competitive price point for a custom board in Australia is $2400. if you are being competitive with witchcraft then you're in the super profit range. especially considering I know how much it costs to make a board.
Here's a cross section of a 2012 slalom board that had an inherent weakness at the wingers and a lack of wetted out glass between the EPS core and PVC (3mm) layer. Everyone knows the story so I won't bore anyone with details.
PS - Hello Ian
nah not a bullet, just a general comment.
maybe have a look around at what the custom guys in oz are charging.
I get seriously looked after by my board builder. I know what he pays for materials and what I buy it for and it's fair to say he is doing me a lot of favours.
Back when I worked in board factory...some of the cobra boards I saw in for repair were pretty sad sight when you scratched beneath the surface. Ones that made me laugh the most were black pigmented resin on glass (Trying to pretend it was carbon?!) and the ones that were rusty on the inside from staples in the cloth
My Carbon Art waveboard has done me proud (yes I may be biased living in Taranaki but it's still true ha!), I've smashed that thing on the rocks so many times it's ridiculous, if you've seen the beaches here you'll know why they're built to last
I wonder how much production boards rely on the average sailor not getting out a whole lot? Same could be said of some the new wetsuits too...they can be a joke compared to the old days, admittedly more stretchy, but they should still last longer than a season!
We had this discussion on 'another' forum (in the UK)....and apparently (it seems) that there are 'very few boards' (if any) that fail over here.....hmmmm
So, here is my experience:
One of my boards which had been out for a mere 20 sessions in one season and then put away for Winter (inside the house, with the valve screw open) has developed small fractures (in places) on the top surface. the board was taken back to the dealer as it is still under warranty, and was told that they had "not seen anything like it". Photographs have been taken and sent to the distributor and manufacturer. That was one week ago.....
Board companies every year are face with the public wanting lighter and cheaper boards, you just can't make a board with all the high tech materials without paying for it.we can't blame Cobra for for the materials in these boards after all they are made to specification set down by the board companies. Actually I am surprised how strong the boards from Cobra are with the materials they are left with to use.
I think it is also fair to say that some manufacturers are not aware of the beating that some equipment is getting these days, particularly since the advent of GPS competitions. Lots of people are sailing much longer distances now as opposed to people to who do the odd fortnightly session and spend less than an hour in the water. There's a fair few guys doing long days in rough water (not just choppy water) - on our team one guy did 10,000k in just one year. Under these sorts of usage rates deficiencies will be found out and reputations won and lost.
all of my boards are heavier, your preaching to the converted here. like you I'm also heavier so get my boards built heavier.
this thread cracks me up.