you should all read this if you care about custom boards!!!!

General Discussion
41

Bert,

I agreed with almost everything you just wrote. Great post. My friend Steve Forstall has been doing the epoxy thing here in Florida for quite awhile now and has made major innovations to the construction of his boards and the ease of cutting blancks etc. It allows him to make great product and not have to sell so many boards or deal with Retailers to make the same money. There appears to be much more freedom of choice when it comes to blanks when you make your own instead of depending upon Clark or another foam companies product to be up to par and affordable all the time. The cool thing is many guys like Steve are willing to share their knowledge, but few want to step out of their own egos and listen with an open mind.

In fact, boardmakers really should have been their own surf shops or retailers all along, but artist rarely want to be salesmen or retain jail owners.

42

Here is a question for the Gurus.If you are a ployester board builder and you want to build a stronger board why are you using cheap"clear" resins like Silmar??How many of you have even looked in to other polyester resins?Gordon Clark said he could build a better blank using better resins but felt that the market would not stand it (or quite simply he didn’t want to do it).This resin question is never brought up on Swaylocks and I wonder why?

43

Re: Bert’s passionate defense of his custom sandwich constructed boards and his critique of those of us who are less than impressed.

Bert has stated he would never produce another Pu/pe board presumably because he is convinced of the superiority of his custom sandwich boards. Yet he has not detailed their superiority with regards to either construction or performance. He supports his position based on the fact that he has more experience (than his supposed detractors whom he presumes have only dabbled in epoxy/eps/vacuum bagged construction) with both methods. We are asked simply to take him at his word because he has made thousands of these boards and he ought to know.

So first I’ll pose this question: What is exactly superior in the construction of your boards?

For me, my bottom line involves two criteria: Performance and Cost.

With this in mind, my second question would be (and I consider this to be far more important than the method of construction): How are your boards superior in their performance? This I believe was the crux of DP’s argument as well.

Concerning cost, my last question is: Do either the method of construction or the performance of your boards justify their expense ? I would suspect in the area of construction, they probably do but in the area of performance, they probably don’t (I could be wrong too but so far you’ve provided no evidence to suggest otherwise). I could build myself an entire quiver (in a few weeks time mind you), for the cost of just one of your boards.

I’m a garage builder who shapes mostly for my own consumption with a few boards every year for family and friends, and lately, a few friends of friends.

I’m not in this for the money but the satisfaction of designing my own boards (most of which are certainly not in vogue with popular current designs). I have been doing this long enough that I feel comfortable with both the structural integrity and performance of my self designed, pu/pe boards. One of the great advantages (that DP addressed in his article) is the flexibilty I feel this system has for builders like me. If I’m dissastisfied with a design aspect, I can quickly address it and build a new board (or even modify the board itself by stripping glass and reshaping). I also find pu/pe to be a highly forgiving medium. If mistakes are made (or dings are acquired) they can be easily patched and fixed, in most cases even to the point where cosmetics are rendered invisible.

I’m not looking for boards that I can hit with a baseball bat or boards that last until the next millenium (although I’ve certainly owned and built boards that have lasted quite some time). Not only do I get bored with designs I’ve ridden for awhile, but I’m always on a quest for the next design that will provide me the performance I seek. And I don’t want to break my bank account to do it. I need that money for more important things, like gas to get to the beach!

No disrespect intended here, but I truly feel you haven’t outlined just why your boards and methods of construction are so much better. While I admire people who are interested and motivated to pursue more progressive ideas, in this area at least, I remain skeptical that anyone has thus far achieved anything demonstrably better. While your boards are certainly pretty to look at, I remained unconvinced they provide a superior ride.

Is it possible, that although the currently still predominate methods of surfboard construction have been in use for 50+ years, maybe we have proof of how far advanced the materials and builders of that time were?

In closing, I’m reminded of the old axiom, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Cheers again.

44

In closing, I’m reminded of the old axiom, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

-the problem is there… it is broken and i am sick of fixing it!!!

45

I don’t think Bert’s asking anyone to change, just giving people some info to help them open their mind.

If you, like DP, enjoy the medium you use, then continue to use it as you want.

If you like playing with epoxy, vac bags and other foams, then use them.

Be happy. Self control is not necessarily self defense. My boards ripped too.

Do what you want to do, be what you want to be, yeah.

