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Oceanside shaper teams with Surf Board Tracker
by Howard Swanwick
23/08/2006:// SBT has been receiving a lot of coverage lately about their revolutionary system for board security and copyright infringement protection. Now the benefits are starting to be noticed by some of the big players in the surfboard and snowboard industry.
Donald Takayama, renowned world wide designer, surfer, shaper and Oceanside business owner was introduced to SBT by West Coast distributor, Tom “P.K.” Hopkins. Donald said, ”SBT is awesome. It is something that can be owned by the surfers themselves and the surfing industry. It does not compete with any other manufacturer. Surfing has truly emerged into the 21st century. My signature is on the board and SBT allows for a signature deep within the soul of the board. It can never be erased. That, is something timeless. Who would have thought of inserting a SBT chip and registering the boards on the global database?”
The SBT security product has been born from personal experience of Welsh surfer, Andrew Smith. Andrew decided to do something about board security after having his quiver of boards stolen in South West France. He received little help from the local police and his insurance compensated him very little for the thousand’s of dollars lost to theft.
“Andrew has put something together that has great value and potential for all of us in the Industry. From Manufacturers to retailers to the Surfers themselves”, Takayama stated.
Everyone can benefit from SBT’s intrinsic value. The groundswell of logo, recognition, as well as product reliability is rapping its way around the world. Development has begun on the West Coast, the Gulf and East Coast of the US, Australia, Brazil, Japan and Europe.
The marketing machine is ramping up. Although it is a bit early for SBT to be exhibiting at the ASR event next month (September) and similarly, the Surf Expo in Florida later that week, representatives of SBT will be present in San Diego to assist manufactures from around the world with the implementation of SBT.
All a surfer has to do is call the manufacture, for example Channel Island. Give them the SBT chip number for the board that is broken or stolen and immediately an exact copy can be reproduced.
Retailers will benefit by being able to identify a board as being stolen or the real McCoy. It’s not just for new boards. The shops can offer a retro fitting service, placing the SBT chip in, after market. Checks can be made anywhere, laptop, pc, palm devices, Internet cafe or mobiles with a web browser.
Tom” PK” Hopkins, West Coast distributor for SBT said “having Donald Takayama on board, really legitimizes the importance of SBT.”
Hopkins is a past President of Swami’s Surfing Association and lives in Encinitas, CA.
SBT’s West Coast Distribution can be contacted at 1.760.436.3715. Orders and inquires can be a phone call away.
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