I have a Deep/minion, Sunova and Naish LE boards - how protective do I have to be? How long can I leave it in direct sunlight (>30C sunny day) before it is damaged? I know you can't leave it inside a hot car - but what about on a beach? Are they OK in a board bag?
Last year I rigged up a little sun tent on the beach - they were treated like royalty... Seemed a little over the top...
Depends on the colour of the board, I've popped a board with black decal while on the roof racks, lesson learnt??
No vents on deep boards and so far no probs. Keep mine out of
the sun as much as possible. I ripped a fin box out of my minion on some insane beach breaks yesterday. Hope that muppet is ok. Epoxied it back in today. On on on.....
I was told when I got my Naish that you can leave them out all day no problem, the cheaper ones not so much.
Select to expand quoteDaveSandan said..
I was told when I got my Naish that you can leave them out all day no problem, the cheaper ones not so much.
Did you get that in writing
Many a person has said "these boards don't need a breather, it's the way they're constructed". Well I've had two windsurfers with that construction and both blew up.
I just purchased a deep and asked for a breather, no probs it's built into the handle. I've also gone back to the sock board bag, the board is noticeably cooler.
Select to expand quotemicksmith said...DaveSandan said..
I was told when I got my Naish that you can leave them out all day no problem, the cheaper ones not so much.
Did you get that in writing
Haha. Indeed.
You need to be very careful about sun on boards in NZ. Last year my board was in an unzipped blue colored bag and was out in the sun on the warmest day of the coldest Spring in NZ and suffered a massive delamination! Not happy about that! I have never had any issues with windsurfing boards, but maybe SUPs, that are not built with sandwich construction and don't have a vent plug, are easier to delaminate?
I had my Sunova and Deep out in the sun yesterday for 5 mins and they were hot to touch! So it's not rocket science that with all the EPS foam that there is a lot of air to quickly expand. I am concerned the Deep doesn't have a vent pug but the Sunova has a self-ventilating vent which should be mandatory on all boards.
So after my bad experience I have a custom Stash-IT board bag made with two mesh panels so hot air can get out of the bag when it is on the roof.
My boards live in my van when there not in the water. The only board that iv had a problem with so far was my Naish Mana popped like a pimple complete write off so now i always take the vent plug out. I purchased a new fanatic prowave a few months ago but didnt realize they dont have a vent in them so am sweating every time i have to park in the open
Yeah, I had a Prowave and always wondered why Fanatic does not have a vent plug but do have one on their windsurf boards!? SUPs are mainly much bigger than windsurf boards so have more foam and air to expand.
I saw a clip on TV about an Aussie chef cooking a steak right through inside a car on a hot day to promote not leaving your kids/pets in cars on hot days. So it gets very hot inside cars!
Select to expand quoteBrenno said..micksmith said...DaveSandan said..
I was told when I got my Naish that you can leave them out all day no problem, the cheaper ones not so much.
Did you get that in writing
Haha. Indeed.
No just ask the guys at The Zu, they leave their demo boards out in the sun all day and say they have never had a problem. I have had mine in the sun for the last 3 days but I am going in and out of the water, yes it gets hot but it has been no problem. I have a silver bag for the car and also no problems, so I guess if you are sensible and don't expect miracles you,will never hav a problem.
I reckon the resin or carbon get harder or cures as the board older ...so don't expand and detract As much .
so at first be nice and treat them nice not to much sun ..
like a marriage ...nice at first then out come the teeth
tardy 
It is simple:
Any time in the sun (not cooled by water) damages the board. Damages as in "reduces its life". The problem is by how much is totally random.
It can mean a delamination after only 15mn in the sun, or just that the board will deliminate after 3 years instead of 30 years. No way to know in advance, so play it safe. Your friend can let the board all summer on the beach, but you may put the same model of board and get delam in 15mn...
A trick is to put the board on its rail, so as to minimize the area exposed. But be careful, boards with black rails can begin to "melt" (epoxy becomes soft to the touch), you risk delamination of course, and must let the board cool to use it without risks.
