If you happen to have an idea, and if you really believe that it is a concept that will work, then you are in the right place at Starboard in Thailand. Because it is here where CEO Svein Rasmussen lets his team finalize even the most outlandish ideas. One person in particular embodies this philosophy wholeheartedly: Tiesda You – behind this mostly unknown name, a wide collection of windsurf boards has his name on it.

One should really have been there at least once if one is to understand the Starboard rhythm - the heartbeat of the brand with the most shapes in its annual production and the largest product range. We wanted to see what kind of shaping armada is behind all this. What we found was an office environment created with attention to detail, neatly placed next to a little pond. With tropical temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius, there’s not only mosquitoes - innovative shapes and out-of-the box ideas seem to thrive just as well. While other brands spread out their shaping departments, marketing, design and distribution over several continents, at Starboard, the graphic designer sits next to the PR team, connecting directly with the distribution team who’s within reach of the web designer. Take a few steps down to the other building, and you’ll enter the development unit, right next to the office of the head honcho, Svein Rasmussen, within close proximity of Tiesda You.

Two Visionaries

Who names Svein, has to mention Tiesda as well, and the other way around; no doubt about it. As a foreign visitor, you immediately notice the rag-tag crew of all nationalities and yet all the products seem to be the result of two extraordinary minds melting together. Whether you're talking to Tiesda or Svein, conversations quickly head for the future of the sport. “Restoring windsurfing to its former glory, disregarding market share, but focusing on growing the market instead”; those are the driving forces. And you can hardly imagine to ambassadors better suited for the job at hand, with Svein being the frantic, driving one and Tiesda the quiet and contemplating opposite. They have the ability to silence an audience and grab their attention. No market lingo or sound bites are being used, and you sense that every word uttered comes from previous brainstorming sessions, as these two never really stop thinking about windsurfing.

That hardly anyone goes windsurfing in light winds is upsetting to both of them, and to turn things around, they already have a plan:

“SUP is an opportunity as it gives us another chance to promote windsurfing outside the regular windsurfing community. You see, whenever there is a new tend in windsurfing, like thruster fins or anything else, the industry, the dealers and team riders are experts in getting that information out there. But when it comes to getting that same information to the general public, an entire industry is drawing a blank.”.

Tiesda regretfully admits, and sounds exactly like Svein: “SUP gives us a change that we’ve been waiting for a long time. There’s this one moment in which people who normally don’t care about water sports will see SUP with an uninhibited mind. And that moment is ideal for showing these people light-wind windsurfing. With this board for instance, the 12’6.”

Svein and Tiesda’s mind-melt started in June 2000 when Tiesda, freshly graduated from a UK college arrived at Dong Mueang International Airport, with the intention to stick around for a three month internship. Even though Tiesda’s perfectly formulated Word document made for an application letter from hell because Svein opened it with a different program, the bonding was instantaneous: “I tried deciphering about 20% of Tiesda’s application letter, and then I knew we had to meet.”

Tiesda’s first assignment required a university approach right of the bat, as wave boards kept breaking, challenging the guys making them in the workshop. “I took out my little notebook, started looking at the tables and technical blueprints”, Tiesda recalls with a big smile. But it worked. Additional reinforcements around the rail (a novelty back then) diffused the breaking point; an appropriate entry into the company.

But it wasn’t just his technical background that made him an asset to this company. Already having some shape experience prior to his arrival, the internship quickly developed into a job, a residence in Thailand and a house on company property. Tiesda, the French national, raised in Qatar with his own custom workshop “for all ten windsurfers in Qatar” had just become a designer, shaper and tester for a world brand.

The first board he shaped still came from a heart of EPS foam: “We had semi-borrowed an old long board nobody was using anyway, climbed across a fence to get it and peeled of its skin to create a new shape” Tiesda confesses. “That’s the age when you dream about becoming a PWA professional or leading your own world-renowned brand, but I realized none of that was going to happen so I left for college with 18 years old. When we won the PWA Manufacturer’s trophy in 2006, it was like a dream coming true.”

