May 2007 Issue
Janna Irons: The Old Days of Gromhood
By Katie McLean
Growing up on the tropical north shore of Hanalei, Kauai, with a family of surfers, surrounded by talent and support, and plenty of more-than-mediocre breaks, Janna Irons got the full grom experience. Back then she was one the few competing girl longboarders, but as of last year she joined the ranks of top longboarders in the first-ever ASP Women's World Longboard Championship. Along with her brothers, Bruce and Andy Irons, Janna is among the slew of talented surfers that have spent their grom years in Kauai.
Now a student at UCSB enjoying the waves of Santa Barbara, Janna Irons looks back at the old days of her gromhood.
What was it like growing up on the North Shore of Kauai?
Kauai’s North Shore was an amazing place to grow up. Not only is it gorgeous with great waves, but it’s also is a very close-knit community. Everyone knows everyone, which as anyone from a small town can attest, is a good and bad thing. On the upside, hitchhiking was a relatively safe way to get around the north shore when we were groms as you likely knew whoever picked you up, but on the downside nine times out of ten my mom would hear from that “friendly driver” that I was somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be.
As far as surfing goes it was rad to grow up around so much talent. Maybe there’s something in the drinking water there or something, but everyone kills it. Most of the time being in the line-up at Pinetrees was like paddling through a surf video.
How and when did you get into surfing?
My family basically is surfing. There are 7 brothers in my dad’s family and all of them surf, along with all their kids. My mom’s side of the family also has the surfing gene. So basically I had no choice, I was inevitably going to be a surfer too. My parents had me in the water and on a board as soon as I could swim, but being uncompromisingly independent I refused to surf--until I was 15. Surfing was what everyone did and I wanted to do my own thing. Eventually I came around though, realizing that on a small island surrounded by water, there really isn’t much else to do.
What was the typical day like as a grom?
Our daily routine when we weren’t in school was to get up at 7 to check the surf. These were the old days when you physically had to go to the ocean to know what the surf was doing; there was none of this Internet forecasting stuff. Then we’d usually go out in front of my dad’s, near Pinetrees, since that’s where we stashed our boards. After our first session we’d walk into town for lunch, then grab our boards and walk to the pier and paddle out to The Bay. Three hours later, exhausted and covered in rash almost to the point of bleeding, we would drag ourselves back home and collapse on the porch, where my dad would have dinner cooking. Oh, I miss that life!
How was the contest scene when you were a grom?
When I was young, there were only a handful of girls who surfed, and most of us longboarded. There would be only one heat of the same 5 or 6 girls in every contest, so we were always stoked when kids would fly over from other islands. I’m envious now when I see how easy it is for kids here to just throw their boards in the car and drive anywhere for a comp. If there was a contest on another island it was always such a hassle to buy tickets, pack up boards, and find rides on the other islands, but I guess it made it a bit more exciting too.
How do you think the scene has changed?
I’m aware that female longboarders are probably the lowest members of the surfing hierarchy, maybe coming in slightly before boogie boarders. On Kauai when I was young we got away with it because there were only a few of us, but today all the girls have succumbed to what is “cool”- being a shortboarder- I don’t blame them. In the couple of years after I moved to Santa Barbara, my dad would call me from Pinetrees and tell me, “There are a hundred little girls at the right out front!” I figured it was a gross exaggeration, but when I went back to Kauai the last couple of times, I was shocked at how the grom scene over there has exploded. And they’re all phenomenal surfers! I guess with so much older talent, each generation pushes the next to go bigger and better. It just makes me wonder where it’s going to be 10 years from now.
Posted May 2007 Blue Edge Magazine. All rights reserved.
Frank and Pat Curren/ Andrew Bennett
PAT & FRANK CURREN INTERVIEW
By Bill Tover
How old are you, and how many years have you been surfing?
Pat: 10 years old. I have been surfing for four years.
Frank: 12 years old. I have been surfing for four years.