"I reckon the resin or carbon get harder or cures as the board older" yes, an hour at 40C makes epoxy harden as much as a week at 20C. But above some temperature, the epoxy becomes softs (which is why epoxy is harder to sand: if you stay too long on one spot, the epoxy becomes an un-sandable putty). Plus heating and colling means expand and contract, these mechanical movements makes the board age quickly.
Actually colas its really simple after using all types of wavecraft, mal, surfboards, surf skiis, boogers, mats all surfcraft will deteriate in the harsh Australian sun. I concur with your comments whole heartedly.
As for the covers the terry toweling ones keep the board the coolest and their the cheapest. Its a no brainer. When I got my first mal I bought a terry toweling cover and a silver board cover talk about overkill.
Spend the 100 its worth it and it will protect the board on the roof racks or in the car bonus. Also dries a dripping board.
My deep board has a fcs handle which if I'm right has a threaded hole with a blank in it ready for a vent screw to be installed if wanted.... I'm not 100% sure if it's just a case of drilling the blank out and screwing plug in but it is defo there ready to be used somehow....
Windsurf boards come with a sticker on them with a vent screw/plug. When not on water undo screw/plug. On the water do up.
Its not rocket science. So many people ignore this, 99% its cool but I know of so many who have had boards delaminate due to WRONG storage issues.
SUP's are no different. Most of the big manufacturers of SUP's are the same ones as wind surf boards so stands to reason.
They wouldn't put the advice/warning if it didn't matter. What can it hurt to get in the habit of using the vent screw/plug??
You are paying good money for your craft, look after it!!!!
Thanks for all your comments!
It seems like the humble terry toweling bag may be the answer. Anyone had a board fail when it was in terry toweling?
I am always nervous with plugs - I would hate to forget to tighten it before going back into the water.
Cant sup enough,
This is the advice one of the old surfers at Gosford told me try it on your legs, next time you are down the beach put a towel over your legs, then try lying in your board bag. which is hotter.
Also Ive had grey and blue terry toweling covers not sure if colour affects coolness. I have never left my surfboard locked in the car for hours through the day though.
I am also interested if anyone has failed with the old terry towelling cover.
Interestingly Starboards FAQ states
Is it ok to leave my board out in the sun or on a hot car?
Compared to inferior quality boards, you can feel safe to leave your Starboard out in the sun without fear of popping the outer skin off of the foam (De-lamination). However, harmful UV rays will always affect the look of your board, so it is good to keep your board in the shade when not in use, and protect it from travel dings with a board bag.
I have a travel bag when going on road trips otherwise my boards are stored outside in my "SUP" shed with plenty of ventilation.
also
I have never had to worry about this as it doesn't get that hot here in Dunedin 
No way would I leave most - if not any - EPS boards in the sun. I have also always been pedantic about keeping my polyester prones out of the sun and heat. Maybe why many of my favourite prones are going a decade later?
If you want a SUP that can handle a bit of exposure, go Surftech. Mine has been stuck on the deck of a yacht for at least a few years now, and despite the ongoing trauma is still going hard. The construction is just that much superior to EPS. The best I have been able to protect it is with a light coloured polar fleece ncover I knocked up.
When the Surtech finally dies, I am going to be genuinely upset. Hopefully by then they will come up with another model worth lugging around the seas????
EPS foam begins to degrade and soften at 70-80 degrees Celsius. Combine that with the air trapped within the foam expanding and the epoxy softening and it's a recipe for disaster.
Whenever you get a delam there's always a thin layer of foam beads bonded to the inside of the skin. It's the bond between the EPS beads that fails in a delam.
Some EPS is way better than others with equivalent density......some of it sucks so much air between the beads you can't get the vacuum suckers on a shaping machine to hold it in place......good shapers send that rubbish back.
Some good advise in earlier posts.....but best to not leave ya SUP out in the sun for too long!
Sometimes I've had the board on the roof racks and realised that I'm going to be parked in the sun all day. Instead of putting a wet board in a board bag, I've simply strapped the bag on top of the board as a sun shield. The normal board straps (I use the lockable kanu lock ones) plus an occy strap at the nose and tail keeps the board bag on. This way the board is shaded but not sealed up in a pressure cooker.
That's the summer strategy. In winter I never bother and have had no troubles with either of my Naish boards.
For me, the risk of accidentally leaving the vent plug open is too great. I never touch it.