46

Bert, my recommendation to you is just take some time with your family cause logging in to battle this windmill just ain’t where it’s at…

Watch some television with your family, I’ll outline some of the better channels for you:

The History Channel. The money spent on R&D before Swaylocks was a lot harder to part with than now cause you were alone in the frontier of change or surrounded by a group of like minded idealists and were subservient to the “industry leaders” and easily short circuited ("You don’t want to do THAT, son, but could you tell me how you did it and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out?!). Now you can lay down a jazz riff or rap or punk or whatever and someone else will build on it and someone else will come along and do it on the cheap and so on and so on.

The Economics Channel. Consumers and manufacturers or investors and financeers? Funny, the mention of Apple, cause I believe their stock is on the rise again. (since the man with the PASSION, Steve Jobs, is back at the helm) I believe that Enron and all others mentioned including Randy French got what THEY wanted (your money, money, money…money) and that will not change cause of anyone’s rant, but I’m surprised that the money that was drained from investment portfolios and the gain in the personal riches of certain “industry leaders” doesn’t equate for so many of (us).

The Idealists Channel. I could/would stand on the street corner and rant against the war but every time I gas up and pay that federal tax - I’m supporting the new-age freedom crusade. Come to think of it, the social security tax money and system that was put in effect to protect us Americans from catastrophic melt-down (see the great depression thread) is about to be done away with for the above reason, but I don’t hear any complaints. Why? I dunno, but THAT is why I choose to NOT to buy a Surftech. I can’t wish or rant them away, nor do I want to, I’ve got to tap into the market that Bert and Greg are “re-creating” (started by Randy) and “may the best man win.”

The Fine Art Channel. My wife, who is an art teacher, taught me the importance of “human touch”. Make whatever you do your own. If you were an artist and had to paint Picassos or Monets all day cause that is what Aunt Mabel thinks is the only real art, would you be an artist? (Yes and mostly no) Don’t let the machine or mold take over. Even if you just scratch the foam with your fingernail on every machine shaped clone or molded blank you handle, that’s a good enough start (see Flavio thread for the REAL story). The future is skewing off so fast anyway it’s unbelieveable. The changes aren’t in the wind - they are the wind. If you stick your head in the sand you’ll be blown away.

Advertising - every channel, like it or not. See the Surfer magazine and etc. (surfers and surf culture) On the internet you can hire marketing companies that watch for trends or actually hire the young’uns to post to forums, similar to this one, and through constant postings and evangelism try to manipulate the target audience into reacting in a predefined way. Hell, for that matter you can sponsor entire forums, just like this one, to see what the backyard contigent is up to. Is this really a “free” site? Heehee. Why are you stirring up trouble anyway, ya big jerk. Do you represent the pump manufacturers of Australia? Where’s Roy? He was a good foil for the industry, nobody could even think straight when he posted, and most of the regulars went into hiding, were drawn into needless rambling dissertations, or were bitten by the nostalgia bug, “Gosh I miss the old Swaylocks, sigh”

If you were Quicksilver or Volcom would you want it to change? Isn’t it pretty easy to pick-up a truckload of blanks shaped on a machine glassed in a factory and then leverage those Trojan horses into the real industry - apparel? My point (to the “custom” industry) is, if you firmly believe that scraping the crust off of a pre-rockered close-tolerance blank and fine tuning that either by hand or machine is shaping a custom board - have I got an imported wood veneer board for you!!! Hmmmm… Wait a minute!

For the Green Egg and Hammers, check-out - www.americanbamboo.org It seems China is giving back already.

47

Wildy

Well said,that is exactly what people should do.

As for the future of surfboard construction,well time and the customers wants will decide that regardless of what builders think they should have.

All builders should remember that without customers you have nothing!

I manage a factory building luxury heavy yachts (oysters) which are sold as being the best world crusing boats

In reality they are old fashoned hull shapes and old solid glass polester layups ,I dont think that they sail that well.

My own boat has sailed around the world,it is light, fast and built using modern composite construction .

I would have a hard time convincing the masses that it is that much better than the so called best world crusers.

The sailing world will eventually evolve as will the surfing world,in the mean time I make a living that lets my family live very well and lets me build as many surfboards as I want

Do my surfboards perform better than custom made boards from a builder, I have no idea, to me each one is a step further in the evolution.These days I am doing sandwich construction and each one is better than the last

Next I may try some thing different again,as there are many many ways to skin that cat!!