Free surfing or competitive surfing?
Pat: Both. I like to free surf because you don’t have to be so nervous, and I like to compete because you win lots of prizes.
Frank: Both, but I like free surfing better because you can stay out in the water longer.
Do you compete in the NSSA?
Pat: Yes. I'm in the “Menehune” division.
Frank: Yeah. I'm also in the “Menehune” division.
Best contest results?
Pat: Volcom--1st place with lots of prizes.
Frank: Christian Surfing Association (2nd place).
Where have you traveled to for surf?
Pat: Australia, France, Panama and Hawai’i.
Frank: The same as Pat, but I surfed bigger waves.
Favorite surf spot in Santa Barbara?
Pat: Sandbar at the harbor. I own that wave.
Frank: The Pit on a good day. Pat doesn’t own that wave; I do!
Did you guys really surf four sessions in one day at Snapper Rocks?
Pat: Yup. It was really hollow, but crowded.
Frank: I liked the barrels, but not the crowd. They were very aggressive.
Favorite music?
Pat: My dad’s music.
Frank: Switchfoot
Last book that you read?
Pat: “How To Make Your Mom Happy By Doing What She Says”
Play music?
Pat: drums
Frank: guitar
Do you feel that there is a connection between your surfing and playing music?
Pat: Uh, yeah. I get amped when playing the drums and surfing big
Rivermouth!
Frank: Like when I play guitar, I get so amped just like when I drop in on Pat
into a macking, gaping left barrel!
Favorite surfers?
Pat: My dad, Taylor Knox, Kelly, Rob Machado and Erin Smith.
Frank: POPS, Ollie from Bali, Taylor Knox, Gramps and Rob Machado.
What was the heaviest wave you surfed this past winter?
Pat: Pipeline
Frank: V-land
Your WORST wipeout besides the one at Cortes Bank, 100 miles due east of San Diego?
Pat: Oh yeah, I remember that one. At the Pit, a guy shot his board at me as I was going over the falls, but I had my helmet on.
Frank: A gnarly one outside Ledbetter on a big day at a minus lowtide.
Do you guys stay fit by “cross training” like your coach, Brandon Smith?
Pat: Brandon WHO?
Frank: You mean, “Sponger Smith?”
What’s your favorite maneuver?
Pat: Barrel
Frank:Barrel
Have You learned anything from Uncle Joe?
Pat: He talks to me about my cutbacks.
Frank: Same thing, cutbacks
How about your dad?
Pat and Frank: Paddle hard and set your edge when you go in to the barrel.
Any last words?
Pat: Don’t sell your boards. Ever
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Making Strides: Andrew Benett
By Chuck Graham
Paddling out at dawn in the rivermouth at Rincon, there’s no mistaking the big redheaded kid pig-dogging it on a sand-sucking barrel. He resembles a young Luke Egan (former world #2), utilizing his size to his advantage.
However, it wasn’t until this past fall that 19 year old Andrew Bennett put it together in the NSSA, where he vaulted from 50th in the open season ratings to 5th in a matter of just a few contests.
"He’s a bit of a late bloomer," says his coach, Mike Lamm of the goofy-footer. "But I think in the next 18 months he’ll make some inroads."
Making Strides
So how do you explain jumping 45 placings in the open season ratings to 5th overall?
I’ve been working with Mike Lamm for over a year now. But after returning from Indo last September with a ankle injury, I missed the first NSSA and didn’t do well in the two that followed. So I trained really hard with Lamm, and last November I won my first open, got a second in another, and I’ve won a couple of Explorers since then.
How did you hurt your ankle?
Down at the Mentawais at Macaronis, I pulled into a barrel, and as I was coming out the lip cracked me and compressed me. It was the ankle on my back foot. The doctor told me I crushed my cartilage, strained ligaments and bruised the bone. I’ve been going to therapy, but I was back in the water after the first day.
