How long would you expect modern boards to last? Obviously excluding damage in use, transport, etc. People talk about decks going soft, board delaminating, etc due to age. What are some of the things that can go wrong with boards purely from old age?
i see plenty of older boards around (and have one myself) which i think are testament that if you look after them, they can power on for a very long time.
i think if you have a quality board, then de-lamination, soft decks and cracking fin-boxes are signs of abuse, not aging.
Older boards I have,
looks looks still ok but all setup for mast and straps render them unusable with modern sails.
I did even small modification to the sharp pointing nose -cut out and rounded nicely with fiberglass ( mostly to protect my sails from being perforated)
but the statement above about foots straps and mast bast unresolved
I've seen lots of old boards from 80's and 90's in good health. What I don't know is if they sat not being used for extended periods of time and hence the condition.
All things considered, are the new boards (late 2000s) built to last? How long would you expect to keep them for?
Just to draw a comparison, our TV from the 80s still worked as good as the first day 20 years later, till it was replaced for sake of going modern. Any TV we bought after it did not live past 6 years.
What's the go with modern boards?
if your technique is bad,and you slap the board down after going over chop/swell
then the bottom of the board will lose it's shape and
delaminate fast[the skin coming away from the blank core]]
what amazes me is people buy new boards + sails, use them maybe 5 times and sell them half price.
a $1000 sail is only worth $500,so $100 per each use which is exobertant!
if you use a board 20 times per year, expect board to last 6/7 years on average.
140 uses divided by $2000, around $14 per use!
so if you buy new, w/surfing can be a deceptively expensive sport.
wave-boards are built with thicker skin and maybe denser blank core so
will last longer.
but don't quote me on that as i'm only a expert on ct's.
How long will board last depends how you look after it .Do you flat land jumps ,do drag it up the beach ,leave it on the beach for 6 hrs in 35 deg heat . Tie straps down on roofracks pulled too tight .My rrd is in 2nd year wavesailing in gero ,and still going stong as i look after it ,only use one board in all conditions.
Part of the reason I asked was because some of the second hand stuff is exceptionally cheap, as petermac pointed out. A $2500 board is about half price a year later. If they are only good for 2 years (for argument's sake), then half price board is not a bargain as it's only got half the life left.
I think half price for a year old board is a reasonable price. Perhaps its a bit cheap and that reflects its condition and use. Best to check the board for any damage and repairs. If its been repaired then try to find out if its water tight.
A way to see if its got water in it would be to find off the manufacturers website what the weight of the board is. Then weigh the board. The weight of the board will probably be more than what the manufacturer stated but if its two or more kgs more than the official weight and there are repairs then there is a fair chance there is some water in the hull.
