carbon SUP's...

[endlessfight]

i just wanted to get a feel for anyone that has tried a SUP that integrates carbon fibre, whether its the core, rails, etc.
My shaper is throwing around the idea of creating my next board with carbon (not sure what exactly yet) and i just wanted to see if people here have experience with riding them, and what they thought compared to standard technology.

im currently riding a 9'6" epoxy foam core and although i love it, i wish it was about 15lbs less. obviously the wind and chop with hit me a lot harder with a lighter board but i will would love to try it. thinking of going with something around the 8'6" range.

any info / experience stories would be great, cheers!

[surfnpoppy]

What for? Surfing or Racing or?

[raf]

15 lbs less?  I've got a 9'8" epoxy board in the shop that weighs 15.5 lbs.  You think if I had one made from carbon I could get it to 1/2 a pound?   

On a 9 footer, I doubt you would save more than 3 lbs making it from carbon instead of glass.  Although if that wad of cash in your pocket is weighing you down, then switching to carbon will definitely help!

[boardlady]

the choice of Carbon vs fiberglass in a single-skin board primarily affects the overall stiffness. Unless you are designing for huge waves, those loads aren't huge, so the volume of materials isn't huge, so the weight difference between a noble vs less-noble isn't huge, either.
Where you could save significantly is in the cockpit area, where your weight creates sizeable compressive loads. The traditional way of thowing an extra layer of 6oz at it, or two, if you are on the big side, adds weight very quickly. Consider instead to utilize some sort of sandwich - PVC foam, or PVC foam plus a veneer, and you will save weight - plus drive up the hassles and therefore cost...

[sharksupper]

Carbon is strong and stiff for it's weight, but doesn't take impacts very well.  Based on the short lengths I'm guessing this is a board for the surf.  Paddle impacts, rocks, and parking lot bumps will take a toll.  I'm not sure the benefits are great enough.  However, lower swing weight and a more responsive ride do sound enticiing!  With how far S-glass has come in the past few years, the advantage is even less.  If you do go with carbon, make sure it's used in a sandwich construction, PVC foam would be best for strength vs thin wood.... based on what I've experienced.

[endlessfight]

thanks for the replies. yes this will be for surfing waves. i have a 9'6 right now, and i dont know if its the type of foam used or whatever, but that board is easily 30lbs. it is pretty thick and has a high volume (as i normally surf it on fresh water = less buoyancy) i just lugged that thing through central america and back and it was driving me nuts. with my board bag, sup, carbon paddle, and a 6'5 shotboard i was at 45lbs of weight. the shortboard barely weighs anything.

i have just seen it creeping up more and more, especially with certain shapers like simon anderson.

[surfnpoppy]

IMO light is where its at for performance surfing. I have several AVISO prone boards. my favorite of those is a 11lb 9' Jeff Johnston longboard shape. this board rocks, being so light it is extremely reactive to input and can be surfed like a short board (almost) including pumping down the line and going vert, it goes on edge with almost no effort. I call it my cheater board. I would love to find that combo in SUP. I have had recent conversations with Dave Daum (King's Paddle Sports) about building a magic board....a sub 15lb 9'6" CF skinned SUP.

[colas]

Summary: use real sandwich (production or via a sandwich-experienced shaper)

For waves, I have a traditional single skin full carbon Gerry Lopez (riviera paddleboards) 8'10", and tried many times a thin longboard shape SUP 10'10" Gong "pseudo sandwich" (thin bamboo sandwich) with the deck & rails being carbon. Other boards are PVC sandwich or simple glass jobs.

The gerry lopez is really nice to ride, due to its nervosity, but with a pleasant dampening of vibrations I guess from the single glass job and reduced swing weight (total weight is actually heavier  than sandwich boards: 8.2 kg with pad without fins - 7.6 without pad. I guess this is because it is chinese-made, and there is much more resin left than with a good glasser job). Strength is OK (rails are sturdy), but I have deep pressure dents underfoot.
The Gong is impressive, the rigidity is unbeleivable (but mostly due to the strong stringer), and very helpful on a thin 10'10", but it actually weights a lot more (4kg more at 13kg) than a stringerless sandwich board 1 foot shorter.

If you want to go light and strong, there is only one technology available to shapers(*): real (thick) PVC sandwich, which allows for lighter core foam. On long boards, you may have some unwanted "bounce" in chop as the board can flex and not damped vibration (I feel it on a 9'11", not on a 7'10"). Some kind of (light) stringer would help. You can have some carbon instead of glass to add rigidity and nervosity. I would personally use carbon as the inner layers of the sandwich to protect the carbon from impact & sun. In France some shapers use cork instead of PVC, more ecological and easier to handle apparently. A smart use of carbon for innovative (parabolic? rails?) stringers may be the best solution.

Sandwich is also more resilient to dings: a ding breaking only the outer skin will still be waterproof.

Also I don't think you need to strive for a real light board, you must however try to get the front half as light as possible. Keep good reinforcements underfoot and around fin boxes, weight gains there is not worth it IMHO, unless you are a competitor.

(*) I don't think aviso-like technologies can be implemented by your local shaper, seems highly technical.

[surfnpoppy]

colas says: (*) I don't think aviso-like technologies can be implemented by your local shaper, seems highly technical.

Oh yeah agreed. AVISO is molded hollow core, very different.

My interest in this thread is that I am considering a new performance SUP board, and are a weight weenie hence my interest in CF. My guy builds sandwich CF racing boards all day long and is a long time so cal surfboard shaper. The challenge is to make the right board, a neat trick if done right. decisions. decisions.

[808]

Those FiberFlex sure look good.  

http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/Review/New-Fibre-Flex-Custom-Luke-Short/

http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/Review/2011-Simon-Anderson-96-Fibre-Flex/

[supman11]

looking to buy a fanatic fly 12'6 carbon race board.... anyone have it that i can take off their hands??