Surfboard Shaping from CNC to Surfing - Carbon Fiber Groveler

This episode has a lot going into it. I started the design from computer and had it CNC'd. A few things went into this design. I took inspiration from Rob Machado's Too Fish and Dan Mann's Sweet Potato.

I wanted to make a groveler that was a hybrid between a fish with a thruster tail. Something wide and flat that would be easy to paddle into waves and plane in small, flat waves like a fish. And then something that could turn and drive vertically like a thruster.

The second thing I wanted to experiment with was, extending the life of the deck by reinforcing it with carbon fiber. I theory carbon fiber is supposed to be almost 2x stronger than fiber glass so the carbon should take more abuse than the standard e cloth that I laminate with.

The last thing I wanted to try was using spray paint on the carbon to add a little color and reduce the heat that black carbon would absorb.

Final thoughts: Shape - I like how the shape turned out. It planes well and can still whip like a shortboard. It doesn't paddle as well as I had hoped though. Cloth - I think the extra strength of the carbon may not justify the extra labor it takes to manufacture it. Using S cloth may be a better solution. Spray Paint - the process was pretty easy and it looks good aesthetically so I would definitely recommend doing it again. My concern is that there may be some delamination over time depending on how the paint bonds with the resin. Gonna need more time to tell.