Surf biz gets foamed over

Dude, no way around it: Clark Foam's going out of business is a total bummer -- if not for the long-term surfboard business, then at least for the long-term history of the surfboard.

For decades, Clark Foam has dominated the most basic part of the surfboard industry: the blank, the hard piece of foam that is the core of most surfboards. Over the years, challengers have risen, but Clark Foam founder Gordon "Grubby" Clark managed to ride out each wave of opposition, both foreign and domestic. His products were simply the best on the market.

But, apparently, Clark couldn't stay afloat when face-to-face with the federal government. Though accounts differ, it appears that looming costs and controls from the Environmental Protection Agency forced Clark to shutter his business unexpectedly earlier this month.

Overnight, some surf shops talked of having to raise prices on surfboards by $100 to $150. The delay before new blanks will be available from other manufacturers is expected to last several months. Surf shops without any surfboards to sell is unlikely, but not out of the question.

That may strike many as no big deal. But it's tough to overestimate the importance of surfing to this community. It plays a role in tourism, in local business and in the childhoods (extended beyond their years or not) of thousands who live here. There are uncountable numbers of people who live here largely because they own surfboards -- or, put more precisely, their surfboards own them. A break in this basic commodity of the surf business can't be downplayed.

There also is the more philosophical or historical meaning of the news. The very core of the sport -- literally -- is on the verge of change. Surfboards won't be the same.

While that change may end up being of little importance to the majority of surfers, don't be surprised if there are surfers who cling to Clark Foam and only ride boards made from it, triggering a new nostalgia, a new angle on what it means to be a "soul" surfer. For them, Dec. 5 will be the bellwether date.