Well on on that vid that Gonewindsurfing posted I couldn't help noticing that at about 1 min 06 to 1.07 www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=36176
the board JP is showing off is a Qattro painted up as a JP !!! It's got the Kieth's sticker on it and looks like "for Jason" written on it.
Shattered!!!!
Kauli I could almost forgive due to his situation re the transfer but Jason?????
I've seen a lot of video's with jason hanging around The Cannery with the boys and lots of pro's use quatro painted up to look like their sponsor's brand.
Guess you could say a JP board is just a fragile version of a Quatro 
Every pro rider except those that ride for Naish sail quattro custom boards. If you go to the quattro factory in maui they have the favourite rocker lines for all the pros leaning up against the wall in the shapping room with names like levi siver, jason polakow etc...etc.. and they also have piles of stickers from JP, Mistral, Starboard etc etc
it's because the rip, sailed my new "08" 84 wave today, got it yesterday, best thing i've ever ridden buy far..
well pictures never lie.
for shame but on the bright side if you had to go with another brand he did choose the best
Who cares if he uses quattro. I use mach3. When i'm on holidays i don't use nothing. But i am hardcore after all.
the way boards evolve is that pro windsurfers often have templates with various shapers and they work on improving characteristics of specific shapes as an ongoing thing.
that is how things improve. maui is a very small community windsurfing wise.
the cannery is incestuous.
and then every board company gets it's models churned out of thailand.
What's wrong with mentioning that lots of pro's use Quatro customs with other logos?
Production boards could not possibly be as radical as pro athletes wanted them to be, and a production series could not possibly cover the different riding style of every athlete.
Most pro's live or spend their time on Maui, and the Quatro shaping room is also on Maui.
The guys are at the beach all the time, they know everyone, so they just work it out.
How else you think new designs filter down through to main manufacturers ?
Pro's ride cutting edge boards and go through them at rapid rate.
I see pro riders bringing 3 or more boards with them... even for short trip.
New boards... a big quiver every year and many are being braking or sold off at end of trip.
As Rick say, most pros live in maui, Quatro main custom factory in maui so is all Mahallo Mahalloo
I scratch my new Quatro and it say JP underneath
I can't believe people think that riders such as Jason are actually using the stock model.
Now stop it
next you will tell me Casey Stoner does not ride a factory Duccati
If everyone could sail like Polakow and Kauli everyone would be on the same board as them, not something detunned for the 'average' sailor
But I thought Bombora were still making all the best boards
Bugger!!!!!! Thats going to de-value my Tri-fin
I understand the argument re pros needing custom boards. My argument however is that if Jason needs a custom board it should be a JP custom board not a Quatro custom board. If all pros are riding boards from the one shaper then we are all being duped. Is the industry so lame that there is only one shaper in the world worth going to? The shaper in my opinion should be independant and have no alliance to any one brand!!!!!!!!
Imagine Honda winning the F1 but saying we borrowed a Ferrari engine. Do you think the #hit would hit the fan?
Gonewindsurfing i think you missing the point... none of these guys are using production boards.
They are all different with unique styles and likes and dis-likes.
A custom board is designed specifically for 1 rider to use while production boards are designed for 10's of thousands of people to use.
Some of the designs, rocker, concaves, vee ect ect filter down from custom boards into the mainstream production boards.
All these pros might be riding shapes from the one shaper but they are ALL very different boards.
They are ALL custom boards... even the Quatro production boards are NOTHING like the Quatro customs.
These guys will go through dozens of boards in a season searching for what works right. Their manufacturer shapers (Richard Green for JP) then takes all this data and puts it into a shape that can be produced and USED for the mainstream market.
The important thing to remember here is that the boards are being shaped to extremely specific guidelines to suit not just a riders style, but different conditions as well for THAT particular rider.
These subtle changes are what is filtered down to produce the best possible 'production' version.
The location of the shaping bay in Maui (not taking anything away from Keith's obviously gifted shaping skills) plays a big part in the current situation.
Back in the late 80's I used to watch Anders Bringdal and Willem Bleua modify and test Gaastra sails. I was lucky enough to get hold of one of these sails and the only thing on it that was made by Gaastra was the sticker !
The sail was one of the best slalom sails I ever used... but sadly being a custom it was never designed for long use/long life.
Getting back to topic, your current board... be it Starboard, Mistral, F2, JP and/or Quatro productions boards, are all designed with input and feedback from team riders.
The result is a board 'produced' by the manufacturer with input from these riders but is NO WAY a replica or copy of the pro team rider's board because the market the production boards of the world are aimed at do not have the skill (in general) to ride them.
The big brands do not make 20 or 30 boards a season... they make thousands of boards.
The volume of their production dictates that the board/s need to be attractive and usable by the general windsurfing market not just elite riders. THis is simple business practice for sure yar ?
