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Bombora boards were bullet proof whatever the shape "newtoy, antartica, bigtoy and even zots" and later slalom boards.
my fanatic and starboard is a foam- eggshell so if you fart to close to it its got a hole. So Mark if your out there, design some modern bomboras and I will buy them over the current eggshells on the market. just don't farm the build out to the cobra factory like all the sheep out there.
Interesting idea. Are there any manufacturers out there rotomoulding modern board shapes?
Hey Akim I didn't see that in the van last week . Put some new straps on and sail it next weekend .
Love those mini hydroplane picklefork step hulls. Might work with new rigs that can push em to 40knots not like the old cloth bags we had to use for sails back in the day. Wicked stuff might have to move the straps out and back and saw some nose off too. And put in a tuttle box....
I don't think the answer is moulded recycled milk bottles
As per other thread, I think the answer lies in same shape, same construction, with just epoxy and glass, not carbon / dyneema, and some wood reinforcements or double sandwich in some areas. Then the materials are cheaper and there is less mucking around with paint / hand sanding / apply graphic stickers / clearcoat bottom and do grip on top. No fin supplied.
There is so much that could be cut out to make a board that it less pretty, maybe a tiny bit heavier, and waaay better on price.
I am old enough to have purchased most of those bomboras when they first came on the market and most of them lasted 3 to 6 months before they delaminated...maybe I was a little hard on them....or just unlucky. I was so happy when I could afford a polyester board. Even now with $900 dollars in my pocket I would buy a second hand Cobra board before I would buy a rotomolded shortboard. Still got a One Design in the shed though....the best longboard ever made...
...though if someone produced a rotomolded picklefork stephull board I would definitely put down the cash..I am a sucker for good marketing.
All this Bombora and mark Paul talk. I just watched wind warriors the other day after converting the old vhs to digital. Absolute classic.
I had a New Toy for a while, it was good fun but then I bought a fibreglass New Toy and it was way better. I'm pretty sure it was shaped by Mark. But maybe not.
I had three later Bombora slalom boards, the Zot, the 260 and 270. The Zot was basically indestructible. It never deformed and never suffered even when hanging up in a shed for years. The 260 was quite thin and its shape changed over time, destroying the rocker line. The 270 was much better built and was fine till I sold it about 8 years ago.
Most probably the potential market is too small but it would be cool to have the option to buy a cheap board that is tough and is a modern design. When I bought the 260 and 270 in the mid nineties they were around $800 or $900 new. Back then a new Mistral or F2 cost at least twice that amount. So in today's environment most probably a new board of this type would cost around $1000.
Nearly every Bombora I owned delaminated around the foot pads within 6 months. I had several of them replaced under warranty. Admittedly I jumped them a lot, but my glass boards lasted infinitely longer than the plastic. Hell, I even had a couple of my Bomboras warp from the heat. The middle of the board bowed up like the freakin harbour bridge. Plastic was crap!
Rotomoulding is good for spa baths and garbage bins - but IMHO was pretty terrible for boards.
It achieved a uniform thickness - so under the heels was the same as anywhere else. Basically a lot of dead weight. Rigidity was brought about by the shape - but they were lacking in stiffness.
Composites are far superior - problems with them are usually with the manufacture and having untrained Asian labour - laying up something they aren't familiar with.....
I think, from memory, that most of Mark Paul's designs were actually shaped by someone else - Alf Jeffries perhaps?
Get an experienced board maker in Australia to make you a strong and light board - that should outlast any Bombora!
