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It was one of those moments out of “60 minutes”: A tip from a subscriber, A 20 hour flight to Kuala lumpur, Malaysia, a face to face meeting with the “Insider” who was part of the biggest windsurfing conglomerate in the world. Two days before, we heard the news that TWO of the top managers resigned from this group. Now, satting with the man who was arguably, the architect of this “fall”, (It was his business plan that suggested the merger of Mistral with F2 and fanatic.) we wondered. “How much fresher can you get?” So here, thousands of miles from the office, we realized, we were in the right place, at the right time.


AMERICAN WINDSURFER: After reading one of our editorials, you wrote a letter to our office .
Dr. KURT SVRCULA: Yes, I felt compelled to reply to the internet editorial that came out of your Maui testing with regards to North Sports refusing to provide boards free of charge for testing.

I have been intimately involved in manufacturing for the Mistral group for a number of years. I was the Managing Director of EFK Composite Technology, the company that manufactured the Mistral boards and I must say I am not surprised at the attitude of North Sports for a number of reasons. For one, Mistral, Germany, rarely looked at North America as one of it’s principle markets. The notable exception was probably the WindGlider. The North American market was always an adjunct. Mistrals focus has always been europe i.e Germany, France and other western european countries. I also recall that when we were doing the manufacturing, on two or three occasions per year, Mistral requested special test boards to be produced for the German ‘Surf’ magazine tests. Those boards had to be specially made, that is, additional reinforcements, minimum weight, the best fibers right decor—quite different from what the consumer would finally get in the shops. Quite different boards really!
AW: Wait! Wait! Are you saying that this manufacturer had different boards made especially for the tests?
KS: On the surface these boards looked like any production board, but that's where the similarities stopped. We usually reinforced the powerbox, the foot strap inserts, the bottom, the mast track, the heal area etc. etc.. It had to be extra light, in some cases 100-150 grams below the advertised weights. These boards were pretty much built by hand. So, at the end of the day, it bore little resemblance to what ended up in the shops or with the consumers.
AW: Wow! Where did this directive come from?
KS: We usually received the instructions from Mistral in Germany, either by fax, or telephone, to built 10-15 boards. “Five of this, five of that, three of those, to be ready for magazine testing on specific dates to be air freighted to Germany, here are the specifications, make sure they are this, this and that”.
AW: What years were these?
KS: These were 98, 99 model years. The boards in question were the Flows, the Classics, the Xplosions, even the One-Design. Specifically, 295Xplosion and Classic, the 276 Flow and Classic, 260 Flow. Pretty much all the ASA boards essentially. We shipped those boards to Fuerteventura or Germany. I personally carried boards to South Africa, to Cape Town for the testing in October 1997.

Of course from a manufacturer’s point of view, it upset my production schedule. But more importantly, I had reservations because this was not what the consumer deserves. It placed us in a rather difficult position. The magazine test, at the end of the day, will propagate a board with certain specifications and performance criteria. Once we commenced to produce these boards we received numerous complaints. 'This board is too heavy, this is not that, this not that.' So it came back to bite us.

In my opinion, the testing process and philosophy that have been conducted by the german 'Surf' magazine are questionable. You're putting 5 to 6 world cup riders on the test boards which have little resemblance to what a normal windsurfer might require and is able to buy in the shops. So now you're testing duck jibes, helicopter jibes-this is not what the average windsurfer does on the one weekend he gets away to the beach. These boards were built for world cup riders, not for the average consumer. What would you think about Michael Schumacher testing a race-tuned family sedan and then passing it off as the same car you are able to buy at your local dealership?
AW: Did you ever send boards to the US tests?
KS: No. Never. All these test boards that we built were sent to Germany. I don't recall ever sending boards to the american tests.
AW: Do you think all the other companies were doing the same thing?
KS: I believe so. I went to a test in 97 and all the manufacturers pretty much unwrapped boards that, from the look of it, seemed very much like custom built boards. The weight was right i.e. little bit below specs, the rails were specially nice etc.. I believe that the german ‘Surf’ magazine had created sort of a culture, where as a manufacturer, it was expected of you to provide boards that were better than what your brochure promised. Of course the german 'Surf' magazine later on started to publish critical articles, lamenting on the fact that the manufacturers are not delivering to the customer what was being tested.
AW: So they became aware of the scam.
KS: I think after a while it became a little bit too obvious that the manufacturers were hood winking them. Maybe it was a habit that manifested itself as a result of the magazine telling the product managers: 'We're going to do this big test and we want these boards and make sure they are OK.' Of course, if the magazine writes that the quality of the seam of a particular board is lousy, that naturally has an impact on the consumer's purchase decision.

It is understandable that the manufacturers want to put their best foot forward. I don't blame the magazines. I put the burden on the development strategy of the product managers that was moving further and further away from the broader market. You are not manufacturing for world cuppers only! World Cup riders have custom built boards just for them. But it is not what the John Browns and Pete Smiths need for the weekend. It is just not happening.

