Spotz, it's over.

[windmaker]

Just heard that one of the true pioneers and biggest names in foilboarding Spotz has shut down their activity. Shame their latest model the Shark was doing really well...

[gmb13]

Damn. That sucks. Are you sure? Where did yo get the information from?


--
Gunnar

[windmaker]

Damn. That sucks. Are you sure? Where did yo get the information from?


--
Gunnar

They haven't been answering mails or phones for weeks. A friend got in touch with one of their now ex employees who confirmed what a few suspected. Shame they made true quality performance foils good foil riders could appreciate, not the pos Cabrinha/Naish/LF etc you now get in the market.

[revhed]

they made true quality performance foils good foil riders could appreciate, not the pos Cabrinha/Naish/LF

I might add P O S in caps!
R H

[BraCuru]

this is very sad news if confirmed.
Hope NOT!

[cglazier]

Spotz made some of the best foils a few years ago but lately they just weren't winning races. And now the biggest market seems to be for less expensive and easy to use foils these days.. a product that Spotz does not offer.
I had the Spotz 1 and then the Spotz 2 and I look back wth fond memories of them.

Too bad.

CG

[Peter_Frank]

True CG.

Some years ago they had one season where the Spotz was considered THE fastest of all foils, around a course. With season I mean spring-summer-autumn here in Europe.

My friend James actually rode 73 km/h (just over 45 mph or close to 40 knots) on that one back then, amazing

After that period Spotz and Taaroa was neck and neck as far as I remember, one faster downwind, the other faster upwind, evening out.

Now there are a few more offering top racefoils, but still a tough market, because many of the best riders get discounts, and the top riders are PR.
And those "wannabee" racers, not racing much or any, but loving the speed and performance, often buy the used gear from racers (at least here), because you get extreme value for money this way with top notch half a season max one season used only
So it is those between who pays full price, so a smaller amount

The majority of kitesurfers, nowadays where it is not a niche market but more mainstream, want "allround" foils, whether that is fast ones, really slow surfing ones, or something in between.
Some want low cost foils, others want quality.
This market is what almost every brand want to take a cake of now - as there are loads of buyers, opposite to racing gear where there are buyers too but not nearly the same amount, so a really difficult business

A shame if Spotz "is no longer"

PF

[juandesooka]

Interesting observations. Who knows what their situation is. I know a lot of surfboard makers are a subsistence business at best ... if anything, they might be more an art studio, where the shaper follows his passions, gets paid enough to survive but that's about it. So, once the passion wears off, and they tire of subsistence life, then time to get a real job, etc. Could be some of that maybe?

But also market issues ... 5 years ago, if it wasn't a carbon space rocket, then it was a "POS". So the makers chased that goal of the fastest and the lightest, and the early adopters seemed willing to pay extraordinary prices. Some were racers. Some were more yachty types who appreciate quality and willing to pay for it. Then came along LF cheap price super heavy and slow foils for the masses. And guys like Greg Drexler blowing people's minds on what can be done on these heavy slower foils. The market pyramid grew a new base ... the top still there for the elite, but the foundation now is the mid range, where there are 100s maybe 1000s of buyers, not dozens. Seems to me that a company these days will either need to stay on top of building something truly elite, to win that high end market, or better be financing that elite product with a mountain of lesser vehicles for the masses.

Back to surfboards: you have 10 big name companies that probably sell 90% of the boards, made in China with CNCs, but their pro riders don't ride off the rack, they still get specialty custom boards with the big name stickers on them. Though there are still a whole bunch of back yard artisans scraping by, until they decide enough's enough and throw in the towel.

Interesting times.

[windmaker]

Yes when Spotz started making foils there was maybe 5 foil manufacturers world wide, now their are over 30. Back then innovation and performance was key nowadays just copy (badly) and make it cheap, someone will buy it.