Surfing's New Wave

They may come across as defiers of convention, pushing the edge as they slice through walls of water, but surfers are traditionalists by nature. For more than 40 years, as many as 9 out of 10 American wave riders have relied on one supplier of blank or unfinished boards: Gordon (Grubby) Clark. Last December when the old man slammed shut the doors of Clark Foam, in Laguna Niguel, Calif., he unleashed a tsunami. Some small businesses that had been shaping and finishing Clark's polyurethane (PU) boards simply wiped out; panic over supply swept the industry. But Clark's departure may turn out to be the best thing to happen to the sport. Surfers have been forced to find a new ride.

Companies like California's Firewire Surfboards and France's Salomon have caught the attention of high-ranking pros by bringing innovative materials and construction methods to surfboards, some that had already worked wonders for skis, snowboards and the wings of Boeing Dreamliners. New designs using expanded polystyrene foam (EPS), epoxy resins and stiff sheets of carbon fiber add responsiveness and maneuverability to the boards. The buzzword: "flex memory"--or "flex"--the way a board snaps back into its original shape in a turn or maneuver. "The materials have a memory of the original curve, and they return to that curve very quickly," says Firewire's Mark Price. "It gives you that twang-like effect when you're coming out of the turn. It's almost like a bow releasing an arrow."

The newer boards are often called "composites," because unlike old PU boards, they are crafted from foams of varying densities as well as fiberglass, resins, carbon fibers and wood in various configurations, some devised with sophisticated computer modeling. "Once surfers try 'em, it's an easy sell," says Jason Weatherley of Salomon. The trick is getting those old-school riders on board. [This article contains a diagram. Please see hardcopy of magazine.]

RETHINKING THE BASICS OF THE BOARD ...

OUTLINE

More or less curve? Increasingly, computerized machines help shape the outline (template) to balance the elements for optimum performance.

ROCKER

Some boards selectively accentuate rocker, the bottom curve from nose to tail. More rocker means more mobility, less speed; less rocker lets you rocket down a wave's face.

FINS

A critical design element for responsiveness and control, fins (a board can have up to five) are made using three major technologies that tailor the flex patterns by changing the fiber orientation.

STRINGERS AND RAILS

Introduced to make polyurethane foam boards more rigid, the stringer (usually made of wood) has migrated to other parts of the board and to other materials. Full or tapered, sharp or rounded, rails (where the deck meets the bottom) are also taking a turn--for a better one on waves.

HOLLOW BOARDS MADE WITH CARBON FIBERS

No core. No stringer. Aviso sandwiches 1/4 in. of honeycombed material or foam between sheets of unidirectional carbon fiber--for a strong matrix--then seals it with heat. The deck and bottom flex independently: the cavity gives the rocker room to straighten out, pulling the rails and allowing for more speed on turns. Caution: your wax job might melt on these black boards.