All surfboards bend, and as boards have become thinner and lighter the degree to which they bend has increased. The thinner they go the weaker they get, both in terms of breakage and “spring-back”.

It’s about how quickly the bending material springs back to its original shape.

Inconventional surfboard construction, the materials have limited spring-back characteristics and the result is that energy applied in turns is lost or “sponged-out”.

So, high performance board design has evolved to compensate for this through the use of deep concaves.

A concave bottom will help maintain a desirable rail curve as a board bends and twists under pressure in a wave wall but the increased surface over which the water must run across the bottom in turns creates excess drag.

The bottom contour has evolved from the need to compensate for a centre stringer and a flexing rail line in lightweight, high performance boards.

Sunova’s Composite Construction and Parabolic Rails are designed to give a board no such compromise.

The springback - or flex return - is generated at the rail. This gives a Sunova the feeling of being projected out of each turn.

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Parabolic Rails

The stiffest section of the board is removed from the centre stringer to the rails. That in itself would reduce the loss of energy in “twist-off”. A stiffer rail means better drive and control.

Combine that with the use of Balsa for maximum “flex return” and the rail becomes spring-loaded. Our rails have full length fibre. There are no joins. The wood grain follows the full length of the rail.

With every turn, every pump down the line, the springy timber rail is contributing to forward drive. You’ll learn to use it fully, work the twang, drive around sections from way behind, and carve through full roundhouse cutbacks where the loaded bow lets fly.

Our Morphlex models are designed to gain every advantage from a flexing board.

We can vary the amount of timber and the rail profile to flex differently for different wave types and surfers.

And we can take it a step further with concave and double concave decks.

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Morphlex

With composite construction, the deck skin transfers load from your feet through to the rails.

The rails push down lower than the centre of the board. This forces the bottom to become concave as it pushes into the cushioned bottom.

The next step is then using the profile of the deck to morph the board into a different rail to rail cross section as the board is loaded under the weight of a turn.

So, you’ve got a board that is at its flattest when unweighted or pumping flat sections then the rocker increases and brings a concave into play for control when you’re tight in the pocket of a powerful wall.

Our Morphlex models are designed to gain every advantage from a flexing board.

The shape of the deck influences the shape of the bottom when it bends and twangs. It brings you into closer touch with the wave and reduces the time between what you want to do and actually doing it!

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Construction

Different types of composite components have vastly different properties.

When combined together they form an alloy giving the best properties of each which all adds to the structure. A consequence of this is that different combinations of materials give unique performance characteristics.

Through the model range you will notice that particular models will be built with a well defined combination of materials. These combinations have been constantly refined over the years.

Things like flex, rate of flex return, shock absorption, loading force, and fatigue resistance, which all contribute to feel, are carefully matched to the intended design of the model and its rider.

Different rates of flex return and loading force are necessary for different types of boards. How a small wave board flexes is very different to how a big wave board should flex.

The loading force required for a 100 kg surfer is different to that required for a 50kg surfer if both are to project out of a similar turn with similar speed.

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Sandwich Construction

This is the principle on which Sunova surfboards are constructed. It literally means to sandwich layers, one on top of another.

We can control what these layers are made from, how thick, how many, what flex and load characteristics, what resins and their respective properties, what fabrics and reinforcements - all of which can be combined to create a huge range of different feels.

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Corecell

This is the commercial name of the material we use in one of our sandwich skin options. It is not the cheapest option but it has unique characteristics which make it invaluable in high impact, high stress situations while still maintaining a level of performance that isn’t compromised as it can be with other foam

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How It Feels

The positive aspect of Corecell is its ability to bend incredibly far before it fails. This means, in a heavy impact situation, your board has greater ability to bend further underload and absorb some of the impact rather than snapping in a brittle way.

With a high tolerance for extreme shear movement, it is ideal as a solid durable deck material, also offering a degree of cushioning on hard landings.

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Springer

Some designs and types of boards have required a rethink on the existing stringer. The very nature of sandwich construction allows a greater range of flex. A traditional stringer is a stiffener, but also offers a flex back stop to load against. A surfboard only has to flex so far. The Springer adds another dimension to light, flexy, thin boards.

It is placed within the core of the board. It sits in such a way as to resemble an independent leaf spring in a car. The whole board can morph and flex around the outside of the Springer under light load conditions but, when fully loaded, the Springer acts to resist over-flexing and adds another power boost to the spring back when exiting turns and doing aerial moves.

Springers can be tuned to any tastes. Carbon fibre, cedar wood and balsa wood can be combined to make any board, rider, and location flex specific.

Wood has the distinction of having good memory. It has the ability to handle repeated cycles of flexing and, every time it is loaded and bent, it will spring back with the same force time and time again.

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Wood

The use of timber has been the epitome of Sunova since the late 80s. Just like the Springer adds another dimension of spring to a sandwich board, having the entire sandwich made from timber offers a degree of sensitivity and spring in any part of the board that is unrivalled in any other composite arrangement used to date.

The wooden skinned board feels alive and sensitive with a very natural flex and instant flex return. Its individual patterns and grain mean no timber skinned boards will look the same.

Strength and long term durability are also at their greatest with timber.

Due to the inherent variations in timber grain, density, and weight, timber can be somewhat random in how it feels.

Timber will always stand above foam as a performance sandwich option and the occasional ‘magic’ board has sometimes randomly appeared.

Magic boards are identical to other boards in all respects except some variation in the wood adds the feeling of the board being alive and in tune with every body movement.

After working with it for so long, we have come closer and closer to the weight, density and grain structure that offers controlled and repeatable magic.

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Epoxy

All resins and finishing clear used in the production of Sunova surfboards is 100% epoxy resin. Epoxy is by far the stronger, lighter, and more fatigue resistant resin. It is also a superior environmental choice in comparison to traditional surfboard resins.

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Glassing / Strength Options

We have chosen 4 basic glass jobs...

Vapour Light

Stupidly light! No conventional board would be found as light but there are no guarantees with this one. Powerful surfers could see damage like a heel through the deck or maybe a crease on a heavy air landing. All our personal boards are done this way but we have the luxury of unlimited replacements.

As a comparison, it will weigh less than a conventional board but still outlast its polyester equivalent by up to ten times.

Team

Similar in layup to the Vapour Light, it has extra patches and reinforcing in common fatigue and wear areas. Light with a purpose.

Standard

With a similar weight to a lightweight conventional board. It is robust enough for the average user.

Bullet Proof

Like the traditional ‘glassed to last’ but with the weight of a modern performance board.

Average weight...but bullet proof. If you just usually throw your board in the pick-up and your dog in with it, this could be a good choice for glass jobs.

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Vent System

The vent system applied to our boards has advanced. There is now a double membrane of “Gore-Tex” either side of a rubber O-ring. This membrane is waterproof:- It will allow the EPS core to breathe while preventing water from entering.

Thus, the issue of expansion and contraction of the core when going through temperature changes is not reliant on the manual opening and closing of the vent.

This system has been long tested and found to be reliable.

Important Note

The practice of unscrewing and screwing your vent in a Sunova surfboard is no longer necessary.

Should you make the unfortunate mistake of regularly undoing your vent as you may have on an original Sunova surfboard, there is a risk of damaging the membrane. If having done so you judge the damage significant on inspection, mail us and we will post you a replacement pair of membranes with instructions for applying them.