A New Arrival

As part of my resettlement process for leaving the RAF, I was fortunate to be able to attend Falmouth Marine School where I completed a surfboard construction course. My hope is to be able to start a small business offering repairs, and possibly some shaping in addition to my main job.










Before the course starts, students are asked to choose the type of board they wish to shape. There re no real boundaries and staff at the school will do their best to ensure everyone is happy. Blanks are then rough shaped from Biofoam at Homeblown.











I had elected to build a longboard based loosely on the Nineplus Trim King. On starting the course (which only had 4 students!) I was greeted by a beautifully profiled blank. During that first day, we were able to finish all of the foam shaping; completing desired rail and hull profiles, before moving on to the first application of glass and resin.









I have always loved resin tints, and especially the fancy swirls and drags that you see. I asked whether it would be an option, and as you can see it was! If truth be told, apparently no boards built at the college had been finished in this manner before, so it would be an experiment. A quick search on the internet yielded some technique advice, and after a quick trial run, I went for it. The result was stunning ( well, I think so).











The rest of the week was spent sanding (or so it seemed) punctuated by short periods of glassing. Because I had elected for the tinted hull, it meant that the deck would require a bit of extra work too, masking and creating a pinline. Again, the result of a bit of extra effort really paid off.













Towards the end of the course there was a need to start cutting holes in my creation, and although I know they have to be there, it is still something I would prefer not doing! The thought of wasting all the effort certainly concentrates the mind when you start wielding the spinny, cutty, whirry machines!










The final day was spent .....you guessed it sanding mainly. Working through the grades of wet and dry until a satisfactory finish was achieved prior to polishing.















I am ecstatic about the result of my efforts. The board certainly looks as if it will be everything I wanted it to be. It measures 9'2" x 22.5" x 3" and weighs in the region of 21lbs. It has a pin tail, 50/50 rails and a 2 + 1 fin setup. It hasn't seen the ocean yet, but when it does, I hope I will be able to feature it here on a regular basis.

My thanks go to Simon Clark and Simon Coombes at Falmouth Marine School for their advice, patience and vision.