How do you feel about your jump from 50th to 5th? Is this a big surprise to you?
It kind of was a surprise, but I’ve been working hard with Lamm, especially the mental approach. It’s been a goal of mine.
What sorts of things has Lamm been working with you on?
Real technical stuff. He basically gives you a real exact goal you’re trying to attain when you’re surfing; what the pros are doing, and what’s different about their approach. It’s a different way of thinking about how you surf.
I’ve seen you surf at Rincon, and thought you were a pretty good surfer, but you hadn’t put it together in the NSSA yet.
For a while I wasn’t. Then outside of contests, I put a lot of energy towards it, surfing in the type of contest surf we have to surf. I also got some really good boards from Robert Weiner, which was a change at the same time as my jump in the ratings.
Any other sponsors coming your way since your turnaround?
I’ve been getting clothes and wetsuits from O’neil.
What are your immediate plans?
Depending on the nationals, I’m already surfing WQS events this year, and I’ll do a lot more next year. Hopefully this will be my last year in the NSSA.
How has the WQS gone so far?
Those are tough. I’ve made it through a few heats, and at my age and experience, I’m pretty stoked. It makes you realize how many good surfers are out there.
Congratulations on your recent success, and good luck in the future.
Thanks.
Posted May 2007 Blue Edge Magazine. All rights reserved.
Wavelengths/How to Surf Well
Wavelengths
Words and Photo by Michael Kew
First Generation, South Pacific
Today, groms exist just about everywhere.
Papua New Guinea’s natural cornucopia is of Oceania’s most pristine. A maze of islands, reefs, mangroves, and passes, here lies a marine domain of dazzling fertility. Dangling from the eastern edge of southeast Asia’s center of coral reef biodiversity, Papua New Guinea’s waters are poorly surveyed, hosting thousands of uncharted of coral reefs—including fringing, barrier, and atoll formations—and is one of the world’s most stunning marine habitats, exceeding species known to the Australian Great Barrier Reef, the Hawai’ian islands, and the West Indies combined.
Before surfing above one today, I was informed that because Kavieng’s reefs lie at low latitude, they are hidden from the seasonal cyclone belt and, consequentially, the upper reef slope and reef crest are rarely impacted by extreme high seas. Largely untouched by human activities—result of the country’s low population and absence of material development—Papua New Guinea offers one of the world’s few remaining opportunities for conservation of stellar coral reef zones.
A scuba mecca, the number of fish species recorded on single dives here is usually among the highest recorded during rapid ecological South Pacific surveys. Constantly swept with oceanic and tidal currents, Kavieng has a reputation for being the pelagic species capital of Papua New Guinea.
Sweating and scanning for sharks between sets, I sit on my surfboard and marvel at these facts. Several colorful species—staghorn corals, table corals, tree corals, brain corals—coat the ocean bottom, mere inches from my feet. Basslets, parrotfish, wrasses, groupers swarm. A coral eden, they say, leading the globe in pure coral glory, but falling far short in native surfing population.
In fact, surfing islanders are scarce. Of Oceania’s first surf-generation, teenaged boat driver Stanley drops anchor and enters the mood. Rare is the small black figure on a thrashed surfboard atop turquoise translucence. This is not the modern Action Sports Retailer surf image. In Papua New Guinea, reality supplants time.
Stanley’s people, likely migrants from the Indonesian archipelago, arrived here some 50,000 years ago. They flocked in several waves, and the islands sired a unique effect on cultural texture. Since the bulk of Papua New Guinea’s terrain is quite mountainous and rugged, the islanders evolved in virtual isolation, developing their own languages and tribal cultures, lending Papua New Guinea one of the planet’s most diverse and intriguing island demographics. Most still reside in small villages, adhering to traditional tribal customs.
Before the arrival of aircraft, islanders were as isolated from the rest of Papua New Guinea as people living on other continents. Though English is lingua franca in government and schools, the islands feature 800 different pidgin-based dialects.
