What Are Epoxy Surfboards And How Do They Ride?

Epoxy surfboards are surfboards that have been made using a polystyrene foam blank coated in epoxy resin, as opposed to “traditional” surfboards which are made using a polyurethane foam core coated with polyester resin.

These types of surfboards became much more popular after the closure of the Clark Foam factory in December 2005, in response to a shortage of the more traditional polyurethane foam.

The Differences Between an Epoxy Surfboard and a Traditional PU Polyester Surfboard

There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to epoxy surfboards which will help you decide whether or not you want your next surfboard to be an epoxy.

New Shaping Materials

Well, the main difference is the shaping ingredients used. As I mentioned above, a traditional polyester surfboard is shaped using polyurethane and polyester resin. This gives these surfboards the name polyester, poly, or PU (short for polyurethane) surfboards.

An epoxy surfboard is shaped using polystyrene foam core and an epoxy resin. This difference is very important because if you make the mistake to coat polystyrene foam with the more traditional polyester resins during the shaping process this will result in the polystyrene foam dissolving!  So don’t make that amateur shaping mistake.

Lightweight

Another difference is that an epoxy surfboard will weigh less, as the inner polystyrene foam core is of a much lighter weight. This can be a consideration for those of you who have to carry your surfboard a long way to get to your local break.

Better Floatation

Next up is buoyancy. Epoxy surfboards float better due to the better buoyancy characteristics of polystyrene foam and epoxy resin. This can be an added benefit for those new to the sport as the extra flotation will make it easier for you to paddle into and to catch waves.

Absorb Water

Now a problem with most surfboards is that even though they are designed for the water, they don’t like getting water in them!

When the surface of a surfboard becomes damaged water is able to seep into the surfboard core.  Like most foams the surfboard foam core will begin to absorb this water causing the surfboard to be come waterlogged and get heavier.

Once this happens the performance of the surfboard will deteriorate and the surfboard will eventually turn yellow. Unfortunately epoxy surfboards will absorb water much faster than polyurethane surfboards due to the open cell design of polystyrene surfboard foam.

Stronger And Harder To Ding

However due to epoxy resin being an extremely hard substance, an epoxy surfboard is much harder to damage than a polyurethane surfboard, which dramatically lowers the incidence of waterlogging occurring.

This can be a huge benefit for beginners, those who surf at a point break with lots of rocks or coral, and those who go on surf trips alot which requires having your surfboard in an airplane hold.

Go Green

Epoxy surfboards are more environmentally friendly! Epoxy resins tend to be less harmful to the environment than the traditional resins manufactured from polyester.  This makes the manufacturing process of an epoxy surfboard less toxic to the shaper as well as to the environment.

The Different Types of Epoxy Surfboards

Now, just to make things a bit more confusing, an epoxy surfboard can have a center made of one of two kinds of polystyrene foam.

Don’t worry though!..as always I will make this easy for you to understand.

The two types of polystyrene surfboard foam that are used to shape epoxy surfboards are expanded polystrene foam and extruded polystyrene foam.

Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Epoxy Surfboards

EPS foam is sometimes also called beaded foam. This is the sort of foam that beer holders (styrofoam) are made from. Expanded polystyrene is an open cell foam, which means that if it is exposed to water it will be absorbed very quickly.

EPS foam is not as strong but generally this isn’t an issue as the epoxy resin is extremely hard and will protect the foam. However, if you should manage to damage the epoxy you will need to repair your surfboard before hitting any more waves.

Due to the beaded foam, EPS foam can be hard to airbrush, and can be more difficult to shape into fine lines. Due to its low cost factor, EPS foam is usually found in epoxy surfboards that are less expensive.

Some of the best EPS epoxy surfboards for experienced surfers are currently manufactured with Marko EPS surfboard foam blanks.

One of the most notable surfboard shapers who produces epoxy surfboards using these foam blanks is William Riedel of Stretch Surfboards.

He has pretty much gone exclusively Marko pressure molded EPS foam for all of his current models with big name, team riders Jason “Ratboy” Collins, Nathan Fletcher and Josh Mulcoy all loving em.

Extruded Polystyrene Epoxy Surfboards

An extruded polystyrene epoxy surfboard is much stronger, and better able to resist compression than its EPS foam cousin. Better still, extruded epoxy surfboards are made from a closed cell polystyrene foam which means that is will not absorb water.

So if you do happen to crack your epoxy surfboard on the rocks or someone’s head, god forbid, waterlogging won’t be an issue.

Extruded epoxy surfboards will also perform better as they have better flex patterns and are therefore often found in many high performance epoxy surfboards offered by surfboard manufacturers.

Currently the most popular extruded polystyrene foam surfboards are XTR epoxy surfboards.  These surfboards are made from extruded polystyrene foam blanks manufacturer by a company called Epoxy Pro.

This company was founded by Javier Huarcaya in 1991 and has become the most popular supplier of extruded foam blanks to some of the top shapers around the world.  These include Matt Biolos of Lost Surfboards and Al Merrick of Channel Islands Surfboards.

Not only have these shapers begun producing XTR epoxy surfboards but many of their team riders are loving them.  It is  easy to pinpoint an XTR epoxy surfboard as they have the XTR logo printed along the rails of the board.

All and all epoxy surfboards are the newest surfboards on the market and the best replacement surfboards since the closure of Clark Foam.

These surfboards have been given mixed reviews with some surfers, both amateur and professional, loving them and others won’t go near ‘em.  One thing that is certain about epoxy surfboards is that they are lightweight and tough.

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