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Ocean & Earth unveil NEW stronger legrope technology

The ONE is the world's strongest leash :

• 40% STRONGER
• 40% MORE STRETCH
• ONE PIECE MOULDED CORD DESIGN
• NO JOINS & NO WEAK POINTS

OCEAN & EARTH are pround to announce the launching of the ONE : THE FIRST ONE PIECE LEASH TECHNOLOGY !

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 16 July, 2010 : - - Legrope innovations over the last few years have been few and far between. So when Ocean & Earth unveiled a new legrope they claim is 40% stronger that anything else on the market, we thought that was a claim worth investigating. We spoke with O&E's Brian Creegan about the new 'Patent Pending' legrope they've dubbed ‘THE ONE’...

COULD YOU LIST THE KEY ADVANCEMENTS IN LEGROPES / LEASHES OVER THE YEARS?

The big change in leashes was the evolution from the old leg-pulling rope and rubber into solid urethane cord around 1979/80. My introduction to urethane was in Durban when Shaun Tomson showed me the cord he was using and told me the advantages. He gave me the address of where to get it and I brought back to Australia a roll to experiment with. From there we sourced it locally and introduced urethane leashes into the Australian market.

The rest as they say is history! Over the years other significant introductions to design have been the double swivel, padded straps, the rail saver and more recently the detachable rail saver. At O&E, we're constantly refining and improving all our products with subtle changes.

COULD YOU DESCRIBE THE TESTING PROCEDURES YOU’VE UNDERTAKEN TO DEVELOP ‘THE ONE’?

The one-piece moulded leash is the result of several years of thought about how to eliminate the breaking point that occurs in all brands of leashes where the cord joins the mould around the swivel. The concept was to mould the cord and encapsulate the swivels at both ends all in the one process. We have had the leash in the water for close to year with some of our sponsored surfers, staff and some big wave crazies testing it daily.

Our 30-year-old test of tying one end to a post and the other to the towbar of a car produced the much-anticipated result that the leash stretched almost 50% more than other O&E leashes as well as those from other brands. We plan to have an independent strength test done soon.

COULD YOU DESCRIBE THE PROCESS OF MOULDING THE LEASH?

We thought that if they could mould a car bumper in one piece, why couldn’t we do a leash cord? Little did we know it would cost a fortune! We believed in the product so much that we went ahead and the leash cord is moulded in a giant highly engineered mould that has to be able to do several lengths and diameters of cord.

The concept of the one piece cord was purely influenced by the desire to develop a leash that would put O&E at the forefront world wide with a leash that goes a long way to eliminating breaks. The result is a leash that is over 40% stronger.

WHY DID YOU PATENT THE PRODUCT?

The one-piece cord has a registered patent applied, which will cover all major surfing countries around the world. To invest in a product that we believe will change leash design forever we would be crazy not to back this up with a further investment in the IP. Investing in a patent (IP) gives a lot more satisfaction than investing in a hyped marketing plan with a limited life. We've had very good success with our patented hanging hook on board covers: it makes retailers' and customers' lives easier when storing your board bag, so to patent this cord is worthwhile considering our investment in its set-up costs.

O&E’s new range of surf accessories, including the new One Piece moulded cord, will be released for showing 1st July 2010 for delivery early 2011.