Indiana Paddle & Surf: The board virtuosos from Lake Zurich

Michael Restin

9.7.2020

Translation: machine translated

Pictures: Thomas Kunz

The Swiss brand Indiana got rolling with skateboards, is surfing the SUP wave of success and is taking off with foils. Managed from Oberrieden, the small company wants to play first fiddle in the concert of the big names.

He now sits in the sun and looks out at boats bobbing on buoys. A few suitable metaphors could easily be fished out of the water, but Strobel brings the music into play. "We see ourselves a bit like a conductor with an orchestra," says the man, who also used to own a PR agency, with a sure instinct for punchy sentences. For him, it's all about the team and the well-rehearsed processes that are needed all over the world to produce high-quality work.

His relaxed look should not hide the fact that there is meticulous work behind it. Of course, the 45-year-old is wearing neither tails nor a bow tie, but sunglasses, a T-shirt and a company cap. The logo on it, half board, half feather, is intended to symbolise the easy life. "Many people only see the feather, not the board," says Strobel. Customers visualise the lightness they desire. For the makers, on the other hand, the board immediately catches the eye.

In the past, the boards mainly rolled over the tarmac. Strobel was world champion in slalom skateboarding twice, in 2004 and 2005. As a team rider and colleague of Indiana founder Christof Peller, who designed the first skateboards in his laundry room in Herrliberg in 1989. They launched Indiana SUP together in 2010.

Peller has since returned to skateboards, while Strobel is responsible for water sports with Indiana Paddle & Surf under the umbrella of White Wave AG, which was founded in 2016. Sounds big. But the core team in the new office consists of one woman and four men. "It's still a small SME," says Strobel. "But I never thought it would grow to these dimensions." How did it come about?

Aha experience in Hawaii

First violin in the air chamber orchestra

"That was a milestone," says Strobel, laughing at the perceived reaction in the country: "A Swiss brand? Wow, that's cool! I have to buy it!" Around a hundred boards were gone after the first night. "An email went straight to China: produce as many as you can!" Three weeks later, the Family Pack was on sale, but supplies were quickly transported to Switzerland by container ship and air freight.

The reputation of the brand is growing.

The reputation grows, the test victory boosts the image better than any campaign. "It was confirmation that we are doing a good job," says Strobel. Indiana plays first fiddle in the air chamber orchestra - although the perfectionist has one small gripe: "We had by far the best board tested. But there was no 'very good' because we only offered the manual for download." Since then, instructions have been included with every board.

The music plays worldwide

What happens around the world is managed from Oberrieden. And that's quite a lot, because foiling, the water sport with the wing under the board that lifts it out of the water at the right speed, is the next big thing that Indiana Paddle & Surf is involved in.

From Constance to China

"These are important people with decades of experience," says Strobel. "We can rely on them to make it work." After the prototype phase, production takes place in China and Croatia. A high-end raceboard is created in Europe, the mass production on the world's workbench.

In the end, it says "Made in China" everywhere, but the differences can be as huge as the country itself: "There are a few good factories and a lot of bad ones," says Strobel, who travels to China twice a year and often barely recognises it. "There are ten new skyscrapers, the pace is extreme." What was true yesterday may be completely different tomorrow. New regulations, new rules. It helps to have long-standing partners on site.

"In our factories in the south, an average worker receives 1,000 dollars a month and there are flats, a canteen and good sanitary facilities," says Strobel. Strict environmental regulations now apply there and competition for good workers is fierce. "Accordingly, our production costs are higher than in factories in the north, which may only pop up for six months, produce a few thousand boards, do not adhere to any standards and pay poor wages."

Clever details such as the two-part fin box, which makes folding easier, or the wheelie bag, which turns the paddle into a drawbar, are based on feedback from customers. Indiana is always incorporating small optimisations that are very popular in the scene. It's all about the details. Unique selling points that make life on the water or on the way there more enjoyable.

The fun should be sustainable

Even the coronavirus crisis has largely spared the industry. People are being drawn to the water and the weeks-long shutdown in the Chinese factories could be bridged: "The second production unit arrived on the Trans-Siberian Railway," says Strobel. "It costs twice as much as by container ship, but it's faster and more environmentally friendly."

However, he cannot and will not gloss over the environmental aspect: "These products are clearly not compostable. It's PVC, glue, EVA - it all contains harmful substances. Our idea is to make the products so good that they last a long time." Making the old good and the new better, that's what it's all about. And about the fun and passion that a board awakens underfoot.

Michael Restin

Senior Editor

Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.ch

Simple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.

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