About SBT
Take care and protect your boards at all times
The Surfboard Tracker, SBT for short, should rest close to the hearts of all surfers globally, the SBT is a very simple piece of technology that enables people to have the details of their board logged on a database by the shaper when a surfboard made. So primarily the risk of theft will be reduced, there are other benefits including theft insurance home and overseas with the ability to have your board replicated from the file if a successful claim on the SBT system has been realised.as well as it being a marketing tool for surfboard manufacturers to keep in touch with surfers who rider their boards..
The technology works by having the SBT inserted deep within the board, when the board is finished, the SBT unique non-sequential code is recorded on a database along with the other information like, owners details, as the board is sold on new users can register their ownership which will then show up stolen equipment the world over through one system. The registration of a board includes many different details including, make model, shaper, blank, fin systems, dimensions, and special features .
History
So behind this simple but effective technology we have a chap by the name of Andrew Smith, from South Wales, UK. Andrew's original idea was driven from the theft of his entire quiver of surfboards whilst on a family surfing holiday in France, there will be many people who can empathise with this sort of callous crime, with the rapid growth of online market places it has become ever easier to flog stolen goods without ever having to show your face. If it hasn't happened to you already imagine having arrived at your surfing destination and being robbed after the first day, initially your holiday may be ruined as you may not have the spare cash to supplement a new board, then you get home to find out your budget insurance doesn't cover for the entire loss and by now your board has probably been sold on! It is with this scenario and actual experience that Andrew and sat down and came up SBT..
Having previously worked in IT and telecommunications, Andrew wasn't about to jump in head first to a new career without seriously thinking it through and working out some sort of feasibility, having a family including three kids to support is a lot of responsibility. Deciding that it could work the family (all surfers) set about putting the wheels in motion, in April 2006 they tested the water and by June 2007 the product was on sale. Using his experience in his past career Andrew has managed to put together a structured company with design, marketing and sales channels that has enabled the sales so far with exports to the US, AUS, Brazil and Europe. SBT has sponsored several surf and SUP events over the last twelve months in the UK, and is looking to expand its reach as the system becomes more popular with surfers and shapers.
What is interesting about the development of SBT as a company in a hugely fickle surf industry and difficult times is that Andrew is just your average surfer, he has travelled a bit, did a regular day job, has a family, was never into contests, he just happened to love surfing and suffered badly.
Development
Andrew has managed to crack the door open to a potentially huge niche in the market, having already put his attention to the US through the Surfexpo, Florida and has managed to gain the interest of industry godfathers and bigwigs including Channel Island Dewey Webber, Mark Phipps, Mike Eaton and Surftech, in fact even the ISA (International Surfing Association) have fully endorsed the product in line with their bid to create a better surfing future. Andrew regularly receives calls from these types of people because they are interested in using his technology, imagine having heard of these names all your life and then the moment you get into the industry they are beating down your door, not a bad start for a surf company.
Closer to home initial supporters of the technology was Chops from Beach Beat in St Agnes, working with Chops and the Laminations factory was one of the first milestones of having reputable brands interested, if one company can see the benefit then why not all of them? The very fact that a global insurer has lodged its interest for the insurance aspect speaks volumes and many more shapers are starting to use the SBT system.
One of the traits of SBT that gives it such a big chance is that it is encouraging one of our sports fading qualities, our community. Many years ago before over commercialisation the sport relied hugely on its community feel where surfers could identify with each other based on their shared love of the ocean. SBT may help to bring back the community ethics and values by tackling a heinous crime, stealing a surfer's board, this is an obvious appeal in the surfing world of over 20 million surfers as we know it.
Protection
Another area of use for SBT which, is more relevant to the industry of surfboard shapers, is protecting licensing issues. Until now if there were an individual that wanted to knock out counterfeit boards and sell them in your local surf shop, would you be able to spot the difference? The truth is that by having boards made on the sly in deepest darkest China for a fraction of the price complete with fake decals that are mirror images of the real thing can enable con artists to flog them off online as the genuine article, with SBT embedded in all top brand boards you could ask for the code first and check it through the database, also you would expect to receive the certificate of authenticity when purchasing the board. This element of fraud is not to be confused however with legitimate operations in China such as the Cobra factory who produce Surftech or Resin 8's production facility but it is a very real situation happening all the time, the technology behind SBT could wipe this out and surfboard theft altogether as people just wouldn't be able to sell stolen or counterfeit boards anywhere.
The technology is not only available in new boards but you can also have The SBT Retro Fit implanted in your current board via an approved SBT dealer.
Andrew's dedication to this product is evident with his 24-hour operation enabling him to negotiate deals in real time with companies in the US, Australia and South America, Andrew has identified a very real problem and found a simple solution. The seemingly amazing thing about SBT is that it has been started by an individual and ordinary surfer with very little working knowledge of the surf industry and all its politics, this it seems is testament to the ingenuity and potential demand of the product.
