The sudden shut down of Clark Foam left many shapers and surfers wondering where their next blanks and surfboards would come from. The Clark monopoly made everyone comfortable, shapers and surfers alike riding traditional polyurethane (PU) boards and same basic design elements since the introduction of the three fin design in the early 80’s. Since Clark closed shop, there has been a serious push to take board design to the next level with new composite materials. Finally, shapers have broken out of their old ways and are now thinking progressively.

Surfing Magazine recently released statistics on the types of surfboards surfers have been ordering/buying. While traditional (PU) blanks are still the staple of many shapers, statistics show that non-traditional surfboards (sandwich molded, epoxy, composite, etc) are making their inroads into surfing. The breakdown is as follows:

P/U: 69.26% – While most shapers previously bought all of their foam from Clark, today, shapers are buying blanks from many different companies including US Blanks, Walker, Just Foam, etc. It seems as though a new foam company pops up every other month claiming their foam is top dog. PU blanks account for the large majority of surfboard due in large part to habit. Shapers have been working with PU for years and are comfortable working with it. That may all change in the future as materials are developed to perform and last better than standard polyurethane.

Sandwich Molded: 22.49% (Surftech, NSP, Placebo, etc) – Surftech’s Tuflite technology is the reigning king of sandwich molded pop-out boards due in large part to its efficient manufacturing plant and iconic shapers that produce pop-out epoxy versions of their top designs. These boards last a lot longer than epoxy and PU boards but lack the flex and springy feeling of traditional PU.

Epoxy: 6.1% (EPS, XTR) -� Epoxy surfboards didn’t catch on as fast as some shapers had hoped for after the shutdown of Clark. However, a few big name shapers in the likes of Rusty, Al Merrick, and Matt Biolos of …Lost are still pushing for epoxy’s future. While these boards float much better than PU boards but don’t hold up like sandwich molded boards, the jury is still out on this one.

Composite: 1.35% (Firewire, TL2, Aviso) – While this segment owns the smallest part of the surfboard market, the future of surfing is in high-end composites. Shapers have begun to unlock variable flexing patterns which were previously missing in composites. Materials are now providing a lot more flex to suit high performance surfing. For surfing to progress with the “New Millennials” surfing of Dane Reynolds and Jordy Smith, their surfboard designs and materials will need to progress with their ballistic styles.