All surfboards need a finish applied after they are laminated. The fibreglass cloth used in making a surfboard is sanded during construction, exposing bundles of fibeglass. Seabase uses twist weave cloth as standard in all our surfboards. A cheaper flat-weave cloth is easier to use, but is inferior in strength and in its ability to hold resin to form the plastic matrix, or laminate. Twist weave cloths expose fibre bundles more easily than flat weaves, but are stronger. 

 

Fibreglass has to be sealed to avoid moisture penetration (wicking) into the laminate, causing structural failure of the laminate over time, discolouration, and makes the board heavier and more prone to damage from dings and fractures.

 

The conventional way of sealing boards was for an extra layer of resin called a Gloss Coat applied after sanding. The Gloss Coat contains paraffin wax, which floats to the surface, and is then sanded and buffed to a shine, or gloss finish. Alternatively, it can be left with a fine sanded finish, which has been shown to cause less friction, resulting in faster boards. The process does form a hard shell over the board, preventing moisture ingress and lessening the risk of crazing and yellowing. The downside is it adds weight, is laborious and hand intensive, its expensive, and is prone to discoluration if the resin is not correctly applied. Traditionally used on longboards.

 

Seabase uses only Taupo Gloss Resin for our gloss coats. It is a resin blended at Seabase from seven different chemicals, and contains optimum amounts of Ultra Violet stabilizers (sun screen) to prevent yellowing & degradation from both sun and heat. We hand sand our gloss coats, then double buff them using an imported resin finishing compound.

 

A quicker and equally effective way of sealing boards is using a propriatory sealer, or lacquer, similar in ways to the lacquer is applied to car finishes. However, it take so many coats to make an effective gloss finish that the lacquer is usually left matt, giving a dull yet effective finish. Lacquer finishes, either water or solvent based, are quick to apply and far less labour intensive. Our new White Flash! is a more effective coating. It is bright, white and tougher than conventional lacquers. We apply three coats for maximum seal. Even then, these finishes are prone to wear, are affected by suncreams, and are quicker to degrade.

 

Our new Tuffcoat is a step up in finishes - new car finishes are far more scratch resistant than before. We use an amazing additive in the finish that spreads micreoscopic beads of a tough plastic over the surface of the board. This gives a slightly rough feel to the finish - very much like a dolphin's skin  - resulting in increased speed and a noticeable splippery feel to our surfboards. The advantage is it is far harder wearing, less prone to abrasions from sand.

 

Finally, our new Quiver Seaflex ultimate coating gives the ultimate seal and finish. We apply White Flash! and/or Tuffcoat, fine hand-sand both coatings, then finish with a new Teflon coating than gives a very slick matt finish. 

 Looks superb, seals the boat, makes the board light and responsive, lasts longer, the board has extra speed, and ups the whole performance equation by a big factor! Another reason why Quiver boards are making waves world-wide.