you're on Bolgo

Hey Monkey,

I ride a Delta Epoxy 6'6" stepped deck, fish, and I reckon it rocks. It's designed for waves from 2 to 6 foot. Light, super strong,(Marty reckons it'll never break) easy take off and surfs really well. I took it to Bali and ended up with more than my fair share of waves in a crowded break

I also have a poly 7'3" and it has heaps of dings, star crazes, chips, and minor repairs just from handling more than anything. It surfs well too but is noticeably heavier and feels more bulky.

The surftechs are possibly a little lighter than the Deltas and sure are nice to ride (I've ridden two of my mates surftechs an 7'6" mini mal and a 6'3" shorty) but he has managed to snap one in half and saw another one in the repair shop also with same problem. They ride nice though and the Webber is a s%#t hot board . I wouldn't mind a Webber.

Don't know if I'd go for a poly board now, just too fragile, especially when going overseas (bloody baggage handlers owe me for a ding kit).

At the end of the day it comes down to this: A poly board is cheaper and will look like crap in 2 years after yellowing and being damaged etc. The epoxy is more expensive initially but will still look and ride great in 2 years and is lighter and easier to paddle.
The choice is personal and many poly riders who are traditionalists prefer seeing the stringer in the board (some epoxy manufacturers paint on a stringer so the poly boys feel happy). It's up to you, ride one and try for yourself.

Hey Bolgo,

Mine is a custom and is probably slightly less light than the productions. I was lucky enough to win mine, but I think Delta Epoxy customs go for around $900 and the productions for about $780 in the shops??? I think. (includes fins and deckpads)

Surf board room were stocking them on Scarb Beach Rd across from BP servo at Scarbs.

By big I didnt mean JAWS big!

IMeant overhead waves..say head and a half high...still within the range of allaround shortboards...

CHeers

To Paraphrase Uffa Fox [famous pommie sailboat designer]

"the only place where weight improves performance is in a steam roller"

We see every sport in the world [think motorsport, yacht racing, cycling ,windsurfing] going to extraordianry lenghts to shave off a few grams yet surfing is still in the main sticking to 40 year old technology. The only reason I can see ultimately is tradition. Look at guys who are thinking outside the square such as Burt Burger [Sunova] and Marty littlewood [delta] and see what they are doing. Burt [who is abit of a man mountain] rides a sub 3.5kg [less than a conventional construction 6 footer] 9'6" x23" Mal. He rips it like he is on his shortboard. it has lasted him 4 years without breaking. Burt's boards with their Vacuum bagged epoxy/balsa sandwiches are unique and achieve higher strength weight ratios than can be achieved with Divyncell/epoxy sandwich that all other manufacturers use [bear in mind that 90% of the worlds sandwich boards are made in Thailands Cobra factory] but it is technically demanding and has not been reproduced by mass manufacturing. The current waiting time on a Sunova is about 9 months.

Yet Surfers crib that his boards at $1200 are too expensive and fork out $900 for a Polyester /PU foam model every year. Marty's stepped rail boards [like Darren's 6'6] look weird but he has got the volume in the middle wher the water ca'nt feel it and the skinny rails of a much lower volume board on the rails. Windsurfers have rolled decks to achieve the same thing for decades but on surfboards you need something flat to lie on.

Epoxy boards achieve weight saving and strenght gain for 3 reasons.

1. they use lighter foam [in fact 75% lighter]and the foam in any board provides minimal strength.

2. they involve sandwich construction in the skin wheer all the loading is focused [think of the diffence is strenght between a thick cardboard sheet and 3 sheets of paper of the same weight glued flat together]

3. they have vacuumed the laminate removing about 70% of the excess resin [the strenght is in the glass and the resin is just a bonding agent, in fact the higher the resin: glass ratio, the weaker as well as heavier the laminate, as it is brittle and the bonds shatters more easily. Think G 10 fins Which achieve strength through pressure laminating and are almost all glass] achieving a 1:1 as opposed to 4:1 resin to glass ratio.

Like sharp pointed, eye removing surfboard noses [that do nothing for performance] and mullet haircuts, polyester boards are here to stay but kiters can see things from a different angle and can think outside the square.

Go epoxy sandwich you'll never look back.