| |
Home  Technology
Technology
This section is just that - “technical”. It is not marketing hype; it is
intended for the surfer who wants to understand why he/she should be
surfing on something other than foam. The way that performance is
affected by the physical properties of a hollow board with a very
strong shell, engineered to flex properly are explained - in detail.
Hey, some people get off on this stuff. Others would prefer to just
paddle out on one!
Shape
The creation of a successful surfboard shape that is fast and highly
maneuverable, yet stable is difficult in the extreme. The best shapers
are a unique blend of artist and physicist, craftsman and pioneer.
Today’s modern shapes utilizing hull profiles, which vary from concave
to flat to dual concave on the same board, are extremely sophisticated,
and their performance is at the limit of the physical properties of the
materials used to build them. It takes a lifetime to master this craft,
and those who excel at it are rare.
Flex
Another very important property of a surfboard is flex. Flex is a way
of storing energy and releasing it later. As a surfer carves a hard
bottom turn, the board can flex which (1) adds rocker, further enabling
the turn, and (2) stores potential energy. As he exits the turn, the
board returns to its original shape, releasing that energy – if the
surfer knows how to harness it - into acceleration. The flexural
properties of a surfboard are getting a lot of attention these days,
and unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation being publicized.
Like anything else, it is not simply “more flex is better”. The energy
needed to achieve a certain degree of flex and the area(s) on the board
that flexes are critical; too much torsional flex can actually decrease
performance.
Construction Materials
Polyurethane foam core, fiberglass and polyester construction have been
around for fifty years. There is virtually no other sport (except maybe
Bocce Ball) that survived the last half-century without drastic changes
in the materials and construction of the equipment used to play it.
Foam has persisted because it is easily shaped, and fiberglass is
readily available. You can’t make a very good tennis racket, snowboard,
dirt bike, or football helmet in your garage, but even a novice has the
potential to craft his own board without investing much more than he
would to buy one from a retailer.
There have been some advances in the type of foam used, the resins
(polyester, epoxy, etc.), the stringers, and the fabric coverings.
Newer boards use super-light PVC foam, or layers of polystyrene and
polyurethane foam with molded epoxy skins, even hollow boards with foam
stringers. They are lighter, and some are stronger – but they are still
foam.
The Basic Physics of Surfboard Performance
A surfer rides a surfboard – the surfboard rides the wave. To interact
with the wave, a surfer must cause the surfboard to move as he/she wishes.
When a surfer wants to make his board change direction he/she exerts a
force on the deck by shifting weight or pumping, etc. That energy is
transmitted through the board to the wave. Simple. Elegant. Perfect.
Not quite perfect. Foam absorbs energy. Foam dampens vibration [the
transmission of energy through a solid]. And foam detiorates – it
doesn’t behave the same after repeated compressions and expansions – it
“goes dead” - and weakens as well. But hit one cue ball into tight string of balls on the pool table and
the last one flies off with all the energy and speed of the incoming
ball – highly efficient energy transfer with almost no “dampening” or
absorption. So, some of the ideal properties of a well – designed high
performance board are:
- It should transfer energy from the surfer to the wave (or wave to surfer) with minimal dampening.
- It should be able to flex and store/release energy
repeatedly, reproducibly, with no deterioration or weakening.
- It should flex in the right place.
Other key features would be:
-
Light weight = less “swing mass” underfoot, less energy needed to make something happen
-
Strong skin (ding resistant)
-
Fast down the line
-
Easy to paddle, but not too ‘floaty’ or ‘corky’ to duck dive.
-
It would be great if it looked really hot, too
Breakthrough Technology – a paradigm shift
Can any one material or construction do all that? Yep. A laminate of a
very light core and a super strong super-stiff skin would do it. This
was tried repeatedly in past decade or so, but without success. The
problem was usually centered around ‘stiffness” or “lack of
liveliness”. They were strong and light, but they were ”dead”. Surfers
were unimpressed. Foam ruled.
AeroFlex
Hydro Epic’s research team recognized that stiffness was highly
dependent to the thickness of the laminate core. They tired using a
hollow core and a very thin laminate skin composed of composite fibers
like carbon and Dupont Kevlar ® bonded with epoxy, not polyester.
Lightness was achieved by removing 90% of the material. Energy transfer
was excellent. Fewer dings, no water absorption and no degradation. The
ultra thin, ultra strong skin made of aircraft spec aluminum honeycomb
laminated with carbon fiber, Kevlar, glass reinforced carbon, and
bonded with mil-spec epoxy yielded all the properties that were
desirable with the added bonus that flex could be adjusted through the
patented AeroFlex internal frame system.
There’s always some downside – in this case, it is cost. The tools
needed to design and construct this type of product are not only
expensive, but they have also become increasingly advanced, demanding
skilled craftsmen and engineers with a deeper understanding of design
in order to utilize their power. Our team of engineers, designers and
materials experts enable us to utilize the most sophisticated tools
available to design and build the ultimate surfboard.
Yes, these boards are expensive, but so is a Ferrari or a Lear. And you
won’t find anything anywhere that surfs like a Hydro Epic.
|
|
