Town and Country Surfboards 2024 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: 2024 Surfboards Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Town & Country Surf Designs
Interviewee: Wilco Prins, Président

To a certain extent, the surfboard market relies on custom-made products and on demand manufacturing. Does this means the business is relatively spared from the poor sell-out and overstocks reported in other boardsport categories?
Our business model is mainly focused on custom orders and we only produce what we have on order. This keeps the customers happy and the market clean. This is not the reality for the brands which ship containers into Europe and there are still a lot of products in the market. I believe this will continue for at least 2024.

While the board offer has never been so wide nowadays, which were the top trends of 2023?
Overall our twins & grovellers were very strong during the spring and summer season, the Sinr, the Saint and HRT were the winners. Waves have been good this winter and we had a lot of demand for step up boards in barelling waves. Glenn Pang is second in the shapers’ ranking after Hawaii, so if you need a good board that holds in good waves, GP is the way to go.

There is a noticeable step-back from competitive surfing: did this affect the sales of high-perf models?
The main trend is that people are buying more and more boards which allow them to have the most fun. If this is for a good surfer in good waves, he or she is most likely going for a high performance shortboard. There are also the handful of good surfers that will go for a more alternative shape even in good waves. The average or good surfer in average waves is more and more choosing the board that is adapted to his or her surfing in not so good conditions. These are obviously boards that are more foregiving that allow you to generate speed and draw certain lines. It is more about adapting the tools to the situation than a noticeable step-back from competitive surfing.

There is no arguing: twins and midlengths still are crowd favorites. But which will be the trends within those two trends in 2024?
Next to the all time favourites, The Saint and Sinr, T&C will have a number of boards that allow the fun and foregiveness, with a twist of performance such as the Nomad, the new Glenn Pang twin pin with a bit more rocker for better conditions, as well as the Makani Missing Link.

After the release of the Channel Islands Mid, the launch of the CI Log is a clear indicator of the appetite for classic longboards, outside the perimeter of niche hype brands. How is your longboard game for 2024?
Making a longboard is like surfing a longboard, anyone can do it, but only a few people can do it very well. Tommy Tanaka can do shape them very well. The 25 years of shaping, allowed Tommy Tanaka to develop a range of high performance longboards adapted to all type of waves for a great number of the world’s best longboarders. From the Pro Model for the surfer who wants to be able surf radical and still ride the nose, to the Town a great all rounder, to the Beach Boy, the perfect single nose rider for those beautiful summer days.

There are two main paths when it comes to sustainable surfboards: the eco blanks & resins, or the low-waste vacuum-made EPS boards. What is your take on the matter?
There is a great jump new materials that more respectfull of the environment which become more and more performant. We are lucky to work with Johnny Cabianca and Mikel Agote of Basque country surf. They make our boards for Europe and they are always on the forefront of trying to find a more sustainable solution. We are launching a board with Johnny under the T&C Surf Designs label this year, which will use an eco-blank and resin.

Key Products:

Glenn Pang’s take on the modern twin:
The Nomad features a soft wing and thumb tail to allow the board some release over the more pulled in twin pins. The concaves come from the same DNA as the SINR but more refined. Glenn added rocker to allow later, steeper drops while maintaining drive and control in the pocket. If you have a SINR treat the nomad like your twin shortboard. It should be ordered as your normal shortboard dims or 1′-2′ shorter and 1/8th to 1/2″ wider.

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One of the most versatile Makani Designs:
This board can be ridden by surfers of all skill levels, shapes and sizes. Volume down the center line with a tuned, tapered rail, makes for easy paddle and acceleration but keeps you connected to the wave. Works well in hollow waves as well as mushy conditions. This will be your go to board for all seasons. Easy paddle, easy ride, enjoy surfing again.

MiniBeast-Jagged-Top

The Glide is a fun, easy to ride:
Small long board shape. It has a full outline with a narrow round pintail allowing the board to carry it’s own speed but still turn on a dime. It has a concave nose fading to a rolled vee in the center, to vee off the tail.

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