate…but I pick up a lot of technical and personal stuff as I know them all and their history’s except for Marciano….never met him.
the whole SITD, looks like it’s been contrived……excellent marketing/publicity for the brands….funny one was DH claiming to Kelly if he ridden a DHD, he’s have won 15 titles ( Kelly hates that shit) but couldn’t back it up with any performance…..his board was dud!
The footage of DH watching Kelly surf was hilarious…..but at the end of the day……Dan’s board looks sooo strong…because he’s kelly’s shaper….really unfair advantage….plus Kelly jumping from Thrusters to quads and only using his own fins…..not very fair, bit like giving a car up for a review and what tyres are on it….FFS each board/shaper should have been obliged to provide their own fins for their particular designs……a huge difference in fins/foils…??
Who is Jack Johnston? “Also, a surprise celebrity doppelgänger for Jack Johnston.”
Word has it that CI had a couple of suspect glassers it knew all about, but sent them off to different production houses around the world, where they continued this behaviour.
What do you mean by ‘suspect’?
Spoofing in the resin. ‘Hardener.’
I actually went and watched the 3 episodes , as I realzed I was forming an opinion based your review……..so saw the 3 which puts things in a different context.
Firstly I don’t think Britt lied about the whole Kelly/Al betrayal as he has his version…but Kelly’s a couple of mths before was chatting Al about getting him to shape a last boards for Kelly’s son……so I think Al’s all good with kelly and Britt is still carrying baggage from before………
secondly , as you can see SITD is the most influential testing / marketing vehicle for the bigger branded boards….it really affect sales , so there are compromises everywhere with Kelly’s testing and also the way the boards are set up…it’s slick production , but advertorial.
After watching the 3 episodes, it has put Britt in a position , where he’s pretty straight up….and not scared to have a crack…..I respect that , as I think all the headlines stuff on IG in relation to Britt……was just that….sensationalism headlines…..it looks like Dan will win and Britt second ?
Al blew off Kelly’s request for his kids board.
Kelly is very fit for an older person who is in love with Kelly.
NonJohn has observed that Kelly’s surf shred turns became weird and not nice to look at once he started riding non CI boards.
I think the Quiksilver France comp in Hossegor was the first time Kelly rode a Firewire in his heat (while riding for CI). Firewrires’ we’re known for not breaking and the waves were big shore break type. When the heat was over he came in holding his board backwards (fins facing out) trying to hide the board. Yes, I have photos of this, but will find them one day. – Jack English @seaofseven
Where does it say Christians are perfect and never lie?
all sinners !!
It says that on Fox News.
keep digging Sc
Britt is selling heaps of boards…. going into his shop is full board porn. Gorgeous sleds.
Just do your thing. IG is an alternative world, allow Kelly to turn into Trump. Both Attention fiends.
I had a problem with CI. The corporation sucks fucking bags of dicks. Then the GM cleans the cum off their bags with his tongue. No DNA left. FUck you SA
But the shop is board porn
You can walk there at night, leave DNA on the windows…..
Don’t give me any ideas
Gossip Chas, doing what he does best. Pointing out all the bad guys in surfing, as always. Tks for making a better world. Keep on spreading Aloha and Love. Next, Rory Russel and Lightning Bolt.
Trump to the rescue… Tariff the fuck the Indochine surfboard industry!
I wouldn’t even consider riding a SD.
CI all the way!
This is silly. Of course the Merrick family understands Slaters choice. It was God’s or JCs plan for Kelly to go solo. Just ask Britt or Al. God and/or JC doesn’t make mistakes.
John Carper, very influential shaper
I’d love to know the sales numbers of FireWire / slater designs vs CI. Anyone in the industry with Intel? I would have assumed FireWire has sold a lot of boards to the great unwashed val hoard.
Also why does Dan Mann allude to being homeless? Is he getting paid minimum wage to shape?
I have never seen someone rip on a slater design that isn’t sponsored by them.
I just read both your reports toa writer friend of mine…he said an impressive review as he had just watched the episodes….rip on regardless!!!
fact check..Burton bought CI in 2006 and owned the business for 14 years…..
CI was bought back by a consortium of the Merrick family/Gadauskas’s/Dane R…….in 2020
Firewire entered the USA market in 2007…Kelly became the majority owner of Firewire stock in 2014….
