Hi Everyone
Thoughts on the SMIK SUP boards in there quality and construction. Web site says one of the the strongest boards on the market.

I recently purchase one (Stylelord 10') and on the 3 rd time out on the water (owned it for 2 months), It has snapped at about 250 mm in front of the thruster fins right across the board.
Very disappointed in this happening. Board didn't nose dive or tail dive into the bottom (no reef here) Didn't even get to surf it this day, was paddling out for the first wave of the day. No other damage to the board anywhere. Paddling over a breaking/broken wave and fell off (lost balance). Board was tumbled a bit in the white water, but I though not much, have had bigger wipeouts before with other boards. Came to the surface and noticed crack across the board. Surf was a maximum 1 meter that day.
I have contacted the shop where I brought it from and also SMIK directly. No warranty claim will be honoured as they say the board appears to have had an impact to cause it to snap

Has anyone else had issues with a SMIK board breaking seemingly easily with little force? I've had several different brand boards before this one and have had some serious wipeouts with them. Never snapped one or even crease one before
Interested to see if this as they say a freak mishap than can happen or is a common occurrence
Thanks

Owned over a dozen Smiks over the years never had issues. Build quality is excellent. Used in solid surf.

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SupsailDave said..
Hi Everyone
Thoughts on the SMIK SUP boards in there quality and construction. Web site says one of the the strongest boards on the market.

I recently purchase one (Stylelord 10') and on the 3 rd time out on the water (owned it for 2 months), It has snapped at about 250 mm in front of the thruster fins right across the board.
Very disappointed in this happening. Board didn't nose dive or tail dive into the bottom (no reef here) Didn't even get to surf it this day, was paddling out for the first wave of the day. No other damage to the board anywhere. Paddling over a breaking/broken wave and fell off (lost balance). Board was tumbled a bit in the white water, but I though not much, have had bigger wipeouts before with other boards. Came to the surface and noticed crack across the board. Surf was a maximum 1 meter that day.
I have contacted the shop where I brought it from and also SMIK directly. No warranty claim will be honoured as they say the board appears to have had an impact to cause it to snap

Has anyone else had issues with a SMIK board breaking seemingly easily with little force? I've had several different brand boards before this one and have had some serious wipeouts with them. Never snapped one or even crease one before
Interested to see if this as they say a freak mishap than can happen or is a common occurrence
Thanks

So you fell back onto your board and creased it. As much as it sucks that not a manufacturing issue.

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Bender said..

SupsailDave said..
Hi Everyone
Thoughts on the SMIK SUP boards in there quality and construction. Web site says one of the the strongest boards on the market.

I recently purchase one (Stylelord 10') and on the 3 rd time out on the water (owned it for 2 months), It has snapped at about 250 mm in front of the thruster fins right across the board.
Very disappointed in this happening. Board didn't nose dive or tail dive into the bottom (no reef here) Didn't even get to surf it this day, was paddling out for the first wave of the day. No other damage to the board anywhere. Paddling over a breaking/broken wave and fell off (lost balance). Board was tumbled a bit in the white water, but I though not much, have had bigger wipeouts before with other boards. Came to the surface and noticed crack across the board. Surf was a maximum 1 meter that day.
I have contacted the shop where I brought it from and also SMIK directly. No warranty claim will be honoured as they say the board appears to have had an impact to cause it to snap

Has anyone else had issues with a SMIK board breaking seemingly easily with little force? I've had several different brand boards before this one and have had some serious wipeouts with them. Never snapped one or even crease one before
Interested to see if this as they say a freak mishap than can happen or is a common occurrence
Thanks

So you fell back onto your board and creased it. As much as it sucks that not a manufacturing issue.

No I didn't make contact with the board at all. This question has been aske by the shop and by SMIK. I fell to the side to not contact the board as past experience has proven this hurts. Hard to prove this and its my word against yours and the shop and SMIK.

So again, no I didn't fall on the board

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SupsailDave said..
Board was tumbled a bit in the white water,

This.You absolutely don't know the forces that applied to the board.Holding your board in 8" mush can dislocate your shoulder.

I have seen a board from a "big brand" folded in TWO places in a knee-high Mediterranean "wave". It was used for years before (and after repairs) without any problems. It was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

On the other hand, building boards is still a manual process, and there can be invisible factory defects on all boards.

In the end, SMiK has no real way to determine what happened. It becomes a question of company policy and the quality of the human contact between you and their representatives...

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colas said..

