Old Dog…New Trick
I’ve always liked trying new things. When I was a teenager I was attracted to rock climbing, hang gliding and of course skateboarding.
In the early days of skateboarding’s urethane rebirth there were all kinds of crazy inventions. It seemed like every new issue of SkateBoarder brought a host of wacky products, from the Skatebrake to Emotion Wheels. Granted most of these never made it in the marketplace, however, the interesting thing back then was that we actually ended up trying quite a few of these products.
These days things are a bit different. With the widespread popularity and use of online forums, we no longer have to try out new products, we can just sit in front of our computers and let self-labeled experts tell us why a certain new product is lame or couldn’t possibly work. They can do this even though they have never tried the product themselves, let alone even seen the product in person or held it in their hands.
Granted some of this posturing is due to the age of the poster, but not all of the naysayers are teenagers, some are guys my age, who have fifty years or more in their rear view mirror. Why the need to run down products that you have never tried? To me, some online forums remind me of my high school cafeteria lunch table, every one trying to be just a little cooler or smarter than the next guy.
And it’s not only new products that get shot down by these “keyboard skaters”, new ideas are not immune to the wrath. I’ve been a victim of this myself, when I posted the idea for a new slalom race format, you would have thought I suggested that we go back to riding on clay wheels. A while back I was reading a post from a young man who was thinking about skateboarding across America, it seemed there were many more people telling him why he couldn’t or shouldn’t try it, than there were people encouraging him to give it a try.
I remember thinking to myself, that I was glad that online forums didn’t exist in 1976 when myself and a group of friends decided to skateboard across America. Would we have still done it, if we had first posted our plans on an online forum? I doubt we would have listened to them, we were young, we were stoked and of course being in out late teens…we were invincible.
Which brings me to a new product I recently had the opportunity to give a try. I had seen this product in a couple of videos, and I had also followed a thread about it on an online forum. I’m speaking of the Sporting- Sail. It’s a sail/parachute type device that you can use to control your speed.
Of course, the “experts” in the forum took turns bashing it, and its maker. They spent lots of time listing the reasons why it couldn’t possibly work and how no serious downhill racer would use it, and of course how no beginner or intermediate skater should use it for a variety of reasons. The one thing they kept coming back to was the safety factor, how it would make downhill riding more dangerous. I actually had to laugh at this, most people who skate down hills do it for that exact reason…it’s dangerous. And all this bashing was being done by people who had never tried a Sporting-Sail.
Last Saturday, I met up with Billy, the maker of the SS, and a group of his friends for a moonlight ride in the hills above Santa Barbara. Granted I was bit nervous as we wound our way up the steep, curvy road that had less than stellar pavement. I was thinking to myself, I’m 52 years old and haven’t done in night time mountain road skating in quite a few years. Plus I would be using a product that I had never tried. Maybe, I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed.
After padding up and receiving some instructions from Billy on how to use the Sporting-Sail, we started down the mountain. I must admit that for the first mile or so I do more foot dragging than I did using the sail to slow me down. As I became more comfortable with how the SS worked, my foot dragging lessened quite a bit. I played around with how much I need to open the sail to slow me down, I also discovered that the sail didn’t impede by regular skating movements at all. I was having a blast.
Unfortunately, a fellow skater’s board got away from him and ran under my board causing me to take a tumble, I ended up bruising a rib and had to retire for the evening.
I was stoked on how well the SS worked and I am looking forward to giving it another go.
Thank you Billy for showing this old dog a new trick.
Full Disclosure: You may have noticed that Sporting -Sails is an advertiser on The Skateboarder's Journal. With the seven-figure deal we just signed I am now posting this blog from my new Swiss Alps chalet that may only be reached by a four mile long freshly paved driveway. Life is good.
In the early days of skateboarding’s urethane rebirth there were all kinds of crazy inventions. It seemed like every new issue of SkateBoarder brought a host of wacky products, from the Skatebrake to Emotion Wheels. Granted most of these never made it in the marketplace, however, the interesting thing back then was that we actually ended up trying quite a few of these products.