Kelly quit CI when Al stopped shaping there as no designer shaper was installed to replace Al….the most of the team left…but Jordy accepted $100 K + 100’s of boards ( never got a magic one as – there was no-one left to customize a design for him!)…….
So Kelly bought Firewire in 2014…..the CEO Mark Price went to the market with consignment , which C I followed immediately..
So it’s hard to understand how Britt can claim betrayal , when Al left CI in 2006 who the fuck is going to shape kelly’s/Machado’s /Taylors/Kalanis boards??
So Al left the CI brand, 6 years later Kelly turns up with Fire wire…..then Britt and Co buy back CI in 2020………where’s the betrayal?
Sorry Brittany, I think Maurice is right. It seems like Kelly and Mark were a huge reason the CI crew were able to buy back their brand. Selling Firewires to shop kids for that 270 USD team pricing in the 2014-2015 period had to put a nice dent in CI/Burton sales. It was the pyzalien and slab and dominator vs the girabbit, the girabbit was a dud. As a shop kid that worked just down the road from Carp HQ, I know I bought a few Firewires instead of my tried and true Burtons. Sold a few more Firewires around then too. Thanks Kelly and Mark for saving me a couple dollars back in the minimum wage days.
How long did the FWs last you on average?
I got a Coil out of FLorida that was shit in beachbreaks, magic in large point breaks and never got a single pressure ding. It eventually lost its “flex” but I’ve still got it and it still mostly works. Board is a tank. Those Coils can break in half, can ding I go you hit them really hard, but they’re too tough to get any pressure dings.
CI would sell so many more boards if their glassing jobs were stronger than wet lettuce.
But that’s why the boards work
Always been baffled that there’s not more of a stink kicked-up about pressure dings. I’m still traumatised by the memory of seeing the deck of my first new board purchase catching the evening light after its first surf – heeled, kneed and fingered to hell.
The grabbit was a dog for sure.
Kelly, Rob, and the other Channel Islands team riders of that era made a fortune for Al Merrick and his family – especially in Japan, where first Tom Curren and then Kelly Slater were treated like gods, their board models sold for the equivalent of USD $1500 – $2000 each and they sold as many boards as they could import.
You have a hard on for CI
Why?
none at all…..I respect Al/Britt and what they have done and are doing….but they also have a history of selling out and probably hurting their team riders……I like Britt’s straight forwardness , and not scared approach……his boards seem to be going a shit load better…….I think it’s just people different version ‘s of history….and when it comes to board testing/marketing etc , the whole STID puts you in a position where you have to perform and compromise……..maybe it’s my version of history that colors my vision of all the politics that has happened in CI / Firewire etc….??
…way back in prehistory, Al did pretty “OK” with his single fins, when the twins arrived, same…..the thruster era though? I dunno, he made a lot of dogs for the residents here. I think Tom and Sean got him on track, maybe he got a hold of your templates?…….I dunno. Other companies were even worse…seems it took awhile to dial rocker and outside rail together.
I think Al was super strong at creating a family environment as both Tom and kelly had major father issues, so Al made really good boards and could work out and customize designs for all the different surfers…….when I started shaping boards for Tom , it was 2 reasons;
1) Tyranny of distance getting new boards and working with Tom when he moved to France
2) from the end of the 80’s onward Tom’s surfing improved so much as he added power to his surfing and I still say no-one’s legs were as strong as Toms…so he needed new equipment……introvert/extrovert go surfing for a few years, make boards and create new design that is a quantum leap in performance and design!
We all loved it when Tom would travel elsewhere! Now those special waves were available, Tom has excellent wave choice There were some other chargers who were his equal……..he just had that competitive drive that many lack. .
I landed here in 78, kinda saw the changes first hand. History moves on!! Be Well.
Good to see SectionSB still kicking and holding it down in Santa Barbara. Still caretaking the property there? I’m still here on Kauai just truckin along.
yeah…getting too ancient to surf…just come here to gossip!! Hope you are doing well!
I disagree with this hypothesis only because it would limit my ability to dislike Kelly Slater.
A man must have principles.
3 sides to every story!
yeah, sounds fabricated to me. bunch of business men whining over money and market share and as if they care about their workers above all. Oh, and btw, Dan Mann is still more of a hardcore surfer/shaper than a rep for firewire ffs!