From a Windsurfing perspective - what does it mean to be Australian?
Ok this one has the potential to get emotive... hold your fire - this one has always perplexed me.
Can anyone tell me how JP Australia is Australian?
Please correct me if i am wrong:
As fas as i know there is no r and d done here.
No dollars are spent in OZ.
I dont see any aussie shots in brochures and web videos
With one notable exception - no aussies are employed by JP Australia...and he lives in Hawaii.
I am not seeing any aussie footage from the brand.
Development work is done in Hawaii and Europe.
Head office is in Europe.
One of the most successful windsurfing brands in the world.
Windsurfers in Europe (especially Germany and Poland) are household names- yet in OZ even world champs are unknown - not even b grade celebrity. And locally windsurfing has an image that barely registers on the radar - yet in Europe its prime time TV.
Before i get slaughtered on this one -this is not a stir up - reckon JP make some nice product - and i am all for a global outlook - and have no problem with world brands.
People all over the world have equal rights to employment opportunites- be it China, Thailand , Ghana or Australia.
Could it be that Australia has an idealised image overseas as being "hardcore" - an image that international brands want to tap into. And should they tap into that image without contributing to the Aussie scene to the extent that they derive their image from it?
Looking at our windsurfing culture i think we can lay claim to some "hard coreness" in wave riding - a legacy delivered by talents such as Dave SHeen,Pat Redman, Sir Polakow himself, Blair Simpson, Ty Bodycoat - absolutely incredible wave sailors.
however - with a few exceptions- our freestyle and jumping status is relatively "softcore. "
And what about racing?
To analogize the other way - we see Holden introducing their latest Commodore as euro styled (and i really really love the way they look - especially the wagons! i want one!) - do we always want something thats not from where we are... ?
Without knowing any of the history, was JP-Australia always owned by NP?
just guessing, but perhaps it was a company that Jason started and named. The name was registered as a brand and now it historically just continues on.
Can everyone afford a product that is made in Australia?
JP Australia is a brand name.
Kentucky Fried Chicken is not all made in Kentucky.
Bondi Swimwear is not made in Bondi.
Vegemite is not an Aussie product
Aeroplane Jelly had no Aeroplanes in it
Billabong is not made nor sold in Billabongs
Uncle Tobys is not made nor owned by anyones uncle named Toby
Theer is another thread here that names Aussie manufactured brands associated with windsurfing. They are many and varied. We should rejoice in the fact that there is still a place for Aussie made and not bemoan the ones that have been lost.
Cheaper manufacturing leads to reduced costs - anecdotally at the cost of quality.
If you want to buy an aussie made board - you can
If you want to buy an aussie made sail - you can
The ball is in your court.
JB
From what I know (not much), JP-Australia is owned by a Hong Kong based company, the same company that owns Neil Pryde And Cabrinah kites.
Polakow used to ride Strapper boards didn't he? I don't think Strapper exists anymore so did Strapper morth into JP-Australia and then was bought by its present owners? I personally don't really have a problem with the name even though it doesn't have much to do with Australia.
I never actually looked closely before, but my board has "JP-Austria" written down it. WTF?
Imagine if they WERE Australian.
They would be absolute shltboxes like Holden cars and offer service like Telstra.
Thank god Pryde are running the show with guidance from an Aussie - Jason Polokow.
The current owner of the trademark JP Australia (logo) is Neil Pryde Limited 20/F YKK Building Phrase 2 No. 2 San Lik Street Tuen Mun HK. They acquired the marks from Jason Nicholas Polakow XX/XX The Esplanade, TORQUAY VIC 3228 AU by Deed of Assignment dated 1 January 2004. See:http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/atmoss/falcon_details.show_tm_details?p_tm_number=807142&p_search_no=1&p_ExtDisp=D&p_detail=DETAILED&p_rec_no=43&p_rec_all=116
Jason applied to register the mark in 1999.
. JP's HQ is in Austria, Werner Gnigler is from Austria....