These days things are a bit different. With the widespread popularity and use of online forums, we no longer have to try out new products, we can just sit in front of our computers and let self-labeled experts tell us why a certain new product is lame or couldn’t possibly work. They can do this even though they have never tried the product themselves, let alone even seen the product in person or held it in their hands.
Granted some of this posturing is due to the age of the poster, but not all of the naysayers are teenagers, some are guys my age, who have fifty years or more in their rear view mirror. Why the need to run down products that you have never tried? To me, some online forums remind me of my high school cafeteria lunch table, every one trying to be just a little cooler or smarter than the next guy.
And it’s not only new products that get shot down by these “keyboard skaters”, new ideas are not immune to the wrath. I’ve been a victim of this myself, when I posted the idea for a new slalom race format, you would have thought I suggested that we go back to riding on clay wheels. A while back I was reading a post from a young man who was thinking about skateboarding across America, it seemed there were many more people telling him why he couldn’t or shouldn’t try it, than there were people encouraging him to give it a try.
I remember thinking to myself, that I was glad that online forums didn’t exist in 1976 when myself and a group of friends decided to skateboard across America. Would we have still done it, if we had first posted our plans on an online forum? I doubt we would have listened to them, we were young, we were stoked and of course being in out late teens…we were invincible.
Which brings me to a new product I recently had the opportunity to give a try. I had seen this product in a couple of videos, and I had also followed a thread about it on an online forum. I’m speaking of the Sporting- Sail. It’s a sail/parachute type device that you can use to control your speed.
Of course, the “experts” in the forum took turns bashing it, and its maker. They spent lots of time listing the reasons why it couldn’t possibly work and how no serious downhill racer would use it, and of course how no beginner or intermediate skater should use it for a variety of reasons. The one thing they kept coming back to was the safety factor, how it would make downhill riding more dangerous. I actually had to laugh at this, most people who skate down hills do it for that exact reason…it’s dangerous. And all this bashing was being done by people who had never tried a Sporting-Sail.
Last Saturday, I met up with Billy, the maker of the SS, and a group of his friends for a moonlight ride in the hills above Santa Barbara. Granted I was bit nervous as we wound our way up the steep, curvy road that had less than stellar pavement. I was thinking to myself, I’m 52 years old and haven’t done in night time mountain road skating in quite a few years. Plus I would be using a product that I had never tried. Maybe, I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed.
After padding up and receiving some instructions from Billy on how to use the Sporting-Sail, we started down the mountain. I must admit that for the first mile or so I do more foot dragging than I did using the sail to slow me down. As I became more comfortable with how the SS worked, my foot dragging lessened quite a bit. I played around with how much I need to open the sail to slow me down, I also discovered that the sail didn’t impede by regular skating movements at all. I was having a blast.
Unfortunately, a fellow skater’s board got away from him and ran under my board causing me to take a tumble, I ended up bruising a rib and had to retire for the evening.
I was stoked on how well the SS worked and I am looking forward to giving it another go.
Thank you Billy for showing this old dog a new trick.
Full Disclosure: You may have noticed that Sporting -Sails is an advertiser on The Skateboarder's Journal. With the seven-figure deal we just signed I am now posting this blog from my new Swiss Alps chalet that may only be reached by a four mile long freshly paved driveway. Life is good.
Add a Comment
-
Comment by Joshua Lee Sears on November 6, 2009 at 11:44pm -
Brother...rock on!!! Not about the tumble, but about the freedom you got to feel. I'm a bomber myself...just getting into tricks again since I was in 7th grade. I recently started landing the popshuvit again while in motion, and I am working on the half cab...on my from porch...landed it standing still. When I make it back to Cali I am going to look up the SS guys for sure.
Keep up the good work Billy!!!
Josh
-
Comment by Joel Crawley on October 13, 2009 at 8:00am - I'm sure this would work and work well. Heck I know I can pull a Guy Grundy and stand up and hold my arms out enough to slow me down. I'm sure holding a much larger surface behind me would slow me even more. My only reservation is the cost. $100? Ouch.
