Fastest animals in the ocean are...

[fernmanus]

So how about a soft skin on the actual foil. It is the foil that worries me not the board.

[scottnorby]

....soft shell foil —- yes— testing

Stay tuned

[Seabizzle]

I like the idea of the soft skin and have always thought the construction and durability of traditional surfboards is a bit ridiculous.

I guess when the soft skin is applied to a foil board the main purpose is to make it more durable as once the board is flying the soft skin is no longer in contact with the water.

How do you feel the soft skin effects the performance of traditional planing boards? I see some of your boards are advertised as convertible so can be used for foiling and normal surfing. A kite surfboard would be the ideal vessel to test the soft skin performance as it's constantly planing.

[scottnorby]

The skin doesnt have any negative effect while riding.
Jim Richardson tested them on the north shore for years with the intention of making them flexible. Which is a great aspect if flex is wanted. But the layup of the glass is solid on the foilboards.

I have paddle surfed various sizes with this tech. I literally feel like ive gone back in time when i padlle out on a hard board now.

One fun fact is that there is a noticeable difference in the vibrations you DON’T feel anymore.
Its a more silent ride.
Chatter of an epoxy board is outrageous.
This is the exact opposite.
The skin dampens.
The humming of a foil doesnt send vibrations either.

The durability and ease of use is great.
The skin is not bothered by UV and acts as an insulator from heat for the the foam, epoxy and cloth inside.

Paddling feels great and hands sink in and grip so good when duck diving.
Feet sink in too.
But just 1/8” - so you dont lose any sensitivity.
Just enough to feel connected and solid.

There are thousands of shapes and sizes of boards in the world. Thousands of shapers claiming the magic shape.
But the market seems to avoid skinning the outside of boards for fear of not being able to market it to “fashionista surfers”. They dont want to “lose their cool” —-and we just dont care.
It works.

Albeit this claim, that the market may not immediately embrace it, has proven to be true.
The soul surfer of the 70s has given way to the follow the leader surfer riding a board he was convinced was best — by some overly skilled rider on a video— when really he was just convinced to buy the model most profitable for the board maker and the shop selling it.

But we believe in this.
It will take time for people to see them.
Which is why we want more regional riders.

We are stoked when people “get it” and we get to make them a board for a totally new experience.

The fact is that Slater, Occy, Ross Williams, Pato Teixeira and many others have all admitted they like them and they make sense.
But we arent rushing to mass produce a bunch — only to be forced push them.

We are making them by hand with the only automation being the initial cnc cut of the foam core for the deaigns shape.

[mike pepper]

Very cool idea

[rynhardt]

One fun fact is that there is a noticeable difference in the vibrations you DON’T feel anymore.
Its a more silent ride.
Chatter of an epoxy board is outrageous.
This is the exact opposite.
The skin dampens.

first off, I think that any innovation is good, and well done on finalising a product.

Two things though:
1. The soft skin on top will add weight, which may or may not be an issue for some riders.
2. With kiting, the only thing in contact with the board is your feet, unlike traditional surfing. Wearing a pair of booties/water shoes probably has similar comfort/dampening effect, with the added benefit of being able to walk on rough surfaces (coral/rock).

[scottnorby]

Thanks for mentioning weight

We have to shave down 1/8” of foam on any shape—to allocate for the 1/8” skin.
Foam for foam.
And the skin is lightweight.

Also the rails of the board dont have glass under the skin. No glass on rails removes a LOT of weight from a typical board.
There is an impact resistant closed cell foam under the skin on the rails which makes them soft. See our videos on the website.

In addition, We use basalt cloth instead of glass.
When you research basalt you will see its stronger, and lighter, than carbon fiber and much stronger than S glass or typical glass.
Basalt doesnt look attractive.
It has a brown honey color. And only a handful of guys use it.
Tesla is using it for their car bumpers and accessories. So its available to us.

We vacuum the skin over the basalt so its appearance doesnt matter.

Another beautiful thing about Cush skin is that it hides any internal unattractive design.

As for grip— and boots— yes i would say the skin feels a bit like having soft soled booties. But its not too soft. Its just soft enough to buffer a hard hit. Its not soft like a foamie surfboard. The basalt is volcano rock hard right below the 1/8”

Again—- much like a cars steering wheel —which also used to be solid metal and wood.
Most all steering wheel are now covered with a softer grip. And that invention also encountered a lot of “why do that?” questions.

[scottnorby]

Weight of a well glassed cush spacestick is around 6 lbs

[scottnorby]

Heres a cush spacestick board that was shipped to the Caribbean

[PrfctChaos]

Would love to demo one. Do you have anyone distributing boards in Aus that could possibly organise a demo?