Expedition board early details

This winter I have been busy in the workshop* sanding, cutting, gluing, and screwing! My raw materials were the board, a huge block of EVA foam and a sheet of extruded carbon fibre. The result, I am hopeful, is a capable expedition board that retains the performance and agreeable ergonomics of the original design.

I do like a good barrel. The barrel carrier is full carbon and custom fit to work with the Unifiber Proteus 378 Raceboard. The design keeps the barrel as low as can be while still allowing room for the sailor's foot to jam deep into the back footstrap without pain or hindrance. With this design I get a lower barrel with more foot clearance that the aluminium carrier I used on previous journeys. It feels strong and it should be strong, but the real test of that will be the harsh sailing to come.

Up front I have gone for a design that won't bury the nose when punching through waves. A vee-shaped deflector sits on the bow and protects the drybag located in the space immediately behind. I may have been inspired by supply vessels that have a similar bow shape. My round Europe board had front storage more like the bonnet of a car, and that was bad news when the board nose-dived (it tended to dive deeper, resulting in severe crashes!) By contrast, with this design, the shape is neutral in terms of diving/surfacing hydrodynamic effect, and also benefits from increased buoyancy.

I have also managed to squeeze my SUP paddle into the deflector, which keeps that safe and leaves the deck less cluttered.

I will provide more details at a later stage. Just a few pictures for now.

* Thankyou due to Minorca Sailing for use of the workshop.