First contact between white men and the islanders occurred in the early 16th century, when Portuguese explorer Jorge de Meneses sighted the place, naming it Ilhas dos Papuas (“Land of the Fuzzy-Haired People”). However, it wasn’t until the mid-1800s that traders and missionaries began settling. Throughout the following decades, Papua New Guinea was claimed by England, Germany, and Holland, finally succumbing to Australia after World War I.
The inland Highland area, thought to be too inhospitable for human habitation, wasn’t explored until the 1930s. European gold-seekers instead found a million people living in fertile mountain valleys—cultures steadfast since the Stone Age. By the 1960s, a significant independence movement emerged, and, in 1975, after a brief period of internal autonomy, Papua New Guinea declared full independence.
Grommet Stanley realizes none of this. He does, however, realize his reef’s charm and ideal symmetry. A regularfoot, lefts are not a problem, evident by his confidence and savvy positioning. Without a DVD or VHS player for miles in either direction, surf videos are alien things; Stanley draws inspiration and technique from within and from sojourning surfers, mostly Australian. His is a realization of imported stoke, a life path forever altered by the gift of a surfboard.
Skimming fast above the reef, one eye on the horrific coral heads, my own realization of Fletcher’s epoxy shaping genius unfolds. Later, wide-eyed Stanley is bequeathed the 6’0” Patagonia fish following his premier interview:
What did you do before you started surfing?
“Before I went out surfing I talk with God first. Then I go out surfing.”
What do you like most about surfing?
“I like surfing with people happy. We sing and make fun when the waves coming.”
Does singing bring the waves?
“Yeah. Singing to make a waves getting bigger. We call it ‘tolak.’”
Will you surf forever?
“Yeah. On and on.”
How to Surf Well: A Primer
First in a series
By David Pu’u
The height and breadth of the concept of learning to surf well is broad. In this primer we're going to look at a few basics.
First of all, the question:
What is good surfing? Surfing being sort of a subjective activity, what makes one technique or surfer stand out from another? Opinions vary on this, but in great surfers from the past and to date, we see certain common traits. Let’s look at a few.
1.Every great athlete knows his game and playing field inside and out. What this means to a surfer is that one must understand the nature of something pretty vast. Water, the ocean, storms which make waves, weather which affects waves, the wave itself, and the variety of different breaks and approaches to riding them are all part of our basic field of play which one must master.
2.Approach. There are many great approaches to riding a wave. But logically, since surfing historically has been viewed as being a relatively creative free form means of expression, what constitutes a “good” approach?
3.Technique. The application of an athlete’s ability to a task. How one performs that task most efficiently. In this primer we're going to start with the very basics of surfing. You would be surprised at the number of really good surfers that skipped this because no one ever explained it, and had to relearn later in their careers in order to move forward and on to a higher level of performance.
If you want to be a good surfer, get to know and understand water. Originally surfing was part of the culture of an ocean centric people. The Pacific Islanders were a water based culture. It was their home. Land was where they went to rest. When I was four, my Hawaiian father tossed me in the deep end of a pool. I swam. Get to know water and develop your ability in it. Every great surfer is as comfortable out at sea as a non surfer in front of the TV. It starts with your ability to be comfortable in water and get around in it. Learn to swim well. It provides a feeling of security and self confidence and as your surfing ability expands to larger more challenging surf your confidence will grow. It's the essence and starting point of being a waterman which lies at the core of the sport.
Understand what a wave is and it’s physical dynamics. It's a rolling energy pulse formed by a storm. Pulses vary in frequency and duration, which are measured in height and interval. For example a 4 foot swell at a 20 second interval is traveling faster and carries more energy than a six foot swell traveling at a 10 second interval.
When that 4 at 20 swell feels the drag/pressure of a shallowing bottom it will pitch forward or “break” and make a much larger wave than the shorter interval swell would. This is the basic physics illustration behind riding a wave.
