The Surfboard Warehouse uses Netflix model to market fins

The Surfboard Warehouse in Tampa, Fla., has introduced a program called Finatic, in which they use the Netflix movie rental model to allow surfers to rent up to three fins at a time.

As with Netflix, you can keep the fins indefinitely, as long as you pay the $40 monthly fee. Here's a description of the program from the site:

Pick the top three fin sets that you’d like to test – don’t worry, you can change your top three at any time! After picking your top three, you’ll receive a set within just a few days. Keep the fins AS LONG AS YOU WANT. SURF on them WHEREVER you want.

When you’re done testing the fins simply send them in back in the prepaid envelope provided. Once we receive the fins back, we will ship out your next set of fins! ALL SHIPPING IS COVERED BY THE MONTHLY FEE

Soutce: Hacking Netflix

K5 Boardshops: 3rd nomination for SIMA Image Award

Today marks the end of voting for the Surf Industry Manufacturing Assn.'s SIMA Image Awards. There are five nominees in each of 15 categories, including Breakthrough Retailer of the Year.

K5 Boardshops in San Diego County is a nominee in the breakthrough retail category. Other stores nominated are BC Surf & Sport of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Quiet Flight, Universal City Walk in Orlando, Fla.; Revolution, Camarillo, Calif.; and Surfside Sports in Costa Mesa, Calif.

In addition to surf equipment, the store also sells skate and snowboarding equipment, and too many lines of action sports clothing and gear to name. I asked K5 owner Jurgen Schulz why he believes his store was nominated.

"I believe our biggest assets are working hard, not being afraid to change, and actually living the lifestyle," Schulz answered in an email.

Founded in 1987, K5 has two 10,000-square foot stores--the original in Encinitas, five kilometers from the ocean (hence the name K5), one in Poway, and a new 8500 square-foot store in Oceanside. K5.com, the hugely successful online store, has also recently been moved to a separate facility in Oceanside.

This is the third time in the last five years K5 has been an SIMA Image Award nominee, an honor Schulz says the chain earned "simply providing great customer service, developing great relationships with our vendors, and being involved on a grassroots level with our community."

To be nominated, a retailer must have 15 or fewer brick and mortar U.S. stores, and have experienced growth in 2007 in terms of sales and increased store recognition and appeal.

Check out other SIMA Image Award categories, criteria, and nominating/voting process here.

Nominees for all categories are here.

Winners will be announced in the live ceremony at Surf Summit on May 11 in Cabo.

BREAKING NEWS: Federal judge allows one more week to settle Hatteras lawsuit

The Associated Press reports that a federal judge has given environmentalists and national park officials another week to settle a lawsuit over off-road vehicles on the Outer Banks.

Airshow creator brought onboard to re-launch JC Hawaii brand

JC Hawaii surfboards are on the way back, with Newport Beach surfer-editor-entrepreneur Skip Snead now onboard as veep for sales and marketing.

Snead, former editor of Surfing Magazine, was recruited by owner and shaping legend John Carper to re-launch the brand with a new advertising campaign, new team riders, a new website, and dealer incentives.

"The new boards I'm seeing from JC are some of the most beautiful surfboards I have ever seen," says Snead. "And the team riders, from Shane Dorian to Sean Moody to Josh Hoyer are stoked as well."

Having recently run a licensing business with Mattel and Disney Consumer Products, Snead says he once again got the itch to get back into the surf industry.

His most notable contribution to surfing was when he and fellow surfer Shawn Barney Barron invented the on- or above-the-lip "airshow" surfing contest. He was also consulting producer for a Fox action sports series.

Huge East Coast surf expo targets consumers

Set for July 12-13 at the Daytona Beach Resort and Conference Center, this expo is not for surf industry hotshots...it's the auto and boat show of the surf world!

The Boards & Waves website announces:

TWO BIG DAYS to touch, feel, and inspect the latest surfboards, fins, blanks, and accessories from the surf industry's top shapers & manufacturers.

With today's diversity and complexity of boards, foam, and fins, you, the consumer, need more information before you buy a new surfboard.

