Channel Islands Prototypes

link? I haven't heard of this yet.

 

Sounds like a sales pitch............

 

do you really think channel islands needs to go on surf forums and make threads advertising their boards?

 

they're protoypes for a reason, they remain prototypes.

 

http://channelislands.mwrc.net/en/category.php?product_category_id=7667

 

My go-to ding guy used to shape for CI - he left shortly after Burton took over. Needless to say, not a lot of Al's shapers were happy about Burton taking over. Right away, Burton started pushing the need for more models, especially "pro" models. Shapers were required to pump out 80 boards a week, for consumer use. Burton wanted to keep the numbers there, without sacrificing the quality. They the cut the shaper's "surf hours" in half to concentrate on "prototypes." Board after board, CI will inspect each board in many different aspects. Some designs will go on to be further examined before going on to production. The other boards were put in a "stockpile" until they found use for them - "prototypes."

Look past the name - unless you truly like the dimensions.

 

Since Burton took over, there has been an increase in "tail issues." A quick way to tell if your board is from the "Burton Era" is the "plug ring." Burton wanted "flair," so they added a metallic "plug ring" that loops around the leash plug. Chances are, your prototype is from the era - I would consider added an extra layer of poly to the underside of your tail. Don't count on carbon (tail) rails to absorb an insane amount of flex.

The plus side is you're getting a board that interests you, at a great price. Enjoy it.

 

yup if you click on the image of the board to zoom in you can visibly see the metal leash plug. idk if they still have them but i remember at one point you could get leash plug "bling" such as engravings and different colors (stupidest idea i've ever heard)

 

80 boards a week? That's 16/day. That's a board every 30 min for eight hours straight, with no break, and no water time for testing and coming up with new ideas for product improvement.

Holy SH!T!!! What a mind-numbing job. That would suck the creativity and inspiration out of ANYONE.

 

Sounds like it's "Made in China" accurate.

 

80 a week is a lot to ask for & the info is very accurate. Keep in mind CI uses multiple ($30,000+) machines to cut their templates, before applying the final steps. Needless to say, that saves the shapers a lot of time. Also, CI shapes all week; so try about 11 boards a day. Shapers are given "surf hours" to take off, whether they are surfing or not.

Again, this information is through my ding guy. He shaped there for 6 years, before teaming up with Spyder. Now, he is in charge of Spyder's East Coast shaping facility - located in Wilmington, NC. Spyder has 1 machine in their East Coast facility - really puts things in perspective how large CI really is.

 

you mean... 11 boards a day.... not week... instead of 16?

So that means if a CNC machine roughs out 11 boards for me, all I'm doing is finish shaping... just sanding out the machine grooves, and grinding down the tips at each end? That's even MORE boring. No creativity whatsoever.

That's even more sad....

 

Good info dlrouen. I just browsed the boards on the CI site and $500 for a "prototype" definitely doesn't seem like a deal to me. You could get a custom shape to whatever dimensions and contours you want for less than that, plus the CI ultra light glass job is garbage in my opinion.

 

King Salt Life is right - their ultra light glass job is garbage. A good portion of your money is going to the name. Find quality - go local.