Insight

The responsibility of a board manufacturer

But what happens once the boards leave our factory? It is not like our responsibility ends once it’s off our hands, right? We’ve been thinking more and more about what impact our boards have during their entire lifecycle and what we can do to reduce impact during the use phase and even at the end of the board’s life. Unfortunately there’s still very little reliable data about the end of life of surfboards and the environmental impact it entails and we do not yet have that data either.

One of the ongoing challenges lies in the materials we use. Some are still petroleum-derived and contribute to fossil fuel dependency. We make conscious decisions where possible, without compromising on board durability. Our vacuum infusion technique optimizes the resin-to-fiber ratio, using fewer materials while producing stronger boards. But we also select bio-based or recycled alternatives whenever possible and ensure that all foam waste generated during production is fully recycled by our foam supplier. Although many individual components of the board are recyclable, the finished product is much harder to recycle as a whole.

Extending the life of your board

What was clear to us from the start is this: until we find a proper solution to minimize end-of-life impact, we need to extend the lifespan of our boards. Not just by making them strong from the start, but by ensuring they’re easy to repair, even by the riders themselves. Our foam also offers a functional advantage: the core of our boards is made from 50k closed-cell foam, which is completely waterproof. It can’t absorb water, so even if you ride with a crack, either because you didn’t notice it or didn’t have a chance to repair it during a trip, you don’t need to worry about water soaking in and making the board heavier, or eventually unusable.

What you’ll need for kitesurfboard repairs

We believe that everyone should be able to repair (small) dings, from flight damage to impacts with rocks. Keeping your board in good condition will extend the board’s life, simple as that. That’s why we made an extensive YouTube tutorial series on how to repair your epoxy boards yourself. It’s not that hard, believe us.

tip. But the most important thing in both cases is whether any water has entered the board, especially between the layers, making the wood core wet. If that’s the case, it’s crucial to dry out the wood before sealing the damage. No matter how deep the damage is – whether a scratch or a hole – if moisture gets trapped inside the board, it can lead to delamination, weakening the structure and potentially causing it to break in the future.

Assuming there’s no moisture inside, small scratches can be fixed with a surface treatment. We inject epoxy/resin into the scratches using needles, then sand it down using different grits of sandpaper to get a nice finish. For deeper holes, we clean them thoroughly and, if needed, add additional layers of fiberglass, or carbon fiber in the case of carbon twintips. Once it has cured, we sand it just like we do with surface scratches. All in all, fixing scratches takes about two days. For deeper holes, add two more days on top of that. Patience is the key to a successful repair – just like with the boards themselves, it’s all in the details.

The end life of twintips

A broken twintip is definitely written off. It’s impossible to fix a board that’s snapped in half – that’s why splitboards exist, haha! Once a board is broken, it has permanently lost its strength. Even for other types of repairs, once a board has had a crack, that area may always remain a weak spot. We’re known for doing solid repairs, but there’s never a guarantee the board will last another three years or more.

We often get twintips in for repair and in 90% of cases it’s riders who have been using the board for a long time and the wear is obvious. We can give them a quick refresh to make them look sweet again. But one of the hardest things to fix is the rail. Some people ride on and off the beach – or even over the beach – which ends up sanding down the rail of the board. At some point, the protective layer that sits over the fiberglass and connects the rail to the wood core is completely gone. At that stage – just like when it’s broken – the board has reached the end of its lifetime. When that happens, we give them a second life as barstools, lamps, or other cool decorations…