“GO” Fast Forward

At Starboard, some things seem to go a lot quicker then elsewhere it seems. Some might even say the developments are too quick, with the brand regularly overshooting its goals. Because for excellent products like the Starboard GO that has already entered the windsurfing Pantheon, other products appear and disappear with regular intervals. But to Tiesda, thinking in terms of opportunity connects well with Svein’s philosophy:

“Svein is someone who will always challenge you. Do you really believe in it? Alright, then do it! That sums up our initial emails as well. Many people would go back and forth, whereas Svein just told me to come over. I think it is in our nature to over-think things and stay inside our comfort zone. Svein and I think likewise.”

So perhaps it is no coincidence that both of them shaped a Carve as their first own board. The Carve 99 was Svein’s brainchild with an incredible Vee. “Other shapers would have commented that it’s probably too much Vee” Tiesda says, “whereas Svein will usually look around and proclaim something like: NOW THAT IS A VEE!!!”; and imitates a happy Svein who enjoys having done something different again.

Exploring extremes, that’s Starboard through and through, and it has repeatedly paid off, giving the brand an advantage over other brands. There is not one manufacturer who has spread the Formula shape as fast as them, and not a single brand has collected as many podium finishes as a result. The same story applies to the waveboards, as there wasn’t a single manufacturer who went all in as Starboard did with their wide waveboards, their Quads in 2009, another innovation straight from Tiesda’s brain. Of course not all credit goes to Tiesda, as there’s always Mr. Nimit, in-house shaper for over 20 years. “He is able to make any shape, quickly and accurately” Tiesda says with an admiring glance. Unchecked perfectionism can be a massive show stopper and none are more aware of this then Tiesda. He would not let anyone touch his first boards, keeping complete control over them, always ensuring the boards ended up exactly to his specs. “We had four guys in the workshop at that time, but I insisted on doing everything myself” he recalls. “Shaping PVC, shaving EPS, E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G! I remember running around shaping, working in the office, heading back to the workshop, I even insisted in adding the inserts myself as well. That’s the point where Svein told me to go a little easier on myself. He explained that he liked the attitude but that we were going to make a lot more boards and this is going to wear you down in the long run. From then on, I become more focused, efficient and systematic. Today, I draw up blueprints, and the guys in the workshop create the prototypes. I only work on conceptual boards myself these days. Starting from complete scratch as I did with the Serenity is an inspiration in itself.”. Another parallel to Svein makes itself known, as Svein previously involved himself with every millimeter on every shape before. These days he is more and more involved with the SUP department, where complete new shapes are being continuously created. Both designers love big steps, big changes that don’t necessarily bring a knot of increased speed, but shake up the entire market, and maybe spawns new windsurfers as well. But the engineer inside Tiesda has more than enough to do at the Starboard HQ, as product development follows a very strict calendar. For instance, when the new Futura line is on the to-do list, it is not uncommon to come to the test sessions with three identical boards that only have a slightly different outline. “It’s something I picked up during my studies. You only change one facet of the product, as you won’t be able to tell what made the difference otherwise.” So for now, the rails, its Vee and rocker remain the same. Or the rails get a similar treatment while everything else remains the same.

Luckily, the Cobra factory that manufactures almost all brands in the world is very close to the offices. This allows Tiesda to chase down semi-finished production boards and quickly tweak some ultimate little changes, just like in a laboratory. “You have to stay flexible, as the different aspects of a board shape are always interconnected.” An anecdote Tiesda brings up on my last night in Bangkok sums up well Starboard’s philosophy and why the Starboard catalog is thicker than anyone else’s. “I once posed the question what the average age of a windsurfer is these days. Some said 32, and others said 31. Someone said 40 as well. A lot of people think like that, and I for one would fall back on some statistics before saying anything, ultimately digging up the right number. But then I asked Svein, and he answered that there are two numbers. One age is 16 and the other should hover around 35. I remember telling him that average numbers just don't work like that, but you have to know that this is what Svein is about. Others will state one number, while Svein sees two. He doesn’t think like anyone else. But when you do, you are likely to do the same thing as anybody else. But if you really think there are two average ages, you will create boards for kids and boards for 35-year olds.” - Text and photos by Stephan Gölnitz / SURF (2009) -