The Depth Test Salts and Suits

In: The Depth Test by Stu Nettle 9 Comments Mon 10th May '10

Tags: salts and suits , hardie grant books , Phil Jarratt

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Stuart Nettle
May 10, 2010

The big news of last year, at least in the world of surfing, was the Kelly Slater / Rebel Tour brouhaha. The reportage took up an absurd amount of column space and it was covered from every angle, so I've no need to acquaint you with the story. Yet there is one small fact that has been overlooked: despite the enormity of the Rebel Tour story, it was a small regional newspaper, The Noosa Times, that first reported it.

And the journalist credited with the scoop? Ex-Tracks editor, raconteur, industry stalwart, and Noosa Times sports writer, Phil Jarratt.

That an old hand got the jump on the legions of young upwardly mobile and electronically connected scribes says much for Jarratt's journalistic ability - with nigh on forty years of surf industry experience he's developed a network of colleagues, a nose for a story, and the means to tell it.

The old dog has sniffed out another great tale for his latest book, Salts and Suits, and it's a fair dinkum ripsnorter. The tagline says it best: 'How a bunch of surf bums created a multi-billion dollar industry...and almost lost it'. The main thrust of the book being the commercial tensions between the 'salts' - the founders of the large surfwear companies trying to remain true to their surfing visions - and the 'suits' - the talented but non-surfing executives brought in to run the booming empires.

Don't be put off by the big business theme because, for one, the surfer vs non-surfer model is one that we can all identify with, and two, it's an entertaining tale told with good humour.

It's tempting to call it a fly on the wall account except Jarratt's not merely an eavesdropping outsider, his Rebel Tour scoop being testament to his insider knowledge. Involved in the industry since the early 70's Jarratt has been witness to all of the landmark moments and privy to many of the backroom dealings. In his own words the idea for the book came through "frustration at having parts of this great story vetoed by the brand that was paying the bill for it's publication at the time".

Free of corporate shackles he is now able to tell the whole story without fear of injunction, but it is not, as some might expect, a vindictive tale of greed and deception. Rather it's a tale told without fingers pointed. Jarratt gives each player a fair hearing, even the outlandish egocentric, Bernard Mariette, who brought Quiksilver to it's knees, or Matthew Perrin, the conniving corporate raider of Billabong.

Yet it's the 'salts' who interest most, the surfers who created the surf industry to escape the workaday world, and how their early visions - however sincere - held little sway against the forces of commerce. Especially when their tinshed companies became international corporate behemoths servicing foreign markets and with an economic responsibility to unknown shareholders.

Some of the information and quotes that Jarratt has acquired are truly astonishing, and it's either a measure of the esteem in which he is held, or the gift of his gab that he has managed to do so. Either way it's good, PR-free, reading. There will likely be some flinching from the protagonists - few come out completely unscathed - yet none of the 'salts' suffer too badly at the hands of Jarratt. Though if they think they do, they can always console themselves with the millions they made.

Salts and Suits is published by Hardie Grant Books and retails for $39.95.

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