THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609100114
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: EARNING A LIVING IN VIRGINIA BEACH
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 81 lines
John Ailstock spent 10 years investing money for folks interested in a secure future. Now, he's investing in his own future.
Ailstock, once a stockbroker, has turned surfer and business owner.
Ailstock owns ATLALT Inc., a corporation he formed to sell and market a new type of water apparatus he designed called Missing Link WaveBoards. Surfing, he said, is vital to selling his product, which is why when the waves are high, he is out advertising his product.
Whenever he's out in the water, ``People always come up and ask, `What's that thing?' '' said Ailstock, 34. ``I always bring a couple with me and let the kids try them out.''
The waveboard is a water accessory that resembles a raft but is actually a cross between a body board and a surfboard. The inflatable 5-foot-long waveboard is made with a rugged canvas top and a neoprene bottom. The obvious difference between it and a raft is that the Missing Link's top is tapered and it can be bought with or without fins.
``It's a basic heavy-duty high performance raft. It's the missing link for all skill levels and all ages,'' said Ailstock, a Beach native.
Ailstock offers five models of the waveboards. All five are distinguishable by the top logo. Four of the choices are WaveBoy, Aliens, Cave Spiral or Cave ML. These are either blue or red and come with either one or two fins on the bottom. These are most commonly sold to individual buyers.
The fifth model with a blue canvas top sports a Missing Link logo and has room for a rental company's logo also. The blue waveboards, or ML1000s, don't come equipped with underbelly fins and are for sale to companies wishing to use them as rentals.
Ailstock designed the waveboard so that it would be rugged enough to hold a standing person (hence, the extreme inflation). Adding fins meant the raft would be easy to steer and would not roll over.
Ailstock has also come up with an accessory list for the waveboards. He hopes to soon be selling air pumps, gloves and leashes.
Wave Riding Vehicles at 19th Street and Cypress Avenue is the only local retail outlet for the waveboards, said Ailstock. They sell for about $109.
The company's corporate office is at the Oceanfront, but Ailstock doesn't do retail sales out of the building. Instead, he focuses on keeping retail outlets stocked and wholesale distributors happy.
After securing a patent, incorporating the business and finding a manufacturer, he began shipping his product in June. Currently the waveboards are being sold in every East Coast state as well as Texas, California, Wisconsin and Hawaii, and in Japan, Australia, Mexico, Brazil and Hungary on a supply-and-demand basis.
The waveboards are currently manufactured in China, however, Ailstock is also negotiating with a West Virginia company about producing them in the United States. Ailstock, currently the company's only employee, does all the packaging and shipping himself from his Beach office.
In fact, he began selling the product before he ever had a prototype in hand.
``We've gotten such a good response,'' said Ailstock, who attends surf and trade shows all over the country. ``We're right on the verge of going big and, if this thing goes big, it's going big right here in Virginia Beach.''
Ailstock traded his business attire for a bathing suit two weeks after incorporating his company. It all started when a friend convinced him to go surfing after a 10-year absence from the water. As a teen, Ailstock spent five seasons as a life guard at the beach.
His waveboard idea was fashioned after the old blue canvas rafts popular with oceanfront rental companies.
Ailstock admits that trading his sizable stock broker income for virtually no income hasn't been easy. He's still looking for investors for the product. Sales this first year amounted to $30,000, but he said he believes that with the right investment, sales could be unlimited.
``This thing is retro. It's like art almost,'' MEMO: ATLALT Inc., trading as Missing Link WaveBoards, can be reached at
437-4478. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
The distinctive Missing Link Waveboard logo adorns all five models
of John Ailstock's patented creation - a cross between a body board
and a surfboard. The inflatable rafts, which can be fitted with a
fin and can hold a standing person, are sold to retail outlets.
``We're right on the verge of going big and, if this thing goes big,
it's going big right here in Virginia Beach,'' said Ailstock, who
also anticipates rental usage. by CNB