Transmission The ugly duckling.

In: Transmission by philgallagher 2 Comments Wed 25th Aug '10
Tags: Chad Jackson , Zero Bodyboards , Grand Flavour
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The story of the Ugly Duckling goes something like this. A little duck goes through life being told he is nothing special and gets the rough end of the stick when he claims he is something better than the average duck. Finally one day he turns into the beautiful swan he always knew he was and shows everyone. ( the quick version people, sorry)

Chad Jackson is a professional rider who's career has been riddled with sponsorship misfortune. 6 months ago his contract with his board sponsor expired and was not renewed, a month ago still without a major backer his wetsuit sponsor gave him another blow. A constant revolving door of sponsors over the last few years have seen Chad blur the lines between the superstar and local hero. With no solid finical backing he had to withdraw from the IBA World Tour. A week ago Chad's luck changed and the beauty of this Western Australian Swan was fully noticed by Zero Bodyboards. With more pages of coverage, more video sections then most and having ridden some of the largest waves around lets hope this time Chad can wave goodbye to any further negotiations. 

 

So its been 6 months since your previous major sponsor and yourself parted ways, how many potential signings happened since then? About 3 serious ones but I was approached by a fair amount of companies with some pretty average deals.

And you finally signed with Zero bodyboards, a new company. What's your roll there besides ripping it up as per usual? Basically I have signed a deal that involves me working with these guys to build them up to be a major global company. My roll is to surf and do that the best I can and help them create the best products they can.

Wind it back a few weeks ago you had lost your two major sponsors (board and wetsuit) and you had a handful of rejection emails and deflated offers. What kept you motivated and at any stage did you loose hope? Yeah hope was fading big time, I just didn't know if there was something out there for me. All my mates and fellow riders were all super positive and kept my spirits high. I just tried to keep my motivation high and focus on things like Grand Flavour and chasing waves.

It seemed that you were getting more coverage in the last year then ever and companies did not seem to care or see a worth in your hard work. What was your motivation to keep chasing waves and working with the media? For sure statistically I was getting some of the highest editorial coverage over all the mags, I basically pushed on for the show (Soak the Sponge) and cause I still just love surfing and in particular heavy waves. I guess its true that it does not matter who or what sponsors you have if you get the results people will see them.

But guys are getting salaries to surf and they don't seem to be doing as much as you. How does that make you feel? Im not in control of who people want as there riders or what they want there team to be, luckily I just found the right match for me and plan to ride with them for the rest of my career. They see the worth in me and my abilities.

Tell us about the whole Soak the Sponge TV show deal? It seemed to drop off the radar for a bit after an epic first episode? The show is my biggest passion right now which is coming along nicely. Im heading to Canarys for the final comp of the year and to get some waves as well and also finishing competing on the rest of the Oz Tour but its my major focus making this 4 episode TV show for Fuel TV in Australia. Basically the new series is a follow on from the last one we had on Fuel. We never really got the funding to continue it but in the end just thought fuck it, lets just do it and pay for it ourselves at least for the first series. It's meant we've had purpose to get out there and be looking again for new spots and new adventure and in particular the show we filmed up north is action packed with surfing, new waves, fishing, camping and just enjoying ourselves.

When can we expect the visual treats to start appearing? December 2010.

And where abouts do you guys film, without giving away too much? All over Australia. WA, SA, NSW and maybe some QLD. All over the place really, or where ever the waves are at least. We will expand to a more global show once the first season get the results we expect. Fuel was pretty pumped on the stats from the first taste.

Ok mate any one else who you need to plug while your in the spot light? Star Surf in WA, Otis sunglasses and Grand Flavour should about do it thanks! But in all seriousness its my mates who helped the most in these sketchy times. Thanks boys.

 

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