Kneeboard Surfing USA Community Forum

I windsurfed a lot in the 90's, as boards were moving from custom polyester and "plastic" to EPS/Epoxy. There are two problems that were common knowledge about EPS/Epoxy sailboards, and I'm curious to find out if they are issues for EPS/Epoxy surfboards.

The first thing people always talked about with EPS/Epoxy sailboards is when you get a ding that leaks, the EPS soaks up water like a sponge. Before you repair it you have to let it dry out, which could take days. Otherwise you add weight and increase the chance of delam due to water vapor presure. I would think this is a worse problem with surfboards because punctures happen more frequently than in sailboards due to proximity to the shore and other surfers. Is this an issue with EPS/Epoxy surfboards? Sure puts a board in the penalty box for a long time compared to slapping on some resin the next day and you're good to go with a poly board.

The other issue is presure build up. Most EPS/Epoxy sailboards, at least as recently as five years ago, had an air vent. If you drive over mountains or leave the board out in the sun and didn't open the vent, you could get delam from presure building up in the board. Sad to say I had the rails of an old board blow up like baloons on a hot day's drive over a few thousand feet of elevation. I've never seen a vent on Surftechs, so I just assume the the smaller volume of a surfboard means less expansion so it isn't an issue. Is presure build up an issue in EPS/Epoxy surf boards?

Maybe the technology has improved. The weight and stiffness characteristics of EPS/Epoxy construction certainly rock for sailboards.

I've had my epoxy (shaped by Roland, epoxy glassed by South Bay Glassing) for 10 years and am really happy with it. i have had a couple run-in's with the reef in costa rica and new zealand but other than that it is really lite, i can repair dings just as easy any other board, and it still maintains its color. My only issue is I have outgrown it (im 6'6" and its 5'8") and its a quad and i tend to like tri fin more.

However, I am very impressed with how durrable it is and how well it floats me as compared to my 6'1.

Go to Swaylocks.
There's plenty of up to date info about those issues.

http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.c ... st=3179224

I was, for a while, the only guy in the area that did epoxy repairs. And, bythe way, the resins of choice areGreg Loehr's stuff, RAKA or System Three.

I found, of late, that epoxy boards are really no big deal to fix, providing they're built with a reasonable foam, say with a density greater than a decent meringue. That was the problem with early Loehrs ( with closed cell foam: like grains of rice - the water leaked between 'em ) or some earlier Patagonias (open cell foam where the cells connected ) - you needed to let them drain for a minimum of 24 hours.

The real problem I found was idiots - those who would ding a board and stay in the water or go out time and again without either fixing it or at least taping over it. Like polyurethane foam boards, they'd soak it up bad.

Generally, though, if you fix 'em reasonably soon and avoid further soaking, they're no worse than Polyurethane foam boards, and with some of the new foams, perhaps better.

hope that's of use

doc...

Plenty of epoxy boards around the area.The kids like them for being light,plus they get a deal from the local shop.Way to light for my liking.When I can I'll go for more weight.Want a solid board that'll cut thru the chop and bump.No doubt there are others that hold the same view.?



morphed the post a bit....sorry

If the board is made with less than 2ib density eps, it should have a vent fitted as per windsurf boards. Moulded epoxy boards don't have them because they saturate the eps with resin when they mould them reducing the risk of delam, but at the same time adding weight and reducing flex.
Doc has it right as usual about repairing eps epoxy boards, no different to pu/pe so long as you don't keep going out with a dinged board. You can if a vent is fitted attach an air line to the vent and very carefully expell the water from the ding, or attach a vacuum line and draw out the water!