Commercial Surfboard Attrocities

General Discussion
1

I made this forum so you could post and vent your frustrations towards anything that deals with a surfboard, from poor craftsmanship to just plain terrible luck.  I wanna hear some stories, and i know some of you guys have got some good ones.  So let it begin.

 

I’ll go first.

Today I went out and it was super fun.  Nice and clean, super rippable.  In November, as a birthday/christmas present I got a new board.  It was a CI Machado Model (6’2"X18 1/2"X2 3/8") this was a magic board for me, the best i have had in a while.  So two waves into the session I did a frontside carve, 3/4 of the way through the wrap at the end i felt the tail, right at the top of the trac pad, “pop”.  I kicked out the back and started to paddle, but when you break or buckle a board you know, it just doesn’t feel "right’ underneath you.  When i flipped it over I realized that it had snapped right in between the fins, all the way through.  Part of the stringer and the top glass were holding it together, but mainly the trac pad was keeping it in one piece.  Also, when it snapped it did it in such a way that the Future fin box popped out.  So not only is my board retired, but now i am down a fin as well.  What a good way to begin a session.  Thank you CI for choosing a shitty glasser.

 

I’ll get some pictures soon so that all can see the damage…

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Here’s the pics:

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yep typical futures. this i why i dislike flanged bloxes with large footprints. seems none of the makers of these types of boxes have anything to say on the matter either. or call you a sh!thead whenever you mention it. the modern thin tailed board can not handle this type of box it creates a hinge effect

4

probably oversanded in the rail as well as a light glass job. POS

5

 i guess thats the drawback of buying factory name brand boards. go and see a reputable local shaper/glasser and you will get a better board . the industry standard is very low . btw this is where some epoxy worshiper will tell you polyurethane is crap, but the reality is that your board suffered from a poor glass job and future fin boxes

6

I had the same thing happen last winter to my old 6’3" Al M3. I have had nothing but back luck with CI boards.

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its not a poor glass job, its a light glass job, its how the board builder wanted it glassed. CI’s are built to be fast and light.  that “UL: Ultra Light” decal on the bottom of the board is there for a reason.  they are highly tuned, highly refined surfboards.   they are not built to last they are built to be surfed hard and surfed well. I am so sick of backyard kooks with no industry experience coming on here and knocking all the pros.  they think they have figured out surfboard building because they built a 3 1/2" thick board with square rails and 4 layers of 6 oz and it’s lasted for 4 years.  if you want a board that is going to last you forever than go to your (or any) shaper and order a board then tell him you want it glassed HEAVY, it will last longer but good luck working on your floaters and your airs. 

i dont work for CI’s glasser so im not defending my work but i am so tierd of people coming on here and saying “the industry standard is so low” blah blah blah, acting like they know everything because they’ve made 50 boards.  what you call the industry standard i call industry focus, and contemporary surfboard design and construction focuses on very light, high performance equipment.  and unfortunatly, with the materiels currently available that performance comes at the cost of lower durability.  historicly, many of the changes and advances in surfing came from free-thinking tinkerers and i think that those free-thinkers are important, but while the tinkerers make the breakthroughs its the production shops that often refine them and take them to their limit.  its a constant feedback.  that board was shaped in california and glassed in california by the same highly experienced, skilled profesionals who helped refine and develop the sport to where its at today, its not a “China board” import.

rexdog, how long have you had that board? how often did you surf it?  was it custom or off the rack?  these are things to be considered when evaluating the quality.  generally a board should not break when  you are doing a turn (obvioslly), but it sounds like there could have been some stress damage to the board before your session.  it sucks that your board broke and it sounds like it shouldnt have but thats the gamble i guess you take when you buy stock product from large scale production firms- look at toyota.

my reply would be to go custom (i’m guessing it was off the rack based on the decals) and get it glassed a little heavier and/or use a thicker stringer. 

 

actually, when i think about it, all the “horror” stories i have from stock boards have to do with FCS plugs and them blowing through the deck of the board after four sessions.  that, and once i had an EPS board in which the epoxy  wasnt mixed right and the board was so soft it snapped on the first paddle out.  pretty shitty- THOSE are the types of problems that occur because of poor product/design and sub-standard glassing

8

What about another decal, right by the “UL” one, reading: “These boards are glassed very light to mimic actual champion’s boards. Keep in mind that THEY don’t pay for their boards and thus aren’t concerned with their very short life-span. You’re buying this knowing it won’t last, so don’t come complaining if it breaks on your first session.”?

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I realize that a performance board like this is not expected to last past six months if surfed semi-regularily, which i have done.  I am not necessarily bashing anybody’s track record, i have had a handfull of CI’s that have lasted for years and have been very pleased with them.  i know i said it was a shitty glass job, but thats because it was.  This forum is more of a fail blog sort of thing.

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hmmm. ive seen hundreds of broken boards and to claim this snap occured merely doing a turn is suspect. from the label, i can also tell you that the lab is a very reputable glasser. one of the better ones in socal. most single layer 4 oz team boards that snap or buckle from landing hard moves most commonly do so just in front of the front fins. the stringer, tail patch and laps would keep this type of breakage from happening on even the lightest of boards. it looks like an impact break from either hitting the bottom or the lip hitting the board. the compression of the foam next to the lost box indicates an impact and the fin being pryed to the side. i agree with swayKOOK. if you want druability order a board with a heavier glass job and forgo the added performance.

