Blue boards

Post by **bjhjames** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 4:16 pm

I had a local surf shop on the scc sell 6 poly boards I had and was tired of on consignment, she picked up 20% com on the sale.

When I came back to pick up the money she asked me if I wanted to buy some new boards off them.

When I told her that I had already bough a few new Surftechs and I was enjoying them alot, mainly as they I am getting a bit older and I can surf them quite a bit shorter then poly boards she went off at me in the shop!

Threw the chq at me for the money she owed me and squealed and screamed about cheap chinese importers ruining her buisness.

The stupidity of the coment blew me away, every other item she had in the shop comes out of China, boardies, wetsuits, clothes, shoes and she has no problem there.

But just because she employed a couple of guys out the back at slave labour rates to sand and glass a few soggy blanks that were computer shaped anyway she claims to be on a high moral ground.

Dont all the people who gone on and on about now "soulless" or "exploitaive" etc the popout story is while wearing their Bilabong T with pride made in China realize how stupid they look?

Leave it alone, none one has to buy anything they do not want.

All I know is the Surtech boards have put a lot more fun back into my surfing as I was sick of sinking on my yellowing polly baords.

Post by **Dicco** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 5:48 pm

You can now buy foam blanks made in china -isnt it wonderful to see just how everything is going to be made in china ?
I agree with you re the surftech boards though - they are a different beast to a poly board and you cant make a surftech here in OZ (yet) so if you want one its got top come from thailand
BTW have you ever asked where our fins are made ?
Not here
D

Post by **Dicco** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 5:57 pm

Actually, Re the cost of surftech type boards, I was able to get a maker to supply me with a 9' mal glassed with epoxy in a sandwich construction nearly the same as surftechs - ie one coat of glass, divinylcell 3 mm foam vacuum bagged on , then another layer of glass with epoxy with urethane color coat on this for around $1,100 a few years back.It can be done here if you get the right guy - try someone that has made custom windsurfers
- its essentially the same technique,Surftech dont own it
Dicco

Post by **smw1** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 9:09 pm

Just a bit of an update: Tuflites certainly aren't indestructable..... the Jetstar baggage handlers must have been using my board as a footie or something 'cos they managed to put 2 dings in it.

I bought the Surftech epoxy putty and touch up paint, and it's all good again. That stuff is pretty straightforward to work with and sands easily.

The board still feels very repsonsive, but I'm still getting used to the ride really. The swell's been so lame the last few weeks that I haven't got enough serious time in.

Incidentally, I saw one of the new Al Merrick K-Board tuflites the other day. It looked good but was fairly pricey. http://cisurfboards.com/surfboards.asp

SMW1

Post by **craig** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 7:30 am

iv'e owned 3 tuflites and snapped 2 of em...... whilst they may be durable they are not necessarily stronger than fibreglass.
Iv'e owned 2 webber afterburners and snapped them both in 2-3ft surf.
My third , still going strong is a 6'6" Tom Carroll model.
From my observations what i reckon is that these boards are great in small surf but enter the 6-8ft realm and they are just too light. You need the weight of real glass to get down the face and cut through the surface chop among other things.
So, in short i would buy a tuflite fish again but never anything i intend to tackle bigger waves with.

Have also heard that tuflite mals are a joke as they are so light that they never trim properly. They just cant keep the momentum that a cuppla kg's of glass can.....

Post by **Hawkeye** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 6:52 pm

Easy fixed!

Put a coupla lead weights down your jocks, quit smoking and replace it with a lolly habit, or get your mama to cook up a big tray of lasagna with triple cheese!

Or all of the above!

PS: I've seen a few of the pros put stick-on lead tyre weights on their tow-in boards. Maybe that's another option.

Post by **Dicco** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 10:38 am

Interesting to hear that some boards are too light to surf properly ! The guys i know are obsessed with light boards - cant get them too light ! Now I see some saying tuflite are too light .This being the case, why not go off to your local glasser and get them to whack another layer of glass on yur tufflite ? But get them to use epoxy resin so the layer sticks to the epoxy used in the tuflite .
'You cant please all of the peoplle all of the time '
Dicco

Post by **smw1** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:53 pm

Flat again this weekend so I spent some time sorting out a few dings and sprucing up my boards.

I have to say, repairing the Tuflite was a nightmare. The primer and paint skin is so thick it's hard to get the filled area to sit flush with it. I used a thin glass and resin over the epoxy filler, to give me something to sand easily. I then used an acrylic spray paint, but I still can't get a nice even finish so the repair blends in properly.

This experience has seriously put me off Tuflites. Are they really hard to work with, or is it just my inexperience with them?

SMW1

Post by **KymE** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 11:57 am

I was amazed at an 8'2'' blue board I tried. I could turn and surf it better than I imagined. Have 7 ' 2'' blue board. Beeng surfing 6'6'' short board - fibre glass and some times take out NSP for a cruise - don't have to work it as hard. They're all great fun boards.

Variety is best though.

As long as it's a surf board - and I'm surfing it -

I'm happy.

Post by **smw1** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 12:37 pm

Not really related to the topic, but I wonder if anyone can sympathise.

After spending hours reconstructing one of the sides of the tail on my Webber this weekend after it had a run in with the pavement (it's now as good as new), I was moving it back inside last night and dropped it.

As luck would have it, the base landed straight on a sharp corner, and put a 1" ding going right through the glass.

I almost cried.

Does anyone else manage to mess up their boards as regularly as I do?

Post by **buzzy** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:19 pm

I've owned two surftechs so far and didn't like either of them. That's nothing to do with the constructin process; it was all to do with what others mentioned...the relatively soft, thick rails.

I also own a Dick Van Straalen eppoxy fish, and I love it do death, so there you go.

I'll definitely have a surftech or salomon shortboard in my quiver. I don't have one at the moment but as soon as I have enough cash a 6'6" Webber S-core afterburner will be making its way into my quiver for travelling.

I also like the look of those JC surftechs. But since I ride an afterburner, and afterburnerish shapes I know I'll like the S-core afterburner shape.

So far as board destruction, yeah, it's almost a golden rule for me that as soon as I pick up a new (conventional) custom I'll drop it on concrete within the first 3 surfs. I absolutely never drop a board otherwise...just when they're brand new.

Post by **Hawkeye** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 8:07 pm

smw1 wrote:Does anyone else manage to mess up their boards as regularly as I do?

Yep, that's me. My 6'8" got stuck in its cover last week and I thought I'd be fine just giving it a slight thump down on the soft grassy ground to unstick it. Turns out it wasn't so soft, and cos it's a tuflite with no stringer down the middle it's now a couple of mm shorter. Looks like a pug-nosed concertina.

Duh. "If I only had a brain."

Post by **smw1** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 9:03 pm

Hawkeye wrote:
Looks like a pug-nosed concertina.

Duh. "If I only had a brain."

LOL nice work. Reminds me of the time I bought a beautiful Gnech fish, stood it up in the kitchen only to watch it topple over and hit the right rail on the corner of the marble work top.

I hadn't even got it wet.

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