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I brought a brand new board new last October (clearance sale). It's a small JP wave board and I've used it about half a dozen times. When I unpacked the board out of the packaging, I did up the vent screw for the first time, and I noticed it felt a bit funny (Note: In my experience, this is normal for new boards, as the screw needs to create a thread in the vent shaft). I made a mental note of it, and then forgot about it.
After four months and half a dozen sessions, there was water in my board and this water entered through the vent hole due to it being defective. After drying out my board for a few days and inspected it tonight, and I noticed the vent recess land varies in depth. See diagram below. I wasn't able to see this visually. I only noticed this by running a flat head screw driver around the length of the land.
In the factory, the vent hole recess was routed out of my board using a router. In my case it looked to be manually done by a worker. One side of the recess land has been routed too deep. The diagram on the right is a good vent hole. The recess land has even depth and so when the vent screw is done up, the rubber seals evenly. The picture on the right is my board. The recess depth on my board varies ~1mm, and this explains why water is entering my board - the vent screw can't form a seal.
I have fixed the defect using a Dremel router. I routed the recess down another ~2mm so that the land had an even depth. The vent screw firms up normally now. I will do a small test on the next hot day.
So, this is another type of defect to keep an eye out for when you purchase a Cobra manufactured board. If you are handy and have the right tools, then this is a simple fix.
J
I had a different, vent problem, bought what looked like a chinook vent but now I think it was a cheap imitation. It had a moulding line right across the land, forget how I evened it up, but getting rid of the mold seem fixed the problem.
I had a similar issue with a brand new Kona One a couple of years ago. The vent hole wasn't drilled properly and the o-ring could not make enough contact to seal the hole. After a few sessions and reading a thread where someones new board was taking on water, I stuck a paper towel into the hole to find water in my board. I took pictures of the vent hole with a macro lens, you could see the uneven surface and the board was replaced under warranty.
I had the same problem with a JP 2010 FSW, luckily I noticed before it got wet. The shop owner got the ok to try and fix it and see how it went. He actually had to finish the thread as it didn't go all the way and then even off the recess where the o-ring sat. Luckily no issue and the board is still water tight today. I'd say there is quite a bit of water in your board and it's going to take more then a few days to dry out. I'd even suggest that when it's fixed it will cause the board to fail next time it sits in the sun for a while. I think you'll need to loosen the vent plug when not sailing from now on to save the board blowing up like a balloon.
Hope it's not as bad as I think....If it was new I'd go for warranty, Even if clearance. I'd call it a manufacturing defect.
Good luck.
It doesn't look pretty but I have always put a thick layer of wax over the vent plug once it is screwed in. I just can't trust the o-ring alone especially since I unscrew the plug after ever session.
Surfboard wax. I could well be the only one that does it but it gives me peace of mind 
I've only just heard of that also, but was told some guys plug the bottom of the hole (just below threads) with surf wax. So if you leave vent undone, water will not get to the core, but the wax is
pliable enough that excess pressure in the board can still blow out without hurting the board.
I like the theory........
I also rely on the pliable nature of the wax - I leave my boards in the car so once I loosen the plug I build the wax up around it again to keep the seal but when it gets hot the wax will let the air escape and then when it cools... the wax may harden before the humid air that resides in my car over summer gets sucked back in. Fingers crossed!
Pretty much you are not going to get a worse defect than a waterlogged board. It's f$&ked and it doesn't get better.
I've fixed a few like this by grinding the land back to a good surface. You can make a tool with a suitable diameter dowel with some sandpaper glued to the end. A little fiddly to make, but once it's done you pop it in the hole and rotate until the land is square. The last one I did I used a dremel with the right size grinding stone in the collet.
As a temporary measure you could put some thread tape around the vent screw.
ikw777: I was going to use that method (and brought the materials to do that), but then I remembered I had Dremel planer.
MattDowse: That is another good option, but as long as I could remove it to inspect down the vent hole.
jn1, this isnt an isolated instance, same thing happened with a bunch of JP X-Cites around 2009-2010 season. The vertical hole drilled vertical and threaded section at an angle . This resulted in the "O" ring only sealing on one side, as plug could move across to have the O ring snug all around..
The issue you dried it out, its rather difficult to get is real dry. If you suspect some moisture left, place a wick in the hole and turn upside down for a few days to drain.
My board, and mates board both replaced by the supplier over here when reported. Took a bit of convincing, but in the end logic won out, and boards replaced.
Even the replacement boards were not that accurate in a vertical hole and thread line up. The plug would be hard up against one side. I opted to go for a larger dia "O" ring just to be on safe side. Pity such a minor process can be so critical.
Thanks Mineral. Just to be sure, I've drilled two holes in the deck for extra venting. I'll plug them once the board has dried out. I don't think there is a lot of water in the board. I've fixed boards that were full of water (many times worse than my current problem, with the same construction) and those boards are still working perfectly after a few years; One I still own, and a mate of mine owns the other. I'm pretty confident my board will be okay since I reacted as soon as I spotted a problem. As you said, there will always be some residual moisture in the board, but based on my previous two cases, I should be able to get many years use out of this board. Anyway, we'll see what happens . Touch wood hahaha
i've bought two new boards with faulty vent sockets. both had a visible line/split in the plastic that ran the length of the thread and must have been opening up when the screw was tightened. one board was eventually replaced under warranty and the other i drilled the vent hole deeper and epoxied a stainless nut into it.
