Great looking paddle board

 This great looking SUP is being built by Tarquin Place in France. He plans to start designing this as a kit for others to build so as more info comes to hand I will keep you posted.

The flex machine

Tom Wegener and I have been swapping ideas and Tom has been experimenting and has now made a board that is on track for what he has been chasing. Unglassed raw oiled Paulownia botton , EPS core and cork top. This combo gives you flex and feel. The cork is soft and has a great feel to paddle on. No wax needed.We have ideas on tuning the flex to suit different needs and look forward to a summer of fun. Stay posted.

Tom's comments
"tomwegenersurfboards Corky experiment #9. I think I am now in the ball park. This board flexes beautifully and bounces out of turns. It is soooo comfortable with the soft cork deck and the oiled paulownia bottom is super slick and fast! No toxic ingredients, only a mask for dust. I love the new methods for making surfboards!  

Loving the vacuum bag! I was the most hard core believer in hollow wood surfboards but now I have opened my mind to EPS core with no glassing. Thank you @surfboardsbygrantnewby for sharing your knowledge."

More comments for Tom's Instgram...

• flamasurfI'm as stoked as you are @tomwegenersurfboards !!I brought my hollow unglassed paulownia technology to the limit and I still believe for certain designs it's terriffic. But for "weight reasons" Grant's vacuum tech is probably the one with the more future today, 'cause it admits so many variations and materials that it opens a whole new world for experimenting. Wait until we have organic foam available... That day I'll be the happiest man on earth!
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• tomwegenersurfboardsThank you for the awesome comments @flamasurf @papanuisays @schenkles it seems vacuum bagging wood on foam is the future. It is a lot less toxic than glassing and we can hope for green eps and more available eps recycling. Grant Newby is the man! @kioboards I am still learning but aspire to share what I have learned in a video. @nille5promille I use PU glue and seal the paulownia with raw linseed oil, apple vinegar and gum turpentine 1/3 of each. Thx for you comments.
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• treetosea_ausYes @captjackg we at @treetosea_aus have been working on this method for most of this year. Just like @tomwegenersurfboards we believe it's the future of wooden boards. However flat boards like Mals are a lot easier than short boards with lots of rocker. We use recycled EPS foam blanks and NO fibre glass.
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• schenkles@tomwegenersurfboards I noticed that you've just got the board "naked" in the bag. Personally I've not been able to get the deck to draw down well to the core along the rails without using a breather cloth. I use garden shade cloth, which is some kind of synthetic mesh, get a tight draw down every time. How's yours go?
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• flamasurf@shenkles I don't use breather cloth, Grant doesn't either. I think it's only a matter of having a good pressure and a pretty thick pvc bag... But I'll try that garden mesh and see how it goes!
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• tomwegenersurfboards@schenkles I am just learning and the vacuum bag sucked a couple of mm under the wood. Sometimes I put the board in a bag and sometimes I tape the edges of the plastic to the table and have a the surfboard one a frame so it does not flatten out. Thank you very much for the help with garden shade cloth suggestion! The trip we are on is fantastic. Another person suggested carnauba wax on the inside of the bag so it does not stick to the glue. Thanks.

Great to see everyone sharing their ideas and results so that we learn from each other and take this to another level. It is exciting and only just beginning. We are in for a summer of fun.

The Byron Bay Surf Festival is on again

Byron Bay Surf Festival is BACK
24 - 26 FEBRUARY 2017

"Surf Culture Now"

Wax-up your favourite boards, pack your car, grab your friends and head to Byron Bay this summer! The celebrated and award-winning Byron Bay Surf Festival…is back!!!

The BBSF crew took a slightly cheeky but strategic step and moved the annual Festival event from October to February, and for two very important reasons…to align the festival with surf season, and to celebrate the last days of summer with a bang! 

Founded in 2011, the annual Byron Bay Surf Festival is a non-competitive event focusing on surf culture; highlighting creativity, innovation, environment and sustainability. 

