#haveplanerwilltravel - IT

Italy is one of the most beautiful places I’ve surfed and shaped. Having studied art history at uni with a focus on Renaissance Art, it presented a unique way to bring together so many of the things I’m passionate about. As you’ll see in the photos below, the waves can be downright beautiful. Combine that with the food and culture…truly a unique experience.

Unfortunately, I had to cancel my collaboration with the Italian shop I was working with: the result of problems with poor glassing quality, some of the worst customer treatment I’ve seen and censorship of an interview I gave with Italy’s largest surf magazine. Furthermore, initially agreeing to the collaboration took place under the guise of the shop telling me they were US Blanks’ official Italian dealer. This turned out to be a lie and something US Blanks was not aware of (at no fault of their own). The consequences of this extend beyond just poor workmanship: it gave the italian shop unvetted, unapproved access to use Bruce Jones IP in their webshop’s marketing. This binds the Bruce Jones name to search engine results connected to the italian shop’s wepsite. For me this is untenable especially given the amount of slander I’ve faced since stopping the collaboration.

Since the covid pandemic there has been an influx of surfboard brands. Professionals giving up their careers to cross off a bucket list item: becoming a surfboard shaper. Social media provides a path to quickly promote a pristine image which doesn’t always agree with the experience level or reality. In my opinion, this is exactly what happened in Italy: a few excited individuals with little experience who, under pressure, chose to try to save face…I guess for the sake of the image they’re were developing.

I’m not writing this to complain, but rather in the hopes that the industry still has time to change course…to slow down and take stock in its core values. In my opinion the industry in Europe is heading in the wrong direction and it’s time for younger, experienced board-builders to start taking the helm.