“Forward” is the operative word here. Surfing is all about riding an energy wave and putting your board and body in a position to maximize that ocean embodied storm energy. In a breaking wave the point of energy release is in the top half of the wave, nearest the lip. This is because the lip is moving faster than the trough. The top half of a wave is where the speed and power lie. All great surfers generally surf “from the top of the energy wave” because great surfing is a function of speed, and most easily obtained by learning to utilize the top half of the wave.
Now let’s look at approach. What constitutes a good approach? A good approach is one that allows you to make the wave you want to ride. But a great surfer's approach is embodied in the concept of imagination. A great surfer does whatever he sees in his mind’s eye. It's this approach that made George Freeth, Duke Kahanamoku and Tom Blake great. It's that same concept that has caused Kelly Slater to recently redefine what's possible in ultimate expression of imagination.
How does one develop approach? One must start with the basics. You will read that a lot from me and many others. Basics. A good athlete is sort of like a good house. He has to have a complete foundation, or at some point his house teeters and collapses. In surfing the amount of foundational knowledge required to be good is vast.
Assuming one has a basic understanding of when and how to paddle for a wave lets look at a facet of surfing that hampers many people. It's so simple that it's often overlooked.
It's the basic action of standing up. The physical act of standing up on a board, going from prone paddling to one’s feet is actually a maneuver. Great surfers do it so well that you don't notice it. It appears to happen quickly and easily. But it's actually is one of the most difficult things to learn to do well.
Here's a pretty standard technique many elite athletes use. It works especially well in surfing. It's called “visualization”. Visualization is when you sit quietly and think about what you want to accomplish. You “see” the act in your minds eye. It's a dress rehearsal for the action to be accomplished. It pre programs you to accomplish an action that must take place in an instinctual manner.
Let’s apply it to standing up. Lie down on the floor of your room or on the beach, close your eyes and imagine a cat getting to its feet. It happens quickly and effortlessly. You hardly notice the effort. Then imagine yourself at the starting line for a race. The starter fires his gun. In that instant you spring to your feet. The act of standing on a board should take place in one swift powerful movement. It should leave you with your feet centered over the drive points of your surfboard and weight loaded. In the next instant you un weight yourself and the board will respond yet again. The act of standing up is surfing’s first maneuver, and when mastered makes surfing much easier and is the first step in developing one’s individual approach. To get better at it simply apply the visualization technique and do repeats. Cross training exercises are abdominal exercises, and push ups.
When you go surfing after applying this technique over a relatively short period of time you will experience rapid improvement.
Posted May 2007 Blue Edge Magazine. All rights reserved.
Environmental News
Surfrider Update
By Ben Preston
Santa Barbara Surfrider was privileged to host Yvon Chouinard at their April 5th general meeting. Speaking before a packed house at the Faulkner Gallery in the Santa Barbara Public Library, Chouinard kept the audience captivated with background information on his unique business ethic—always striving to minimize environmental impact and look out for the best interests of his employees—and bits of advice on how we can improve our lives through more careful use of resources.
“Scandinavian countries are way ahead of us,” he informed the audience, “They are resolved to be oil-free by 2010.” He went on to explain that in terms of quality of life, the US ranks 14th in the world—not in keeping with our disproportionate consumption of natural resources. “We’ve got nothing on the Italians as far as quality of life goes.” he said.
Chouinard also talked about volunteering and local land use issues, both important tenets of Surfrider’s modus operandi. He gives each of his employees two months of paid vacation every year expressly for the purpose of volunteering for environmental programs. Many employees opt to travel to far away places to help out, but involvement in local environmental organizations is encouraged as well.
Chouinard also donated a number of signed copies of his book, Let My People Go Surfing, to the Santa Barbara Chapter. “We hope to work with Yvon and Patagonia to achieve mutual coastal preservation goals,” said Chapter Chair Scott Bull.