Regards Mike

Ps the debate is mine better than yours is a futile one,an open mind and a positive exchange of ideas between builders with a comon goal is the best way to speed up evolution

48

BTW: I mostly ride poly boards not epoxy.

As for Surftech, Quicksilver and the surf industry. Don’t think it can’t change. They sold it because of the cool factor and when that is taken away they can go away as well. Joel Tudor almost single handed ushered in this silly retro phase of the surf industry. Surftechs will go whichever way surfshops go and I believe surfshops as they are today are on the decline.

Why? Because they represent nothing but some over the hill guys ego or some kid pretending to be hard core by buying a fabricated identity. You can buy it all in the mall my friends and without the too cool for school looks from the surf shops.

Good board builders are where the magic is. Always has been and always will be. The day plastic toys like Surftech become the mainstream we will not longer recognize soul and stoke. The magic comes from a shaper having looked down the stringer of my custom and saying, “that’l do Pig.”

49
Quote:

The future is skewing off so fast anyway it’s unbelieveable.

Truer words have not been written.

Factor in this: The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Quiksilver says they finally reached 1 billion dollars in annual sales. For the life of me I can’t see how this will affect my life, other than perhaps filing the hair-trigger on my Gag-O-Meter. Billabong has a big amphibious plane to fly to wherever the surf is good. The secular journalists who covered this last week failed to ask how smart it is to land a large seaplane in an ocean with heavy swells. In theory I suppose there will always be a calm lagoon to set down in if the price is right. You can’t make this shit up. It finally occurred to me that maybe all this really is just cheap entertainment on a global scale.

50

51

Quote:

[b]lobster wrote

Bert has stated he would never produce another Pu/pe board presumably because he is convinced of the superiority of his custom sandwich boards. Yet he has not detailed their superiority with regards to either construction or performance. He supports his position based on the fact that he has more experience (than his supposed detractors whom he presumes have only dabbled in epoxy/eps/vacuum bagged construction) with both methods. We are asked simply to take him at his word because he has made thousands of these boards and he ought to know.

Bert has given us much more than just his word, hes given us here his techniques. Alot more than you can say about hundreds of PU makers. Ive been to many many factories and only a few were willing to give out any knowledge about the process. Bert has videos of him jumping up and down on one of his boards and it didnt break. If you show me a the same thing on a PU board ill eat my shorts.

Quote:

For me, my bottom line involves two criteria: Performance and Cost

For many performance is only part of the equasion. Just by the sheer volume surftech does the market is saying we want a stronger board. Even with lots of negative press surftech still sells…go figure.

Cost: Me personally id ante up for a board that lasts much longer. No pressure dents/dings, high resale, what there to lose? You buy a PU and lose a ton of value on the first day in the water.

Quote:

With this in mind, my second question would be (and I consider this to be far more important than the method of construction): How are your boards superior in their performance? This I believe was the crux of DP’s argument as well.

Ive surfed CRAP boards from the most prominent shapers in the world. Does that mean PU boards are no good? Of course not.

Quote:

Concerning cost, my last question is: Do either the method of construction or the performance of your boards justify their expense ? I would suspect in the area of construction, they probably do but in the area of performance, they probably don’t (I could be wrong too but so far you’ve provided no evidence to suggest otherwise). I could build myself an entire quiver (in a few weeks time mind you), for the cost of just one of your boards.

Bert should answer this question but until me or you ride a few were just guessing.

This is a mentality that baffles me.

Quote:

Is it possible, that although the currently still predominate methods of surfboard construction have been in use for 50+ years, maybe we have proof of how far advanced the materials and builders of that time were?

Possible but unlikely.

Being in and around the industry for a relatively short period of 11 years the prevalant attitudes ive seen make this hard to believe.

No one wants to take (understandably) financial risks in a low margin industry. No one wants to learn new techniques they figure hey ive done it this way for so long i aint changing.

Anyway thats my 2cents or whatever its worth.

