Ever since Al Merrick sold Channel Islands Surfboards to Jake Burton Carpenter, Santa Barbara’s “biggest and brightest” surfer Bobby Martinez has been “less than thrilled” according to the Santa Barbara Independent. Now he has official left the company to join Australia’s DHD label
. . . this spring, after test-driving some of Darren Handley’s DHD shapes during the Australian leg of the WCT, Martinez became an official convert. In a statement announcing the arrival of his newest team member, Handley said, “It wasn’t one of those million-dollar deals that you read about…We just felt we were heading in the same direction, things clicked, and it just made sense.” Not only did Martinez ride a DHD board to a third place finish at the Bell’s Beach event in April along the south coast of Oz, but both the Men’s and Women’s 2007 World Champions, Mick Fanning and Stephanie Gilmore, also ride for Handley.
Maybe one Kelly Slater is enough for Burton.
[Link: Santa Barbara Independent]
