A chat about our various board constructions
There's so much info on our site and online about differing constructions and what they can do; we decided to write a short article explaining in laymen's terms what it's all about!
1. Our Inflatable boards (iSUP)
We use a few different constructions for our inflatable SUPs, however, the majority of them are made from our Dual Layer Fusion technology. Basically the centre of the board has high density drop stitch core; sounds technical, but basically, it's two layers of PVC sheet with thousands of little threads going from the top layer to the bottom (the video below shows the drop stitch). Then on top of the first layer of pvc a second layer is heat bonded to make the board stronger, and stiffer. Our older iSUPs had the top and bottom pvc layer glued together, however, this is a little heavier thus our 2019 boards are fusion (fused) together using heat.
Dual chamber Inflatable SUP:
We also have now just launched a dual chamber Isup. This board has an extra internal separate chamber that is pumped up separately to the main bulk of the board. This makes the board safer (due to less risk of the board deflating if you hit a rock or something) and stiffer due to the extra material running vertically adjacent to the rails within the board itself.
Additionally, this board has hard edge rails also. These are basically a hard strip of plastic glued along each rail towards the tail area of the underside of the board, The idea of the hard edge is to give a better rail profile resulting in greater performance in surf or white water as the rail will dig into the water surface rather than sliding out.
2. Our Hard Boards
Epoxy construction
The majority of our hard boards are made from EPS foam core (basically the same polystyrene you get with packaging materials). This is a good material as it doesn't soak up water and is light/strong. On top of the EPS is a wood veneer to give extra strength and cosmetic beauty before finally the Epoxy resin is put on with fibreglass or carbon matt like the pic below shows. We use Epoxy glass instead of its predecessor "polyester" PU glass as Epoxy is stronger and lighter. We put 3 layers of Epoxy glass on the top of the boards as the feet and rider weight are on it and we put 2 layers on the underside to keep the weight down.
Most of our hard boards have double concaves running through the underside of the board near the fins. This is like two dug out channels which focuses water flow in that area and helps increase the speed of the board and manoeuvrability for turning.
Hard Case Board:
We are excited about this one! Here we have our Hard Case board. This board is fantastic as it is about six times stronger the standard Epoxy construction, but is only slightly heavier (about 2kg heavier). Additionally, unlike most "durable" boards on the market, it keeps its wood finish, and we know you all love wood! In terms of construction the Hard Case is very similar to our Epoxy boards, however, an extra ABS moulded inlay is built into the board underneath the glass. This makes for a very strong construction and to date we are proud to be the first company to bring this to UK shores. Check the video below for a "walk" around the board.
Video link of Hard Case SUP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4Z1PiOdmWM
Foam (Soft Top) Boards
Finally another good option for families and/or hire faculties we also produce a foam SUP. This board has the usual EPS core but instead of Epoxy glass Plastic sheet is bonded to the underside of the board and soft foam to the top. This makes the board very light and durable. Also, the soft material is safer if a person was to collide with the board.