[/b]

52

hey lobster !!!

short of covering all the same ground on the construction debate in regards to strength to weight ratios , snap ratios , the various principals of physics involved , contest results , and the list could go on …

i will ask you a few questions, your answers will determine which construction technique is deemed superior …

if you could shape a p/u blank and that was the finished weight of your finished board do you think it would perform better being light or would adding another 4lb of resin and glass make it go better …

bottom line , i can make a finished board ,finished and in the water surfing and it will weigh less than just the core of a p/u board …

now if that board outlasted 20 of your normal boards would that seem good value even if it cost 20 to 25% more to produce???

ive said enough stuff on other threads on various topics related to the benifits of sandwich construction…

my customers dont replace there boards , they add to there collections …

see the advantage of having boards that dont die , a quiver you can actually build on …

in one sense i would almost like to be apologetic for coming across strongly when it comes to sandwich contruction and its benifits …

i realise it could be quite offensive when someone is telling you that the boards you build are just cheap antiquated garbage …

but the reality is thats exactly how i feel …

and those sentiments obviously come through in my words , how else can i stress the value of composite construction without making comparisons to how they rate against a conventional board …

sabs hit the nail on the head , the market will decide which direction it wants to go …

but when your sitting on a year backlog and your boards are double the price of others and no retailers even get a look in as to stocking my boards , then that direction seems pretty clear from my perspective …

considering ive never advertised my boards they just sell on there merits …hey i dont even have a sign at my business or even a business card …

theres a lot of really cool crew in here and because 99% build boards using the conventional methods i could easily see how i could get offside with many of you …

thats not my real intention …

because i have built boards on both sides of the fence and have experienced the magic of superior performance thats unrivaled in any other construction i can say the grass really is greener on the other side …

when i post its really an invitation to step in to something pretty cool that will put the stoke back in your surfing and get you excited again …

im sorry that sometimes i read negative or strongly worded comments about eps / epoxy and so on , which i feel i must rightly defend in a strong manner in return …

as far as the performance of my boards ?? well you just have to ask some of my customers …

what D.P. said just cant be tagged onto all epoxy boards , ive built enough of them to know you have to shape them differently and use glass, resin ,and other composite reinforcements in various places to get the best transfer of energy and make the most of the performance characteristics of the materials …

lobster … theres been many links posted on various threads that go off to corparate sites , learning centres , that give scientific data on sandwich construction and its benifits …

so luckily for me , what im saying gets backed up by some big budget companies and organisations …

hey daddio … you gave me a good idea …

go buy shares in a vac pump company …

i know it all takes time , and the industry wont change over night , but the way i see it , unless change is incorparated there wont be an industry …

so my passion is not just about my boards but also a responsability to the industry and the culture that supports me …

i dont have to put myself up for a flogging , i could just hide out and watch the house crash down , hey ive got plenty of work , then it would be just surftech and a few back yarders …

when you weigh it all up im actually working against my own long term financial interests by encouraging more crew to build boards like i do …

i could just wait till everyone goes out of business because asian boards have taken over …

but like i said , i feel a responsability to the crew who taught me the craft , even if i may have modified what they taught me , my teachers still deserve to make a living and the next generation deserves to have a culture and an industry in existence …

dont wanna upset anyone , but that just ends up a consequence when the facts get revealed …

have fun surfing what you surf , it all works …

everything has a price …

regards

BERT the passionate sandwich builder …

53

Breaking away from polyurethane foam and polyester resin is a way to open your mind to more possibilities. Whether you want lighter, stronger, stiffer, more flexible, or more durable you will find them by opening your mind to other materials. We have gone as far as we can with polyurethane foam.

If you are happy with polyurethane foam and have no desire to explore other materials, then that is good. Polyurethane boards work. But if you like your polyurethane board, but you wish it was a little bit lighter, you are out of luck. You have to move on to different materials.

When you first start using new materials, there is a trial and error period until you understand how the new material effects the ride. For example, carbon fiber is a material that can be used to build a very light board. But it can come out too stiff. So do you right it off? No, you just have to dial in the rest of the board construction so it allows the board to still have some flex. This requires a lot of trial and error with the shape of the board, weight of the carbon fiber, type of resin, etc. The same goes for all the materials including EPS foam.

The question is if you are content. Better, is in the eye of the beholder. That’s why everyone should shape their own board. The soul will be in knowing when to take a little thickness off the foam core, or using a thicker wood veneer skin, glassing a little lighter or heavier, adding some carbon fiber, using heavier density foam on the rails, stringer or stringerless, different materials for the top and bottom skins, and on and on and on. It’s the possibilities that make it so great about opening your mind to new materials.

You don’t have to make your boards just like Bert. Bert and others have just opened the door. The variations and possiblities of sandwich construction are endless, which goes along with the variations in riders and the waves that they ride.

