Adam Cord leaves O'Brien?

[skibug]

I heard Adam Cord left O'Brien and is no longer working in the ski industry....confirmation?

[ForrestGump]

He was still there last Wednesday because he sent me a new Elite fin from the Obrien shop.

[Horton]

Yea true story. I think he wanted to keep it quiet but yea.

 

I think he wants to something more normal (less trips to Florida and China) now that he is an old married man.

[skibug]

Too bad becuase he always seemed to be a good source of information here.

[jdarwin]

Is the Elite program a functioning entity any longer? They have boots w/ full page advertising that you cannot get. A ski (Quatro) you cannot get. The "Experience" is still available but you really don't know what you are getting (2009/2010/2011?). They title sponsor an event (Big Dawg) where 2 out of 50 skiers were on their product. That should tell you something, huh? Do they just sell gloves and vests? The doer and the thinker - no allotment for the other.

[Garn]

"The doer and the thinker - no allotment for the other" Tull fan?

[jdarwin]

@Garn - yes, it seems some of O'Brien's strategy is "Thick as a Brick".

[Horton]

As I understand it Quatros are being built NOW

[skibug]

Horton, I heard the same thing; Quattro's are running now and the Elite's some time in Mid July.

[jdarwin]

If anyone has a Quattro in their hands in the next two weeks, post up a picture and I'll buy Horton dinner.

[Horton]

I know where one is....

[jdarwin]

Me too - one of the prototypes is sitting 10 minutes away. Not what I'm referring to. I would like to see (and ski) the final product. They should send Ward one for free - he's been a loyal soldier while the company flounders.

[MrJones]

Dawgs are known for their loyalty...

[skidawg]

WOOF!!!

[Horton]

Woof! Woof!

[Stevie Boy]

Buy something else to put in the boot as a backup, you might need it, I had a demo, Hmmmm

[CsSkis]

Stevie Boy -

 

What do you mean by "Hmmmm"?

 

[Stevie Boy]

The Quattro didn,t suit me, perhaps I have no right to comment as I am not the best waterskier around, I hope I am wrong because I wish O,brien well, but I would be very surprised if they flew off the shelves, I withdraw the Hmmmm comment and will leave people to make thieir own minds up, apologies for any offence.

[Dirt]

I don't think you offended anyone. I would like to know what you thought of the ski, likes or dislikes.

[Stevie Boy]

Or though it is different technology, I would say it felt a bit like the connelly course, whooah thought I would never utter those words again, LOL, the ski was fast, it ran on autopilot, but didn,t feel like you could do anything with it if you were in trouble, if you were a pro and placed it in the right place everytime you went into the course, all you would have to do is stand on it, but the ski had no soul, it felt like I was standing on a steel girder, it felt like it was on rails but would not deviate from those rails, it didn,t set me alight, it didnt scream more bouys and didnt scream buy me, I flew some distance to Florida to buy the ski, but was dissappointed the moment I stood on it, It didnt feel like an O,brien.

I went home with the A2 instead, that felt like it had potential.

[skidawg]

@stevieboy, ship it to me, I'd love to give er a rip

[Stevie Boy]

@brent, Magic I am glad the ski works for her, I hope your wife continues to get more PB,s, just shows we are all looking for something different from a ski.

[D-Law]

O'Brien is going down.Check out the Elite website, it still says spring 2010! Cord is getting out cause he sees the writing on the wall. I have not seen a O'Brien at a boat show since 2002, I have not seen a new one on my lake since I don't know when, my dealer stopped carrying them. Sad but true.

[Marco]

First I get a Fischer in '07- then an Elite next at the end of '10. I guess I have a knack for choosing soon to be extint manufacturers...

 

Actually, both skiis still ski incredible! I hope the Obrien rumors are not true!

[skibug]

I would think a big company like O'Brien would have enough diversity in products to weather a storm. Maybe high end slalom is hurting; but, what about tubes, knee boards, cloths, lower end skis....etc.

[MattP]

O'Brien is dong fine

[jayski]

Tubes are just WAY more profitable...

[ForrestGump]

Who says high end slalom is hurting at Obrien?

 

They have shown that they have their own life cycle for product development on high end skis. That's been the case for the last 10+ years. You might not like it, but it is what it is.

[Horton]

O'Brien is not going anywhere.

[spoky]

Kent Water Sports in New London, Ohio is the majority owner of HO, O'brien, Connelly as well as their wake boarding counterparts. John and Bob Archer are president and CEO. They also own Full Throttle and Onyx.

[skibug]

That was meant as a hypathetical comment about high end slalom....I didn't mean to infer that they were. Just meant it as an example. Substitute tubes, knee boards, etc. Plus isn't O'Brien part of a larger conglomerate?

[Stevie Boy]

Perhaps they can design a TUBE to ski on LOL!

[Dirt]

"They should send Ward one for free - he's been a loyal soldier while the company flounders."-jdarwin

I couldn't agree more. Ward McLane is within a buoy or two of the 34 mph world record and ranked #3 in M3 in the whole country and he does not get anything (that I know of) from Obrien. That is amazing. I would think they would want to send him skis to try and test. Many skiers ride the Elite because Ward promotes it.

[Marco]

I agree. I'm on an Elite partly because I figured if it was good enough for the Dawg, it had to be good enough for me.

[ForrestGump]

Glen Campbell's on a Quattro at the Worlds.

[Dirt]

I thought that was a quattro in one of those photos

[Horton]

Yep

[skidawg]

mmmmmm?

[Marco]

Quattro on ebay. Seems like a good price to start...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/66-OBrien-Elite-Quattro-waterski-/120751869563?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c1d5f4e7b#ht_500wt_1413&clk_rvr_id=248598466698