That’s funny!!!
I think I saw it at the 97 or 98 surf expo in California. He used the 3 1/2" wide side when I saw it if I recall correctly. Very impressive but your story is much better.
Herb your post is funny, I was rolling the ‘Randy didn’t reply to my post one’. Haha whee. Man good one.
Threads like these are funny. But if you want durableness, the old school 7’9" Bic is the winner (they have a longboard, the plastic boards in the surf schools yeah).
They can take damage that would hole up both tech and works.
I have a Yater 9’6" Surftech and a Don Laughlin 9’4" Surftech. They are pretty and durable but very light and floaty. too floaty. It is difficult to punch through 3 feet of white water paddling out; when the wave breaks they don’t have the weight of a traditional board to push through to the shoulder. On windy or choppy days I prefer a fiberglass board to the Surftech. I also have a 7’10" Takayama Egg Surftech. The extra floatation of a Surftech combined with the durability is an advantage in the short board. I have had no Surftech repair issues but many local shops won’t do epoxy repair.
Like the previous post I like the BIC plastic boards. They are white, ugly and look like a cheap windsurfer. But they are durable and have the weight and feel of a traditional fiberglass board. I have taken a BIC board on the airlines and it has survived conditions that ruined a traditional fiberglass board.
Kahuna Bob, a local surf instructor, highly recommends Boardworks. He surfs daily and states a Boardworks board easily lasts 2 years plus whereas a fiberglass board lasts only a year. But like a Surtech they are floaty and light.
Regardless of the Boardworks vs Surftech durability issue, neither board surfs or floats like fiberglass board. My favorite board is still my 1968 9’2" Dewey Weber Performer. “They don’t make them like they used to.”
No… The most durable is my Morey Doyle 8 ft soft board. The only draw back is that after a surf i need to let it dry out for 3 weeks.
Hi Herb -
Another issue confirmed by the BoardLady is the lack of “sandwich” on the wood veneer Surftechs.
They are marketed as being glassed conventionally on the outside but apparently glass is not actually used - just resin.
I’m pretty sure the Boardworks are true sandwich construction - i.e. glass inside and outside. Personally, I’ll take the weight gain in exchange for durability.
After repairing a “Tuflite” Santa Cruz board recently, I found little, if any, glass on the outside. Nice finish but the outer layer appeared to be mostly bondo, primer and paint. Again, little or no glass cloth. No wonder the seams were splitting. That same board broke in half on my son’s recent trip to Australia and South America.
I wish he would have asked me before he bought the thing but you know how kids are!
ive ridden both a boardworks and a surftech.
The boardworks worked very well, although i would never buy one. I rode that thing throughout hurricane fabian back in New york. Thats when i first learned to get tubed on a longboard, so my memories are pretty good. The board worked pretty well, but it was a little light.
the surftech was the stephen slater model. I used it for a few weeks, borrowed it. i’m not exagerating when i say it was the shittiest feel as far as surfboards go that i have ever felt. Even when it was glassy it was bouncin around. and it wasn’t so much teh shape, although it is way hp. its the corkyness. that thing had less glide then a 6 foot chip! it was disgusting.
apart from a few select pros, everybody that i see riding popout style, stiff light boards, especially longboards, have ABSOLUTLEY NO STYLE. they look so nasty surfing. like it just isnt flowng. all wide stanced, bouncing around. They should take up another sport. the thought of it makes me cringe!
lates!
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the word on the street is that the new asian made versions are built much better than the original slovakian made ones where they had quality assurance issues.
Boardworks has hired Bill Stewart to help them sort out QC issues and make the boards surf and look better. He’s been at it for about three months, so we should see some progress soon.
The boardworks distributor on Hawaii Robert Stehlik from Blue Planet Surf. Robert is joined at the hip to Ben Aipa. He helps Ben with other aspects of his business besides just the BW deal. Ben is very picky about finished product, so you know he’s gone over his BW models with a fine-tooth comb.
About a year and 1/2 ago a freind and i were looking for a new board for him and found a thick Aipa for wholesale priceing with “minor” rail damage that could be fixed, so I took a closer look only to find the paint hiding the extent of split rail damage and type of needed repair, I looked all over for pictures or samples of how that rail was put together, no luck, so we stayed clear, good decision for once. Now that BW wraps their rails I’ll take a closer look if needed. Board Lady Rules!!
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We do lots of epoxy repairs , especially back in the day everyone was afraid of epoxy. I figure you send out 80,000 boards per year you will certainly see some dings and breakage.
Now pu\pe boards that break support many in the industry who totally make a living on those repairs. They even advertise in the yellow pages so business must be good.
Randy’s article in Surfing magazine claimed they sell around 14,000 a year. I guess it could have increased since then, but 80,000 is a pretty big jump. Also…I totally agree that Boardworks did not used to be built as well as Surftech, but I heard they rode better. ( it could have been the models…Walden vs some older design) I thought they rode about the same the time I tried them back to back. I hear now that they are both made in the same factory, but I don’t know if that is true or not.
Ben told me the boardworks boards are being made in China. One of my friends mentioned that last summer. Ben made him a custom 11’2" stinger longboard and then after trying it asked if he could send it to china to have it copied.
I saw the first one recently. Same friend had it and we surfed at Courts that day. He said Ben was keeping the board in china in case they need to make more molds. He gets to use the copy until his comes back. The board is big and heavy, but my friend says it lighter than the original. He glassed the original and he makes his boards strong.
Well after snapping my boardworks ill post some interesting pictures for you all to see. this board was bought new and was never tampered with to the extent of my knowledge.
mark
wow, looks like you got screwed… two piece blank?? I’ve heard of factory secconds but this is just plain bunk…
The red foam deosn’t seem right. Could you shoot more photos showing the bottom and the area where the flap of glass came off.
It almost looks like the board was broken there before and the red color is where it was repaired, or else water or a solvent got into the foam there and weakend the board.
I hope those $1500 stand up boards made by Boardworks are not made like that.
I use multiple pieces of EPS to make a single blank. In every case the joint is stronger than the plain foam. If you break it where it’s glued up it you won’t see a nice flat section with glue, you usually see clean foam.
I guess the balsa must be making a stronger sandwich because we use 1lb or .75lb foam, and it’s really soft stuff.
I wonder if they are using fiberglass mat instead of woven cloth. You’d think that a company that makes windsurfers should know how to make strong boards.
well after many many calls to craig and gretchin at boardworks i finally got some answers to my long delay ( over a month before i got answers ) they have sold the company to a new owner and since my board was of a older model and the former owner was already on the outs he didnt want to do anything for me. They are letting me buy a new board at their cost (landed cost ) plus shipping ( gonna see if this works out since i live in florida and they are located in california ). never got an answer to why or what the red stuff is although i think we all know. concerning pics i will take more. I hope with new owners their quality of boards makes a drastic uprising.
I read this whole thread.
I feel sullied
kinda spiritually dirty.
I’m gonna take a shower
maybe I’ll feel cleaner.
…ambrose…
hostess cupcake and
peperidge farm muffin comparison
best confection I ever ate.
GAK