54

the whole ‘lightness’ argument really boils down to taste…

Cadillac vs Corvette…

they each have their drivers and place on the road…

Bert, it was only a matter of time b4 ST was going custom order.

Knowing what I know, its easier said than done. The biggest challenge with overseas ops is quality/reliability control. I think their customization program if any will be limited to just a few features…planshape (tail in particular), length, width, thickness (volume)…I dont think a ST customer would know the first thing about rocker, fin config, contours, foil, etc…you know the really critical things that the custom craftmen know. I think the response will be limited…and yes, it’s still a serious threat to the small shops making a shorter useful life product.

I had a thought yesterday…in many or most other sports equipment markets the customer buys off-the-shelf… wakeboards, kiteboards, snowboards…much of what is sold is off-the-shelf. It seems as if the surfboard market has bucked that standard…do surfers love the idea of custom ordering? Maybe its a board sensitivity thing…???

55

“Cobra is reported to have sales that tally in at just under $100,000,000 a year.”

THE NUMBERS DONT JIVE…something’s missing here…

18,000 units sold (assumed…have they actually sold more?)

assume $600 per unit

That’s $10.8 million gross…a far cry from $100,000,000!!!

If I had to guess, the $100m rumor is way off…thats REALLY big money…like sick drug company revenue…no one makes more money than the drug makers.

56

Aside from the feeling of dropping into the face of one of the earth’s pulse vibrations and riding it, surfing is a social sport. Though some of the best times I have had have been alone, there is something about enjoying this sport with other fellow surfers at your favorite spot thats hard to replicate on land. Hoots and yells communicate just fine most of the time.

Buying a surfboard from a master has much of the same element. It begins the social interaction into our sport or continues it. The master (if he is good) listens asked questions and hopefully gets the surfer something he can use and enjoy. Later the process repetes itself and the culture continues.

When the greed mongers try and find a way to get rich off something that is magic like surfing it tends to spoil it, so we get things like Surftech and boardworks. There is something about paying your dues in this sport that is very strong unlike any other sport. So when a surfer trys to jump to high in the order of the peck too soon there is usually resistance. Same with shapers. They are then forced to use advertising to force something that used to happen naturally and at the right time.

I remember when I was a kid and on the local surf team it was really cool to be asked to be part of it because I worked at the shop for years and never been asked because the time was simply not right in either my ability or dues paying. A few years later the guy decided to put some self promoter on the team who had talked his way onto the team with promises and such. We all liked the guy, but the magic was gone because he had not paid his dues and his talent was lacking. He advertised something that should have been a natural thing when the time was right. ( Quit surfing teams at a really young age, becaue they really mean little to an adult unless your pro)

Not saying everyone has to follow the same path, but there is a natural unwritten path that if you take time to notice does exist.

Popouts made in Asia have upset the natural course of things, just like Chinese made boards. They are sold on hype and have not taken the natural progression that it takes to gain respect and a large following. I never heard of Randy French in surfboard circles until Surftech. The guy that owns Boardworks does not even surf and lives in Louisiana. He lets guys put their name on surfboards as if they shaped them when they did not shape them or desing them. There is no control from stealing other shapers designs and calling them your own.

On lightness: Mercedes and porshe are not the lightest cars on the road, but they are some of the fastest and most manoueverable. Lightness is a myth plain and simple. A board needs some weight to catch waves and maintain momentum. Too heavy can be a dog, just like too light. There is only so light you will ever be able to go or want to go.

57

Bert,

Regarding weight, as I’ve already stated, I don’t believe “lightness” to be the end all of surfboard design. To answer your question, a finished board as light as a shaped polyurethane core would be far too light for my tastes and my style of surfing. I need a board with some heft to heave into my turns. This is not to say I’m a fan of big, heavy, sluggish longboards, eggs, and funboards, and such, although I do feel these boards have their place (think of one of Skip Frye’s 11 foot “gliders”). I like speed, and I like hard carving and big swoops. Most of the superlight boards I’ve ridden are not as readily conducive to this type of surfing. I’m not looking to “boost airs” and I’ve never been a fan of contest surfing or the squiggly, snappy, slidey turns that are currently in vogue. I find much of popular surfing to be lacking in any sense of grace, style, or aesthetic appeal (my opinion of course) and I feel the movement towards superlight boards that can be flicked beneath one’s feet rather than those which facillitate a melding with the waves energy to be partially to blame. I don’t build boards to fly, but to surf. I guess that makes me the Cadillac as opposed to the Corvette in the above analogy. I would only pose this question though, if “lightness” was the be all and end all of surfboard design, why aren’t Laird Hamilton and the rest of the tow crew all riding two pound boards?