Something to consider. I can only talk from my experience in the consumer electronics industry - which is more or less non-existent now (I am no longer in this industry any more). Overseas manufacturers - particularly those that come from 2nd or 3rd world countries - don't play by rules. From my experience, I've cracked open a random electronic equipment (that has compliance markings on it) and found non-compliance. If these products came from an Australian company, they would be fined into oblivion. Just consider that aussie products will cost a bit more, because those companies follow rules. I think it's in our best interests to have a diverse economy; not such uranium, cattle, tourism etc.
Well if you like the boards, you like them. If you don't, you don't. They could be called anything and that would not change whether they work for u or not.
BUT I think Reflex has a valid point.
If Jason started a board brand made or at least designed or at least tested mostly here, then yes JP Australia would be a great name. But it never was, and he had been in Hawaii for 10yrs or so upon starting the brand. Thus I think it is a silly name and he should have just called it JP.
Like OES Australia. Started here, but now Rossy is in Maui a lot he has changed his logo to OES Australia-Maui. If he kept it as OES Australia nobody would really say anything as he has 15 or 20years in Oz.
Incidentally, Strapper's shaper Mike DiScasio (spelling?), in conjunction with Jason Polakow, really revolutionised wave board shapes, particularly the rocker lines, in the early to mid 1990's. As Jason's wave riding style influenced modern wavesailing greatly. So regardless of some people thinking the board brand is a silly name (like Relex and I hahhahaha) the WS world would be a lot different if JP and Mike never existed.
However I don't think JP australia has revolutionised anything...... their RWW was inspired by Starboard's EVO. Their FSW came after awesome developments by RRD and others.... and they are more freeridey and less wavey which makes a weird FSW I think. About their only major developmental contribution is they probably did the best SuperX board, good blend of speed and manoueverability ... others were to slalom oriented or too turny and slow.
IMHO
Many yanks here have this view that Australia is extreme and exotic - poisonous animals, the little they've seen of rugby on TV, strine, the desert and so on. But that would be difficult to tap into financially. It's only a fanciful view, doesn't mean they'll dish out $$ for that. For instance, it doesn't make them eat at the (rather daggy) Outback Steakhouse restaurants.
Ditto JP boards. I was trying to buy one in my recent round of purchases, but I buy Australian or Australian-pretending, in this case, only when the price is right. Was not the case.
I bought a Windguinity-sold (from Sydney), China-made sail many months ago, which I'll peddle in a couple of freestyle comps this year, with a fake AUS number. That's about it.
(One guy I know here in thems parts was saying that he a was a bit of an Aussie because he owned a JP board. Bit of a w*nker would be more like it.)
THE REAL DEAL AUSTRALIAN BOARDS
the last two boards i have bought, have been lovingly crafted in Australia by fair dincum Australian TOP blokes.
what did i get:----
a board built exactly for me, in the conditions i sail and to the ability i sail.
TOP grade build quality AND built to last with no comprimise on performance, extra re-enforcements in ALL the wright areas. (e.g shaper takes out a hammer and starts bashing the nose of the board to show you how stong it is).
100% hand built, not sure how long it takes to build a production but i know my last board took many many careful hours of work.
custom paint job
value for money - fair bit cheaper than boards from the shop.
Aussie boards built by Aussies in their Aussie Sheds
and Drops 
2 stroke and 4 stroke. Oh and Wave Guerrilla with tiger stripes.... err would that not be camo? I've never seen Guerillas wearing orange tiger stripes.....(somebody will come up with a pic now to prove me wrong hahaha)
25% of Australias' current population were born overseas !
Therefore Australia's not even 100% Australian.
I can't let that one go by. 
Telstra's service ain't too bad, it's just that everything about it is overpriced to hell!
Back off on Holdens!! (and Falcons for that matter) Their performance models stack up very well when tested in placed like the UK and the US against their domestic and imported products. They are actually unbelievable value for money for the performance, safety and utlility you get. Do some serious comparisons and you will find the same.
