A Liquid Future and Rip Curl collaborate to run a surfboard repair workshop in Katiet

Ding or break your board at HTs (which is quite likely!) and it used to be a matter of a dodgy home repair, if you had some resin with you, or in the case of a broken board, cry and hope to god someone had a spare board they were willing to sell you.  This was the situation not just for visiting surfers but also for the locals.  The latter were often afraid to push their abilities out in the surf for fear of breaking a board and not having one to ride.  Holding back at HTs is hard when dreamy barrels are on offer!

Thanks to Rip Curl that is now a thing of the past.  During the recent Mentawai Pro 2013 Premier Event co-sponsored by Rip Curl and the Mentawai Government, Rip Curl and A Liquid Future ran a surfboard repair workshop for three local Katiet guys.  Ignasius, Imer and Firoan, after years of trying to learn by themselves with very limited materials, took part in the 2 day workshop.  They were amped!

With materials provided by Rip Curl in the form of a micro-loan, and expert instruction from Rip Curl, there is now a ding repair service in Katiet. The micro-loan allows a sense of ownership on the part of the locals, creating a small business opportunity and enabling it to get up and running.  Through collaborations such as this, positive steps are taken beneficial to all involved.  Good one Rip Curl!