As for durability, I don’t build boards to add to a collection, I build them to surf. Cripes, my garage isn’t big enough to store all the boards I’ve made in just the last five years let alone thirty years worth! I’m not looking for boards that last forever as I don’t ride them forever! Every board I’ve ever made (for myself) has been a new design. Sure, some incorporated features of past designs but my point is, I’m always looking for something new and different. Currently my quiver contains only four boards that suit the conditions I surf in. As my needs change, so will my boards. The old ones will either be junked or sold, mostly to groms looking for their first board. And most of them will still be in viable surfing condition, I will simply be finished with them. I have one board in my rafters that is three decades old now (and still in good surfing condition) that I have kept for sentimental reasons. It was a board that I sold twice and kept coming back to me. It’s a Gordon & Smith, candy apple tinted, 6’10" single fin, swallow tail shaped by Skip Frye. I keep it for the memories (it was my second board) and I usually take it out for one nostalgic surf every summer. To be honest though, it surfs like a dog! At least with respect for what I’m currently seeking with performance. It shows a few scars, and some of the repairs I made way back when (when I didn’t have a clue what I was doing) are ugly and need fixing, but structurally it is still very sound (doesn’t that say something for durability?). I bet I could even get a fair sum of money for it today, although I would never sell it.

I hope I’ve answered your questions, although I still don’t feel you’ve addressed mine, specifically with regards to how the performance of your boards is superior. You did post a rather detailed outline of the method of construction, along with photos, which I read (and the whole process seemed a bit beyond my capacities, capabilities, and finances, here in my little garage) but that still doesn’t tell me much about the ride. I suspect the performance is maybe only different, not better, but I can see we’d probably just go around in circles in this debate so I’m leaving it here.

I wish you success in your future endeavors and maybe in a few years time, one of us will be proven right or wrong, or neither, on this matter.

I’ll say Happy Holidays because I think it’s against the law to wish anyone a Merry Christmas these days.

Lobster

58

“I’ll say Happy Holidays because I think it’s against the law to wish anyone a Merry Christmas these days”

The masses are being hyped up by the media to believe in the hype…thats Fox News garbage…

Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change…

I ignore all media hype…

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

59

…and to all a good night!

60
Quote:

On lightness: Mercedes and porshe are not the lightest cars on the road, but they are some of the fastest and most manoueverable. Lightness is a myth plain and simple. A board needs some weight to catch waves and maintain momentum. Too heavy can be a dog, just like too light. There is only so light you will ever be able to go or want to go.

Mecedes and Porsches are fairly light cars. And even if they make some great cars, there are certainly a few japanese cars that will beat them hands down both in manouvrability and acceleration and sped. Power to weight/drag ratio is king when it comes to max speed and acceleration. Want more manouvrable? Go for a go-cart. Certainly more manouvrable, certainly lighter. The anology is flawed. Double so for surfboards.

Lightness is key if you want quick reponse. Quicker to whip around, quicker to stop a roation. Check out the lightest snowboards (like palmer honeycomb f.ex, or any of the high end boards, they are made to spin). If you want maximum (straight line) speed on the other hand, what you want is control. Heavier is better for control(that goes for snowboarding as well where the lightest boards are often unstable at high speed, like surfboards in chop). In the end it ends up being a design compromise between quickness and control. Noone will want the lightest/quickest board possible if they can’t control it. A board does not need much weight to catch a wave. As long as the gravity force of the board is high enough to overcome the drag it will catch waves even without a surfer on it. But that’s besides the point, since we’re not much interested in a surfboard without a surfer. With the surfer on, the surfer and board act as a system. In this system the board could actually be weightless and still catch waves. If you want to increase the momentum of the system, you may as well make sure you have a full stomach as add weight to the board.

It boils down to what you like and what works for you. Personally I think I can do with a little heavier boards and design elements that add control rather than quick responsess. But I like drawn out turns and I’m far from pro or even the best surfer in my area. Super Lightness is propably not the holy grail for the average Joe Surfer. But discarding it as a ‘myth’ is just ignorant.

regards,

Håvard