Surftech is a

surfboard A surfboard is a narrow plank used in surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding an ocean wave. They were invented in ancient Hawaii, where they were known as ''papa hee ...

and standup paddleboard manufacturing company."Surftech Announces New Ownership"
(January 07, 2015). prweb.com. Retrieved January 21, 2015. It specializes in mass-produced

expanded polystyrene Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a ...

boards pressed in molds designed by established

surfboard shaper A surfboard shaper is someone who designs and builds surfboards. The process of surfboard shaping has evolved over the years, and the shaper often tailors his or her work to meet the requirements of a client or a certain wave. Surfboard shapers c ...

s., p. 201.

History

Surftech was founded in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

in 1992 by

Randy French, who wanted to see the industry expand from its focus on individually-shaped boards to efficiently manufactured mass production. French had previously owned a

sailboard Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

manufacturing company called Seatrend, where he developed the production techniques he later employed at Surftech. The success of his initial product attracted the interest of other professional shapers such as Dale Velzy,

Reynolds Yater Reynolds Wood "Renny" Yater (born 1932 in Los Angeles) is an American surfboard builder. He was one of the first commercial surfboard builders of the 1950s and is best known for his Nose ride, noserider, the Yater Spoon. At that time, it was the t ...

Donald Takayama Donald Moke Takayama (November 16, 1943 – October 22, 2012) was an American professional surfer and surfboard shaper. Originally a longboard surfer, Takayama won the Master's division of the United States Surfing Champions in 1971, 1972 and ...

Mickey Munoz Mickey Muñoz, aka Mickey Munoz, nicknamed "The Mongoose", (born 1937) is an early surfing pioneer and surfboard shaper. He was featured in the 2004 surfing documentary ''Riding Giants''. He currently resides in Capistrano beach, Capistrano Bea ...

and Robert August. Surftech came to the fore at a time of increased focus on new technologies within the surfboard production industry. Whereas traditional boards are made using

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) is a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane term ...

foam "blanks" that are then cut and sanded to form by shapers, Surftech uses a process of blowing

polystyrene Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It i ...

into preset

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...

s designed by its various shapers. The blanks are then coated with

polyvinyl chloride Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons of ...

, laminated, and finished. This results in a board that is stronger and considerably lighter than traditional polyurethane boards. Surftech boards are now manufactured in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and shipped throughout the world. As of 2015, Surftech is owned by Triple D, a Thailand-based investment company.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site
Surfing equipment