The Boards & Waves Expo will allow you the unique opportunity to talk face-to-face with surfing's top shapers, fin designers, foam manufacturers, local surf retailers, pro and amateur surfers, and more in a fun, friendly, and informative environment.

In addition to an exhibit room full of state-of-the-art surfing products and services (check out the most current list of exhibitors), there will be consumer-oriented events like shaping demos, painting and artwork demos, and question and answer sessions with shapers. And there will be surfboard giveaways.

The coolest part of all this...admission is FIVE BUCKS!

Surfrider Foundation OBX Chapter urges balance in Hatteras dispute

Supporting preservation while realizing that an offroad vehicle ban could be detrimental to the economy of the Hatteras National Seashore area, the Outer Banks Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation says it believes that "a balance between access and preservation can be achieved."

The statement on the home page of the OBX Chapter's web site reads:

The Outer Banks Chapter implores all parties involved in this issue to find a balance between access, protection and preservation. We recommend managing access of these areas through a combination of permitting, limiting the number of vehicles, and closures when necessary to protect the migratory species that use this area seasonally. The Outer Banks Chapter of Surfrider Foundation supports protection and preservation, and in this unique situation does support the reasonable use of ORVs to allow public access to this area.

New motorcycle surf rack lands an article in the Daily Breeze

Last June, Captain Red, aka David Saber of Redondo Beach, broke his leg when he rolled his Harley. Necessity is the mother of invention, so he invented a rack to carry his crutches on his bike.

After he realized the rack could also be used to carry surfboards, he began marketing the device as the Surfer Peg.

Saber managed to get some decent publicity for his invention yesterday in the Daily Breeze.

Surfers courted by British high-speed trains after being shunned by British Airways

BBC reports that high-speed train routes to the UK surfing mecca of Newquay are welcoming passengers who bring their surfboards along.

CrossCountry Trains will run two nine-coach trains between Manchester and Newquay and two seven-coach trains from Newcastle.

The Saturday services, from May to September, are aimed at bringing holidaymakers to the county.

The trains will have large luggage carriages to accommodate surfboards, but bicycles will not be carried.

Smart move, since British Airways banned surfboards last November.

(BBC photo)

'Very large' Internet company making plans to webcast pro surfing, radio hosts say

Word in the industry is that “a very large Internet company” is making plans to webcast the World Championship Tour, and is going to “shake things up a lot.” The arrangement was discussed on Sunday morning by Scott Bass and Marty Thomas, co-hosts of radio talk show Down the Line, which airs Sunday mornings on XTRA Sports 1360-AM in San Diego.

Early rumors included AOL as a possibility, but the two radio hosts left listeners guessing as to which company might be gearing up to do the webcasts. The discussion starts at 5:35 into the broadcast. Listen here.

Shark tale or fish story: you decide

The nonprofit Shark Research Committee logged a couple of recent shark incidents in Huntington Beach--including one believed to be an adult Great White, and another in San Onofre.

One at the stretch of the Huntington Cliffs know as Dog Beach was reported on March 7 as follows:

At about 8:00 AM, I caught my best wave of the session, and even and...I wanted one more. I paddled back out and was sitting in the lineup alone... I was waiting for a set for about 5 minutes when I felt a jolt down on the tail of my board, immediately followed by violent bubble cascade, which sunk the board down about another 8 inches. I didn’t really get what was going on as quickly as I should have, but as soon as it begun it had ended and I was apparently alone again. A wave popped up, I paddled into it but pearled because of the water in the nose of my board, I quickly got back on and paddled into the whitewater of the next wave and boogie boarded it to the beach where I emptied the board through the apparent bite mark. The diameter of the bite (see photo) suggests an adult White Shark in excess of 15 feet in length.

Not so, say HB lifeguards. The OC Register quotes lifeguard Steve Reuder as saying, “We’re watching the water everyday. We’re not seeing anything like that.” Reuder surmises the sighting is a hoax to scare away non-locals.

Did I hear someone say deadly saltwater snakes?"