During all the hulabalo over the weekend about everyone else's SUP boards I did find the time to pick up one of my BlueLine SUP boards from the glasser. It's 10'2' and was designed with nose riding in mind. Doing my own SUP boards is more of a hobby than anything. Things could change but the local custom SUP board shapers are always going to be far behind the big name pop-out SUP boards. You just can't compete with these guys that have had factories in Asia for years doing all their windsurfing equipment. The material and labor cost alone on a local custom EPS- epoxy board is outrageous! One hates to go to china but I can't say that I blame them when the same board can be done at a fraction of the price. All that being said I really enjoy doing my custom SUP boards on the side and you can't beat the feel of a REAL surfboard under your feet.
5 comments:
Hey Jim-
That new board looks clean! Help us out and post a couple more photos- would love to see what you did with rocker (looks low- a lot like what I ride). What'd the volume end up being on that?
Agreed with the feel of a real surfboard- there is a difference!
John-I will post some more oics tomorrow and go over the details. This board is different from most of the boards I ride or produce. It has 50/50 rails and is more of a old school shape. There are two guys riding this board and as a matter of fact today when I was SUP surfing they were both out on the boards. That was cool. The one in the pic is the third board of that shape that I have done.
Steve Boehne at Infinity is hand shaping all their boards as well. It seems like he's really set on keeping it that way. It's a tough call to hand shape or get the molded boards produced overseas. Paddle Surf Hawaii is has both so there's something for everyone. From what I understand, getting the popouts done overseas isn't necessarily cheaper on cost per board but some people prefer the technology since, if it's done right, it can be super durable. The problem is, when boards are done overseas sometimes the product can be inconsistent if the manufacturer isn't the best and decides to cut corners for some reason. My personal boards are all hand shaped and hand glassed but I think that's just how it's worked out for me so far. When it's all said and done, there's definitely something special about a board when the shapers hands have been on it.
Supsurfmag-Thanks for the comment. I ride both molded SUP boards and hand shaped SUP boards and they both work great. I do know a few board companies that have their molded boards made in asia . I wont mention names but Joe Blows SUP boards that sell for $1500 in the retail store costs Joe Blows SUP boards about $300 bucks to have made in asia. Thanks again for checking out my blog and your comment.
If the hat fits, wear it. Before I started stand up paddle surfing, I was riding a Boardworks Aipa popout and that was the best board I ever had.
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