A Board that Folds

[JoshHudson]

Hello All,

My name's Josh and I am very new to surfing. However, I have friends that have been surfing for a long time. I have been trying to develop a surf board that folds small enough to the point where you are able to easily fit them in your car or put them in suitcases and backpacks to travel with. I would like this board to be able to fold without compromising the integrity of the board and want to develop a prototype. Friends of mine have told me about the costs of shipping their boards on planes and the pain of strapping it onto a car. I also want to make it motorized too as I've found that paddling to find a way can be tiring. I'm very new to this so I have a small amount of perspective.

Before I even attempt to make something like this, I want to make sure that these features are things that surfers whether amateur or pro would buy in a surfboard. If there was a surf board available that was able to fold without harming the integrity of the board. A board that is also or not also motorized. Would this be something you would be interested in buying?

I appreciate any and all feedback. Thank you.

[oldmansurfer]

I would have no interest in a board that folds. I doubt it would be popular except with those who travel a lot and can't afford normal surfboard shipping prices (or a bigger car)

[oldmansurfer]

One of the problems you might encounter is that boards come in a wide variety of shapes so what you will probably have to do is only provide certain standard shapes which would only work for people who want those shapes. As far as the folding goes if it affects performance it wil be less attractive and if the price is too much then less attractive also. Motorized again would depend upon the shape and how it affects performance. There are allready motorized boards but so far they haven't become popular and boards that can be taken appart into halves or thirds but they haven't been popular either.

[JoshHudson]

Thank you. That is helpful. What are some of your favorite features about your favorite boards? If there was something you'd ever want to add or change, what would that be? Is there anything that could improve your overall surfing experience period?

[waikikikichan]

Search for Pope Bisect and Tri-sect.
Also here in Japan, Goddess makes a Two piece board. But they are longboards that become large suitcase sized. Getting to a size of a back pack sounds difficult. One way to get around the weak joints would be a blow up board like the Air Sups. But it's all a trade off. Too heavy, too expensive, to much flex ( for the blow up ones ).

[jaffa1949]

Sneaky surveying here ! There have been travel boards that fold around for quite a few years.
Pope Bisect being one, there is another that has several tail shapes that lock onto a basic nose shape.

Add a motor then. You would be paying for the weight in air transport..

Go down to the beach go to surf shops. Talk to people, learn about roof racks and surf boards they are for riding waves , short boards fit in cars easily long boards need racks

Realistically knowing all the features that make surfboard work is challenging, different boards for different waves!
Winger, stingers bonzer fin other fins channel bottoms rail shapes , profile, rocker , single to double concaves, asymmetrical boards, step deck , domed deck , do your surfers rip, or glide.

Real answer you need to get a good surfing set of skill then some answers will follow

[oldmansurfer]

well what I really like about my boards is how they perform. That has to do with size and shape and weight so if you took my board and added stuff to make it fold and put a motor in it that would change the the weight and distribution of weight and therefor performance. I think a market would depend mostly on beginners who won't notice the performance differences and would appreciate the ease of handling and power assist.