 

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swaykook i bet i can make a lighter  board then you and it wont snap doing a cut back either. a board that snaps in a cut back is got a shitty glass job most likely a sandthrough in the rail. lots of board with futures boxes snap in the tail this way. its like a really bad joke that youve heard a thousand times. a bit like your attitude

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Really - what about Firewire surfboards? they’re made from currently available materials, perform well and cost about the same as CI boards.

 

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Silly is hitting the nail on the head: the glass job may or may not be good, but it's light, and the sanding can do a lot more to damaging the strength.

 

Hey, it's all clear, no one knows!

14

 

so what exactly are you moaning about then? Not trying to be nasty, but if you buy something and expect it not to last, then that’s what you get…

Trust me, I’m no fan of big labels and their business practices, but this is a problem with modern HP boards. People expect them not to last. That’s kind of f*cked up in my mind. If I’m handing over a lot of money for a board I expect it to last. So, I get a 4/6+4 glass job and it last twice as long or longer. Plus, board builders are only going to build what sells, so if you demand better boards they will give them to you.

Before you all jump down my throat, and call me some backyard hack, you can believe I’ve been in several factories already before doing my own thing, and know about the tricks to get your numbers right, which sometimes means cutting corners, or quick sanding. Not saying ALL factories are like that, just some. If you’re getting £6 to fully sand a board, how long are you going to take?

People say heavy boards don’t surf as well are full of shit. It is all about your technique, and whoever said you can’t do floaters or airs on them is being slightly ridiculous. Super light boards killed power surfing, and that’s a bad thing. We all get influenced by the media, directly or not, and as long as you guys insist on riding “pro” level boards - whether your ability is on par or not - you are going to break boards, and lots of them(where do all the busted boards go - ever think about that?)

There are better materials out there, even just better resins/cloths, yet we are all hung up on having bright white boards. I have a resin from the boat building industry that is almost twice as strong as SIlmar, but it has a light transparent almond color(which looks great when cut lapped BTW). No one wants to use it because it isn’t industry standard white. Some resins go white, but you can see the laps, or some other minor thing that could be gotten around if people wanted it. What I’m saying is the standard materials, and how much we expect to pay for said materials, is outdated and needs to be looked at.

We need to get real with our own needs, and then we can move towards more durable, well made, HP boards.

 

15

…in my opinion, the luck factor is important…

 

but I think that those things happen because overshaping (machine + wrong blank); sometimes not so good materials (a premium fiberglass is very important-I don t know if that board was laminated with premium fiberglass-)

sometimes, the glass work is oversanded; and if you are hard with your foot, you can have tiny cracks in the outerlayer that micro infiltrate water that with time, provoke problems in the foam (plus knee and back foot pressure) so then fail

 

-I have a customer who s the junior champion here

and has only 1 board

I have been “counting” how many waves he s been riding on that board

and is between 2500 - 3000 waves

the board still go and its in good condition

it s a 5 6´´ x  2 1/8

not overshaped (handshaped and with the right blank), 2 4oz deck, 1 bottom, sanded hot coat, then speed finished

the kid is a good surfer and is a stronger one, so the board always is hard on bottom turns and smashing the lip the fall with the lip in those powerful beachbreaks…

16

When was the board made?

? Second blank rather than a bad glass job?

Reverb made a point of using the right blank.

 

Deck rocker it critical for machined boards. If done correctly not more than 1/8" of an inch is skimed off the deck. 1/16" is target.

If the blank does not fit the board file then you will have a core that has been weakened.

S Cloth is also a much better and adds additional strength to the board,

I have made numberous board for Pro's in the 5.25 pound range with 4oz Decks and 4oz Bottoms with a 3/4 deck patch that never broke (OK Luckly). Repecting deck rocker is a good starting point!

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yep typical futures. this i why i dislike flanged bloxes with large footprints. seems none of the makers of these types of boxes have anything to say on the matter either. or call you a sh!thead whenever you mention it. the modern thin tailed board can not handle this type of box it creates a hinge effect

 

Good point!

 

18

 

you want to get in a dick measuring contest with me when you are on the other side of the planet?  how exactly do you propose we compare products, you being in NZ and me in cali?

 

I forgot that you were the swaylocks guru because you’ve posted 4000 times in the last three years, you’re on here so much i dont know how you find time to surf, let alone make a surfboard.  but you go back to your little garage workshop and keep thinking you know everything there is to know about building surfboards.  im off to work building big label, high performance “sub-standard” surfboards for people who can actually surf.

peace

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swaykook i bet i can make a lighter  board then you and it wont snap doing a cut back either. a board that snaps in a cut back is got a shitty glass job most likely a sandthrough in the rail. lots of board with futures boxes snap in the tail this way. its like a really bad joke that youve heard a thousand times. a bit like your attitude

[/quote]

 

you want to get in a dick measuring contest with me when you are on the other side of the planet?  how exactly do you propose we compare products, you being in NZ and me in cali?

 

I forgot that you were the swaylocks guru because you've posted 4000 times in the last three years, you're on here so much i dont know how you find time to surf, let alone make a surfboard.  but you go back to your little garage workshop and keep thinking you know everything there is to know about building surfboards.  im off to work building big label, high performance "sub-standard" surfboards for people who can actually surf.

peace

[/quote]

 

Sounds like someone has had issues with his boards breaking.  And anger management.

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Hey Swaykook, if a company cant build a light board that lasts longer than 3 months, they should not be in business. Thats pure laziness in not choosing the right materials for the structure. My sunova is lighter than that CI. It is 10 years old and does not have a compression in the deck.  and yeah it performs better than my CI MBM