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By Ben Preston
The fate of Goleta Beach Park—arguably the county’s most frequently visited park facility—hangs in the balance as Santa Barbara County prepares to make a final review of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR). The DEIR addresses the two different ways being considered to deal with the park’s beach erosion problems.
One, favored by many Goleta Beach enthusiasts and the owner of the Beachside Café, employs a coastal armoring measure called a permeable pile groin. This concept consists of wooden piles arranged like those supporting the pier, but closer together. Erected perpendicular to the shoreline, the idea is that the closely-spaced piles would cause a reduction in the longshore current and allow sand to collect on the up-current side of the groin, while still letting sediment through to the down-current side. It involves an initial placement of 500,000 cubic yards of sand on the beach, and regular maintenance replenishments. Advocates of this method reason that the gaps in the groin will cause less down-current erosion than a traditional non-permeable groin.
The other method, preferred by many environmental groups, is called managed retreat. Managed retreat moves park facilities and utility lines away from the shoreline in order to allow for a wide coastal buffer zone. Proponents of this approach argue that the beach naturally fluctuates over time, and that allowing a coastal buffer zone is a better way to protect park facilities without compromising sediment deposition further down the coast. Many people favor this method, as it provides a more natural beach setting, and tends to require less replenishment than hard armoring.
Earlier, the hard structures for coastal armoring proposed to the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission involved the use of a rock wall running the length of Goleta Pier. Since this approach would have allowed no sand to get past it for down-coast sedimentation, community groups caused enough of a disturbance to get the armoring plan changed to the permeable pile groin setup.
Emergency rock revetments were placed at Goleta Beach in 2003 with a 30-month expiration date. Still there, the concern of many is that if the county doesn’t have enough funding to perpetuate sand place on the beach by a dredge, the rock wall will become exposed and cause more rapid erosion of the beach.
Currently, the final arrangements are being made for a long-term plan for Goleta Beach Park. Members of the public are encouraged to make public written and verbal comments to ensure that their views are held in contention during the creation of the final EIR. This is the time to find discrepancies in the DEIR, and find things which haven’t yet been addressed.
So whether you are a dyed-in-the-wool property rights activist or a Volkswagen-driving environmentalist, now is your time to be heard on this issue. For further information on the Goleta Beach DEIR, please visit the following addresses:
For the County’s official notice of availability:
http://www.sbparks.org/GoletaBeach/docs/DEIR%202007/DEIR%20pdfs/DEIR%20Notice%20of%20Availability.pdf
For the DEIR Executive Summary:
http://www.sbparks.org/GoletaBeach/docs/DEIR%202007/DEIR%20pdfs/Executive%20Summary%2021Mar.pdf
For the entire DEIR:
http://www.sbparks.org/GoletaBeach/docs/DEIR%202007/DEIR%20TOC.htm
Additional information can be found at:
www.sbparks.org
The public hearing, where testimony can be offered by members of the public, is on Tuesday, May 1st, at 6:00 p.m. in the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission hearing room at 123 E. Anapamu Street. Written comments are due by Monday, May 14th. Get out and make yourself heard. Stand up for what matters to you.
The Future of Surfing
By Ned McMahon
The kids are the future of surfing. But it is only with a full understanding of the materials and choices available now, can the kids usher in the future of surfboards. Surfing has always been lead by the young with new moves and board design to support the direction. Even the current retro trend is a new interpretation of old designs and they are being surfed with decades of new surfing ability.
Now surfing is at a crossroads. While Clark was making foam, and more importantly, controlling the market things were quite stable and change was slow. In some ways that was a good thing as techniques were perfected both in the water and the shaping room and there was steady progress in one direction.
Clark closed in December of ’05 and simply blew the lid off stability, direction, materials, environmental issues, Asian production, and more. Now is the time to review the materials and directions.