From a brand perspective you have to be more honest. You have to deliver a product to the customer that he really needs and that works for him and not only for Bjorn Dunkerbeck or whoever it is.
AW: Is this the reason you came to us?
KS: Yeah. I felt very very taken back when I read your comments on the internet. It was just sort of sitting on my chest for the last few years. Then I said to myself: 'It is not fair to the customer.' What kind of industry are we in? Who is our customer?

Our customers are the hundreds of thousands of people that windsurf on weekends. Put the windsurfer on the roof rack, go down to the lake, or the beach and want to have fun. Want to enjoy an activity that involves possibly the entire family.

But what has happened in the last 10-15 year is that the entire industry has built away from this largest of market segments. It has developed and produced for the heroes of Hookipa, the Gorge, Lake Garda etc., but it had very little to offer to the people that just want to have fun on the weekend. And if you then read in your editorials that the high and mighty North Sports decides that it wants to be paid to provide the test boards which would enable the customer to assess how good the product is. That just set me off.
It was just a point where I said: 'Listen let us take stock of what happened in the last 5-10 years in the industry. The industry, and I speak of all the brands, have for quite some time belabored the issue that the market has collapsed, that windsurfing is not 'in' anymore. But nobody really asked what the customer wants. It's always: ' what does Bjorn want? What does Robby want? It has just got so bad that any new board that came from the drawing board or from the shapers was for a select few. It had nothing to do with the reality of the market place. The consumer deserves better than that.
AW: Tell me. Who are you? How did you get the name of Dr. Kurt?
KS: Well all my life nobody could really pronounce "Svrcula". It deteriorated into "Dracula" and at the end of the day, people here in Malaysia just settled for Dr. Kurt. I have a Phd in economics so it just seemed to be the easiest way to pronounce, it has become somewhat of a brand, people forget my surname, but they remember Dr. Kurt.
AW: What is you heritage?
KS: My father was a Cossack from Odessa. One of those plundering, raping horseman...huh aristocratic family from Russia and the name Svrcula is really my mother's name. She is from Checksolowakia and of course after the war, royalties and aristocracies were abandoned by  many countries, so we felt that my mother's name was the best way to carry on.
AW: What was your father’s name?
KS: Kyrill Count of Lauterbach von und zu Liffershofen
AW: [laughing]
KS: So you can imagine when it was a choice between Svrcula or a mouth full. [laughs] I think Svrcula is very nice. I am the last one with this name. Of course my two sons, being half Chinese and half Cossack it's just going to be an interesting generation that's growing up here.
AW: Tell me about your Chinese wife?
KS: Ah, my Chinese wife; tough as nails, beautiful woman, a great mother but also very, very successful. Top manager of one of the largest conglomerates of Malaysia. She looks after about 20 companies from travel to money brokering to financial industries, manufacturing, to all sort of sports, leisure, video industry etc. A very, very tough Fuchow girl.
AW: Is it still tough for women to move up in this society?
KS: Well here in Malaysia women have to be twice as smart, work twice as hard to climb the corporate ladder. Changes are happening of course and the more role models are evolving the more people aspire to reach similar heights. I believe women like my wife, do make the difference, to inspire the younger generation to aim for the same successes. It is not easy. There are a lot of prejudices to overcome. In the last five, ten years, even the classic male chauvinists in Asia have started to see the benefits of this very important economic resource, women. We have been hiding them for thousands of years at home and in the kitchen. The have equally as much to contribute and, in many instances, even more, for the development of any country and society. I sincerely believe that women must be given a chance to do that.
AW: Back to windsurfing, tell me about your relationship with North/Mistral.
KS: My relationship with Mistral started in 1996 when I was approached by the German manufacturers of the the Mistral boards, Fritzmeier and M1. I received a phone call asking me if I would be interested in the acquisition of the manufacturing rights, technology and production facilities of Mistral boards. Of course, it was an exciting proposition having been a windsurfer since the mid 70s. I went to Germany and met with the Fritzmeier group and opened the negotiations. Eventually, together with a Malaysian partner, we bought the manufacturing rights, plant & machinery and various patents. We committed to build a new factory in Malaysia and transfer the entire manufacturing from Germany to Malaysia.

I worked very closely with the Mistral people i.e. Florian Bruner and Christian Ewert. The relationship started off on a very friendly and constructive footing. After we had completed the relocation of the first two production lines to Malaysia, a representative of Klaus Jacobs, the owner of the Mistral Group in Switzerland, contacted me and requested for a meeting in Switzerland. During that meeting I was told that Jacobs was interested in selling Mistral to an interested party. They were quite impressed with the way I had handled the relocation and offered Mistral to me. We negotiated for close to six months, huh give me a break please...


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