Category
paulownia & cork
About This Project

– Paulownia wood on botton and deck.
– Rails in Cork.
– EPS core.
– Future fin system.

 

Using Paulownia wood in surfboard construction is a wise choice. It unites resistance, lightness, rigidity and sustainability! It makes your surfboard very resistant against pressure dings and extends its life for many years. Paulownia is a really fast-growing tree that makes its use eco-friendly and sustainable. The wood lessens the amount of fiberglass implemented on the surfboards, reducing the impact on the environment even more.

 

The cork rails give our surfboards great flexibility and make them very responsive. On high performance surfboards in particular, you will experience the “pop” just after your bottom turn by gaining extra speed. Cork has very high resilience. In the case of an impact it will just return to its initial shape. As a result, less repairs are needed.

 

The Paulownia deck, bottom and cork rails are reinforced with eco epoxy resin and fiberglass to achieve a smooth and resistant surface.

 

All Collective Surfboards manufactured in the Paulownia & Cork production technique have the “Gold Level” certification from the sustainable surf Ecoboard project.

 

Paulownia:
Paulownia wood is known for its water resistance and lightness. Both characteristics make this wood perfect for building sustainable surfboards. 

The tree is originally from Asia and is one of the fastest growing trees. In less than 10 years the trees can be harvested and made into surfboards. It has better weight to strength ratio than balsa wood. 

 

Cork:
Cork is made of bark from the cork oak; this material has the advantage of being light, water-proof, flexible, buoyant and best of it all sustainable! The cork trees are not cut down, as the bark keeps on growing and the cork can be harvested many times. Cork, is one of the most sustainable materials as it is self-regenerating.

To keep transport distances short, we source our Cork from Portugal. The trees are able to live between 1500 to 2000 years and produce a lot of cork during their lifetime!

 

EPS Core:
Our EPS core has low impact on the environment and is produced just 80 km away from our manufactory! Like this we reduce CO2 emissions due to short distance land transport. It is recyclable and absorbs almost no water due to closed cell high compression. It is one of the most advanced and durable EPS cores for surfboard manufacturing.

 

Eco Resin:
Our epoxy resin contains about 40% vegetable oil and is the most eco-friendly resin for surfboard manufacturing on the market right now.  It is produced in the UK. The properties are promising: flexible to avoid “spider cracks” and durable to surf your board for ages.