For nearly 50 years surfboards have been made with PU foam and polyester resin. The foam was made with a component called TDI and the “T” is Toluene which causes cancer and is part of the reason Clark closed the doors. Toluene is bad for the environment and bad for the worker. Polyester resins contain Styrene – another cancer causing chemical. Even with protective clothing and a respirator the shop worker is not protected because styrene can be absorbed directly through the skin.
Now many boards are made with PS (EPS and EXP) which is more commonly known as Styrofoam. PS uses Styrene and Benzene in the manufacturing process, both of which cause cancer. Both PS blanks and PU blanks are relatively safe for a shaper wearing a good respirator. The big difference with EPS is it must be glassed with epoxy resin. Workers can develop an allergic reaction to epoxy that will make them sick but it is only from direct contact with epoxy not absorbed through the skin. Epoxy is not as bad for the environment as polyester either.
The blanks made like Firewire or with parabolic stringers all use either PU or PS foam and these are just a different way of putting stringers in a board. They will affect the way the board rides but whether it feels good or not will be personal preference.
Some boards are made in molds like Aviso. This is carbon fiber – which is very strong and stiff with epoxy resin. This technology is used in many other things from boats to cars and can be made light and strong. Again the feel will be personal preference but remember when a board comes out of a mold it looks exactly like every other one out of the mold. I don’t know too many surfers riding the exact same board as their friends.
Many boards are made in Asia today. They are made in molds and made in the traditional way too. The molded boards again are all the same. It is sometimes hard to tell because the Asian factories are coloring the boards nicely and they are making boards for the famous surf brands here. The boards made in the traditional way also look pretty good since shaping machines have made it much easier to duplicate good designs. Many of the workers in these factories though don’t surf and some haven’t even seen the ocean. I think it would be strange to get a board made by someone who hasn’t been in the ocean. These boards are cheaper but then no wonder!
High tech molded boards or cheap boards from Asia are a couple of ways to go but since we all surf in the ocean and it is our duty as a surfer to preserve and protect it, I think there is a better way to go. I believe we need to think about what is best for our environment and we, as surfers, need to take an active role. I have surfed a few times with legendary surfer Skip Frye and every time before he surfs he takes a few minutes to pick up trash on the beach. It takes just a few minutes. Imagine what an impact we could have if we all just took a minute to pick up some trash on the beach before we paddle out – the beaches would be clean!
As for our surfboards, you can see how they are made with some pretty bad stuff but there is now an alternative. A company in San Diego is making surfboard blanks using MDI instead of TDI – it’s the only company doing this. This is a better choice because MDI doesn’t cause cancer. But this company is also combining MDI with the rest of the mix made from plant based materials called Biofoam. Biofoam blanks are sustainable – meaning that it is made from easily renewable sources. Some manufacturers claim other foams are recyclable and yes, that is true. All foam is actually recyclable while it is just foam. Once it is made into a surfboard with a stringer and cloth and resin, none of it is recyclable.
This company is also working on new cloths using hemp, bamboo, and tencel – all plants with very strong fibers and sustainable – instead of using fiberglass. A new plant based resin will soon be available that is 98% plant based and UV cured. This resin has no toxic fumes and is sustainable too. While these are new products and have recently just come on the market, with further development this is the future of surfboards in terms of a board that is safer for the workers, sustainable, and better for our ocean environment.
When I was a young surfer I only wanted a board that was made locally by a shop with local experience. Why would anyone want a board that was made halfway around the world by non-surfers. More importantly though is the environmental impact of shipping on our oceans. Shipping a container of surfboards (or blanks) across the ocean has a huge carbon footprint and is about as far from green as it gets. In addition, shipping is the #1 cause of ocean pollution.
So as we consider the future of surfing, new materials are available from new factories around the globe. There are good sustainable products available locally and I believe the best boards are available from the people surfing right in your area. As you – today’s groms – consider all this, just remember, YOU are the future of surfing!
Posted May 2007 Blue Edge Magazine. All rights reserved.