ABOUT

The 3-day event is a fusion of ‘Surf Culture Now’, featuring over 25 different free and ticketed events, including: surfing, surfboards, design, art, music, film, yoga, markets, fashion, presentations, education, demo’s, literature, history, food, health. Culminating on the final day, Sunday, with the highly popular freestyle&stoke surf sessions event, incorporating the hunters&collectors surfboard swap sell & demo, along the pristine shores of Wategos beach. Boasting a large international attendance it comes in a colour and diversity reflective of Byron Bay’s creative and unique community.

After winning the Surf Culture Award at the 2015 Australian Surfing Awards, for best contribution to surf culture, the Byron Bay Surf Festival increased it’s reputation as the best surf culture event in Australia and one not to be missed by any surfer, culture vulture, beach-goer, ocean enthusiast, art lover and any local or international visitor. The festivals mission statement reads, ‘present and maintain the culture of surfing, as an expression, art and lifestyle. Ensure that the festival reflects the values and creative culture of the Byron region and community.’ As world renowned film maker Jack McCoy quoted one year:
 “This was an amazing festival spoken from the heart to the community. There was so much Aloha, you guys really did the community a service which was felt all around town.”

Seems the mission of the festival continues being accomplished!

SCHEDULE

Friday

 Starting on the Friday afternoon with the Internationally curated artshow at the Lone Goat Gallery, the festival then moves up the road and on to Byron’s main beach foreshore for the sunset cinema which begins with a traditional welcome to country blessing from the local Arakwal and Bundjalung tribes, then on to the feature film, also including a short film, and then rounding off the first evening with live music and cold bevy’s at Byron famous ‘Beachy’ hotel.

Saturday

 The Saturday of the festival on Byron’s main beach foreshore is huge! Lined with the sprawling Surf Art Market and tipi pop-up zone this curation of all things culturally yummy tends to lure the curiosity of surfers, non surfers, the young & old, visitors, families and all sorts of ocean lovers and explorers alike, with people from many nations joining in each year. Starting with 7am yoga on the beach this indulgent day includes artshows, films, presentations, demonstrations, workshops, and an entire surf literature lounge schedule of book talks, signings and readings.

An international line-up of both established and eclectic surfboard shapers usually haunt the tipi zone exhibiting their new creations and talking with curious customers, onlookers and design junkies. All these happenings are bedded in amongst a gourmet of local and mostly organic foods, beautiful and innovative surfcrafts, delectable and cool fashion, and all this groovin’ along to the sound of live music acts from Byron Shire and many other parts of Australia. 

All events throughout the 3-day festival are free entry, aside from the community centre events, the Sunday evening wrap-up party and the greatly anticipated and high profile ticketed event on the Saturday evening. This sunset event, presented in an amazing natural environment with an intimate stage tucked in the trees along the coast, will include acoustic music, the very popular short film comp finals, an exciting surprise event and 2 amazing final live music acts.
TICKETS for this event will be very limited and will go on Sale with first locals release November 1st (stay tuned!!)

Sunday

The Sunday is beach day!! Rise and shine early at Wategos beach with the freestyle&stoke surf sessions including the hunters&collectors show, sell and demo of collectable, unique, and modern surfboards which litter the grass and foreshore in a spectacular display of handmade, art-driven and sustainably produced surfcraft. Right at the tip of Australia’s most easterly point BBSF will be hosting a handful of unique surf sessions. Most interesting could be the finless and tandem demonstrations or the newly introduced surfer/shaper session, along with the regular sessions including logs, mermaids, legends and fish categories and the very popular Party Wave Invitational cash dash which lands one very lucky surfer $1000 cash!! Brainchild of event organisers the freestyle&stoke surf sessions do not focus on traditional competitive surfing but rather it’s about the fun and pure stoke of freestyling your own creative way across a wave on the surfcraft of your choice with a peer-voted surfer in each category taking honours.

Wrapping up this amazing weekend it’s only good manners that we throw a little party on Sunday eve! This event will include live music, food and after a hot summer’s day, probably plenty of bevy’s. Again, tickets will be very limited for this event and will go on sale with second release December 1st.

This is such a great event and it is so good that it is back on. Check their website for updates

www.byronbaysurffestival.com.au