Build a Sailboard

Building a Wide Style Board

4M - The Sailboard Thing

Jon's Boat

The following is a brief 'appetiser'.

Build a Sailboard - Why?
A good specialist board will cost £1200. With a sailboard that you have made there is satisfaction in knowing you have something unique, designed to incorporate your ideas of what is best. It is potentially as good as, or even better than the manufactured item, and you didn’t spend £1200.

What is possible?
Most sailboards that are home made are 290 cm or shorter, there are two reasons for this. Firstly it is easier to make a sailboard that does not have a centreboard and secondly people only consider making a sailboard after they have learnt to sail and have become reasonably proficient. At this time they are considering a short board.

Cost?
The minimum cost works out at about £250 if you were to use styrofoam and glass fibre. If your desire is to make a very lightweight board then the use of specialist foams and some carbon fibre is advised this could easily double the cost to £500+

Materials?
‘FB’ grade Styrofoam from Dow Chemicals can be obtained in 2.5 X 0.6 X 0.2 metre blocks at approximately £100 each in the UK. The most suitable resin is SP Systems' SP115 which costs about £80 for 5kg.

A typical glass cloth used is SP Systems' RE 210g/m3, three layers on top, two on the bottom.

Specialist glass, carbon, kevlar and hybrid cloths can be obtained from CARR Reinforcements of Stockport.

Mast tracks, footstrap plugs and footstraps can all be obtained from windsurfing retailers.

How?
Pairs of templates for the side profile and the plan of the board are made in hardboard, (Mid Sussex Timber do 10’ X 4’ sheets which avoids having to join the more normal 8’ X 4’ sheets). The side profiles are located on the block of foam and then a nichrome hot wire cutter powered by a car battery is used to cut smoothly around the template.

This is repeated for the plan view and then free hand some of the obvious excess material can also be cut off.

Slots for the mast track and fin box are routed into the foam and the fittings inserted before laminating. The bottom of the board is laminated first, resin is brushed on to, and through the cloth, a layer of peel ply is placed on the top of the lay up (peel ply is a fabric that is stripped off when the resin is hard, it helps protect the cloth whilst excess resin is removed and aids in the production of a good lay up and surface finish).

The edges are trimmed and then the top is laminated, it is possible to vacuum bag the entire board to help compact the laminate whilst the resin cures. If this is not done then careful contol of the temperature is important as any expansion of the air in the foam core will cause bubbles and lift the laminate.