Tige Backslapping tour...

[zone6]

Had the joy of visiting the Tige/Liquid Force/Ultrasport demo in Mudeford on the weekend, talk about being self absessed... of the 15 or 16 of my friends (some of whom can and would have bought one, cash!) not one of them got anywhere near riding in or behind the boat!!! No-one was particularly approachable, indeed it felt as if you had intruded on a private backslapping afternoon.... Hi my name is and I work for.... what about your customers?! Its little wonder the UK is such a small market when getting any information or interest from distributors is so difficult!!
I know the Tige is a nice boat, I've rided behind one in the states.
But with representation/promotion like this they are likely to sink!

(sorry louise, did'nt even get to see you...)

[zone6]

I'm not bitter at wasting my weekend, but did I mention they were charging £20 for a tow on the sea (chop!)
Heres what it says on their website:

* 20-21 July - Open Invitation at Spot on Water, Mudeford, near Christchurch

All the Open Invitation events are our demo events and are sponsored by Tigé UK, Neilpryde, O'Brien, Sportsboat Magazine, Euromarine Insurance and Hanna boats (Tigé Ireland). Prizes will be given to one or two people from each event by way of the following:

* Ski equipment
* Free subscriptions to Sportsboat & Rib Magazine
* Free coaching for two days at Church Wilne Water Sports Club (Derby) behind the Tigé 20V - official tow boat for the world wakeboard championships in Greece 2002.

Everyone is welcome to attend and try out the latest boats & equipment from some of the worlds leading manufacturers. We will have factory staff, team skiers and riders available at each venue to demonstrate, advise and answer any questions you may have. :x

[brawlyrox]

that is well tite aint it, they should really sell themselves a litle better, if they want the custom

[samalou]

Sorry to hear about your disappointment about the Tige demo, truth is I was disappointed too, it was far too choppy to get a decent ride on the sea, we took groups out in the morning when the sea was calm but as soon as the wind picked up we had to take the boat off. We took out everybody that we could, sorry that we couldn't fit you in. As for the £20 per tow, that only applied to people who were not genuinely interested in the Tige or the Liquid Force/Obrien products. We held a clinic in Windermere a few weeks ago, I spent all day on the boat coaching, about 50% of the riders I coached were just interested free coaching or getting a free tow, so that's when we decided to go ahead and offer rides at £20 unless you were purely wanting to demo a board. If you are genuinely interested in a Tige boat, why not come up to Church Wilne this Saturday and I will take you out (on a flat lake) in the new 20V! We have the Live to Ride competition taking place on the Sunday featuring the UK's top riders, should be a good weekend.

My apologies on behalf of Tige boats for your inconvenience that weekend.
Best Regards
Louise Moore
SamaLouMoore@aol.com

[zone6]

Thanks for the offer Louise, unfortunately I was trying to influence other people from our "Ski" club about Tige as an option. I was impressed after riding behind Cathys boat last summer, and have been talking it up since...
As for Liquid Force, I'm always interested in their new boads (I met Tony Finn, Algi and Tina B in Oceanside a few years back) I 've riden LF since my first 'Gator' Squirt and 'Best' board...
I realise in some instances it is difficult to determine who is genunie, but that is kind of the nature of demos, I've done plenty of snowboard demos in the past, people may not have bought a boat or board but their opinion of the products and future purchasing decisions will have been influenced. Its all promotion, word of mouth means a great deal.
As you've pointed out, I think the venue lent little to the success of the demo and I'm sure the shop involved had an influence in who got to ride, a lot of backslapping, as I mentioned!

Thanks for taking some time to respond, as you must have had little to do with the organisation shore side. I'm sure its hard work being stuck in the boat coach continually! Good luck with the rest of your season. Should be down in Cornwall in August, so hope to get see you ride then.

[Chris McCafferty]

Sorry to hear of your disappointment over the weekend, but unfortunately we were extremly busy over the two days. As you already know the 20v is an awsome ride and the demand for rides and demos got stronger as the days went on.You are right that the sea isn't the ideal place to hold demos and this resulted in us having to hunt for suitable conditions to give people some form of good ride. I guess we missed out on your cash paying friends, but again we actually sold the red 20v to another cash buyer that weekend. If you are serious about buying a Tige and not just after a free ride then give us a call and we would only be too glad to arrange a private demo. If you or your friend do actually buy a new Tige we will reimburse any reasonable expenses you incured.