Jan 2001 Expo...This years expo was a lot of fun...actually a lot more business than fun. Custom X has a very hot line coming out as usual...talking about customx thier riders are doing really good. Keith and Dave Cuniff put out a nice booth..be on the lookout for their new stuff..its HOT. Saw the Project boards which look very good also. BZ had a TON of stuff on their floor, all new models coming out, they have streamlined the east coast line where they have dropped some of their models. Pekar is still doing their stuff and doing it well.. BSD is looking really good as usual. Candy had a pretty good selection, which is cool to cater specially to the girls.Cartel is back in force with their 5 star, Meyers and Robbie Gall's. Challenger is back in the show with very good stuff too.T & C looked good also. Most of the riders were absent as the Pipeline was going on that week. Redley had their booth as usual, with Ross manning the ship. Wave Rebel has come out with a "cleaner" line of boards and have dropped the Botha model (Im sure you will hear or read about it soon). Anthony was around and showed me the new Industry boards, you wouldnt expect less from X Man and PMA. Talking about them, they have a hot contest with like 5000 dollars prize. E-mail me if you want more info. Energy Board Works is another line to look at. I sat with Brian Peterson and took "secret" look at whats coming out, he has been shaping for Mike Stewart for a while. He is one of the top shapers and it shows.
There are a couple of things that I want to talk about: 1. ION bodyboards. Their design is very very unique, I have ridden them and they are hot. Now they have a 41 and 42 inch model. The team is also becoming really good..Hansberger just got picked up with ION, joining Jacob Reeve.
The award for most improved goes to : MOREY. Oh boy do they look good!!!!! they are definitely not "toys" anymore. I think Danny Romine deserves to be recognized for bringing the stuff back to where we want it to be...All the New Zealand products look pretty solid...look at their web site for more.....or keep reading the mags. The boards are solid in construction and materials.
Id like to thank my sponsors Zeal optics, ION bodyboards and Churchill fins.
old news
Well as usual the expo was a success. Myself, Kainoa McGee, Jorge Figueroa and Brandon Silva from B Wear arrived after having Kainoas promo at Sids in the morning. The promo went well with autographed posters, B wear clothing giveaways, stickers and general chat session.
The expo was good...got my copy of the Cabo issue which is sick..saw the boards by BZ, which look really good, and with our old friend Scott pekar showing the goods. Custom X had all the new lines, nice looking boards, and fins, there we hung out with Dave Cunniff and Keith Gressik, which as ususal treated us killer!!! thanks guys...Stopped by Mark Dale's TC booth and as ususal they have a very good quality product. BSD, Manta and Cartel had a killer booth with the new lines on display, by the way there are some more new Manta models coming out, specially , my friends Shawn Lennon's model.
The skate ramp was good as ususal, with a 5000 prize for the sunday contest..they killed it!!!!!. Pato Banton show was cool , sponsored by Kahlua, Quicksilver and Edgewise sports...Edgewise is now getting into boyboarding, which is good for the industry...they are huge in south america. Plenty nice looking girls, and of course had to get my Reef girl poster.
The highlight of our trip was watching Aaron Changs slide show, with free Heineken beer to go with it...oh my God, if you think youve seen every surf picture there is, wait until some of these get published...thanks to ACPAW, and Surfing magazine. My other highlight was going with my bruddahs to the polynesian review at Disney World....thanks Bro I owe you one!!!!. Apart from that...cant tell you much, ;lots of fun at the hotel....have to thank everyone there, both at expo and the hotel: Lisa, Melanie, Jenny, Lindsey, Nathan, Ted, Paul, Jorge, Kainoa, Brandon, Brian Hinton, Danny Romine, Scott Pekar, Johnny Boy Gomes, Ian Robb, Jc Chandler, Shawn lennon, Dan Worley, Aaron, Bobby Quinones, Peter Alicea, all my brothers from the Island..(see you in a month)we all made it a memorable expo...to be remembered for a long time...see you at the January show..boyz and girlz.
Luis Rivera
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