-
Comment by Greg Olsen on October 12, 2009 at 8:26pm -
Thanks for not flaming me Billy! I probably invited it with that comment ... but I really like your sail and will likely order one soon. The flapping and the cape-like appearance are the aesthetic issues I was thinking about. That it works so well is ultimately the greatest benefit but a cleaner airflow like that of a fully inflated parasail that doesn't look so ...silly .... in use would be preferred and would likely make the product 'cooler' and more successful. I think it is a really important invention. But some of the negative comments on some of the You Tube videos you have out there suggest that the 'cape' aspect is damaging to the appearance of the product in use, The materials and craftsmanship look fine. I am thinking a variably vented parasail would do the trick as well...maybe it can be your next iteration??
Greg
-
Comment by SPORTING-SAILS on October 12, 2009 at 12:03pm -
Hi Greg,
I am not going to post anything after this, but I am curious as to your remarks regarding "aesthetics." Understand from your profile you are an industrial designer...please elaborate as I am very interested in your insights on how we can better the design.
As of now, the design of the SPORTING-SAIL is as simple and functional as it gets - using on the best materials available for its application - nothing more. I can say this truthfully as I work full-time at Patagonia, Inc. in the Ventura, CA Headquarters designing and developing products, fabrics and trims for various surf/sport related products. The SPORTING-SAIL has been tested in the lab and in the field for years and at the present, there is nothing more to take away from its design. Logos and silkscreens were never our idea of making the design more aesthetically pleasing.
Our approach to "clean downhill skateboarding" is a philospohy - much like a "clean climber" ascending the face of a mountain properly (without ever dropping a knee). The SPORTING-SAIL encourages the rider to cleanly descend the mountain without ever dragging hands and feet on the street
Footbraking and hand-slides are great and very effective, yes. We enjoy them too (preferably stand-up slides), but find sliding pucks to be wasteful at times. Teflon, leather work gloves, PVC based Gorrilla glue, rubber shoes, urethane wheels, convetional cotton clothing and human skin is expensive, energy intensive and not very environmentally sound resources to simply - slow down or brake on a skateboard. *I lost my left tricep from a severe surf accident in 2003 and cannot properly "lay-out" a full coleman anymore. Deploying is very efficient, easy and serves all my needs to be seen charging steeper hills on more responsive set-ups in a more controlled/stand-up manner.
Lastly, we all were deeply disappointed with the outcome of Jack's tumble. The skateboarder was inexperienced (sail or no sail) and was a guest of the group who was interested in trying something new. Like surfing without a leash - proper skateboarding ediquette was not discussed as he strapped on his helmet/pads and took off down the hill...
For your reference: Certain videos have been removed from our website.
Thank you for your comments and hopefully one day we can share this fun together. Until the day comes when skateboarders can afford to create paved "summer ski-resorts" I will continue to skateboard with a sail. It is the safest and easiest way to manage speed, increase stability and be seen by traffic. In addition, its most fun doing it with friends!
Respectfully yours,
Billy Smith
-
Comment by Greg Olsen on October 12, 2009 at 10:57am
-
Braking is a really long sought after feature for skateboarding. The art of sliding is an amazing innovation invented to achieve braking but I think it is only really performed by an elite of really talented skaters. At least I cannot and probably will not ever be able to do it. The sail and the way the inventor use itis really interesting and effective if somewhat aesthetically deficient. A more scientifically designed drouge chute or parasail like device might look better and even perform better. But maybe that is their next step.
The fact that one of their crew wiped you out seems consistent with the irresponsible riding they demonstrate in the videos posted on their site. Unbelievable. It is almost enough to make me completeyly reject themif the device itself did not provide so many benefits.
Greg Olsen
-
Comment by Lou Statman on October 11, 2009 at 8:09pm - Well you do live in that swanky hillside pad overlooking ...your estate.
About
Please Support Our Sponsors
TSJ Donates 5% Of All Ad Revenue To Board Rescue
© 2009 Created by Jack Smith on Ning. Create Your Own Social Network
You need to be a member of Skateboarder's Journal to add comments!
Join this social network