SupsailDave said..
Board was tumbled a bit in the white water,

This.You absolutely don't know the forces that applied to the board.Holding your board in 8" mush can dislocate your shoulder.

I have seen a board from a "big brand" folded in TWO places in a knee-high Mediterranean "wave". It was used for years before (and after repairs) without any problems. It was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

On the other hand, building boards is still a manual process, and there can be invisible factory defects on all boards.

In the end, SMiK has no real way to determine what happened. It becomes a question of company policy and the quality of the human contact between you and their representatives...

I do know that moving water has a massive amount of force and energy in it But the incident I had with this board seemed pretty sedate compared to other times I have padded into wave and white water. These other times that I have done this on other boards has not resulted in boards being broken or creased

I have never broken or creased a board before this And being new and not knocked around, I would have thought that the board would at its strongest with no fatigue points on it

Some comments are coming across to me as if I'm trying to make out that SMIK boards are poorly constructed. I'm not saying this. I'm seeing if anyone else has broken any SMIK boards in the past. Is this a common thing?

I pretty gutted that my new board is a wall worthless ornament now and I need to get a new one and shell out a considerable chunk of cash again. I'm trying to get and idea if it is worthwhile getting another SMIK or look at other brands
I did like the way that this one surfed

A supstar we know broke his Smik in half twice (two different sups), but he also broke his Sunova as well.

Ended up getting Smik to build a thicker version i think and hasn't broken a sup since (touch wood)!

Doesn't really help you though, i'd be talking to Scotty directly trying to come to a compromise?

I've buckled two boards in 3 years now. A Starboard Wedge in Starlite construction and a Infinity Blurr carbon. Both times in only head-high'ish waves. I've had worse beatings but I think it is just how the board, unfortunately, happens to get caught in the wave - if the back of the board is stuck in the wave while it is breaking over the front and the leash is resisting the pull of it all.

Think the wrong place the wrong time could always be the case, as for today erything surived Big ex Erin on the france coast

I think most would feel bitter about breaking a board in small surf even if there were no construction flaws. I would have a good repair guy check it out for a fix estimate and his opinion on construction before jumping to conclusions. Sups do have a lot of surface area and 10' even more so. No one wants a super heavy board so all part of the game. It would be very unusual to get a warranty on a custom board of any kind. Although smik has "standard" models kind of like sunova I don't really consider them a production board like starboard, jp, etc.

Hope you have better luck in the future

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slsurf said..
I think most would feel bitter about breaking a board in small surf even if there were no construction flaws. I would have a good repair guy check it out for a fix estimate and his opinion on construction before jumping to conclusions. Sups do have a lot of surface area and 10' even more so. No one wants a super heavy board so all part of the game. It would be very unusual to get a warranty on a custom board of any kind. Although smik has "standard" models kind of like sunova I don't really consider them a production board like starboard, jp, etc.

Hope you have better luck in the future

This wasn't a custom board. But one of the standard off the shelf boards. But yes. Agree there is a lot of surface area on a 10' board. I haven't jumped to any conclusions yet but just sounding out others on their experience with this brand to see if it is a common thing or as Ive been told that it was one of those bad luck things that happens sometimes

Their web site states that they are one of the strongest board made. But this to me at this point in time doesn't sit well with me as I have a broken board that has only been surfed twice and on the 3rd time on the water it breaks And never broke another brand of board

I need a new board and are trying to figure out to give this brand another shot or look elsewhere

I will at some point in time sus out a repair shop and see what they say and can do

Thanks for your comment

I've never heard anything bad about smik. They look awesome and people rave about them. Like anything you might have got a lemon from the factory which of course could happen with any board. Unfortunately because you're riding in surf and transporting to and from the beach I can see their point of view as well. They don't know if you stacked it in a 15 foot wave. I can also understand your point of view because these things aren't cheap and I would be gutted in your shoes. Hopefully they can sort you out with some compromise.

I have had maybe 20+ smik boards and never had one issue. I rate them the best quality available

Didn't have 20 Smik boards, but a lot off different boards before my first Smik. Gong , 9 different boards, Paddle surf Hawaii before Gong , 6 boards, Starboard just one , Fanatic 3 boards , Naish , 2 boards and Sunova and SIC . hmm thats a lot off boards , should not mention this to my wife I think. So a lot off boards and I can only say , smik is very good, light and strong, just what you want and there is no dents, or damage from using it

I know it's disappointing to break a board but stuff happens in the surf. The power of a wave can be unpredictable depending also on the position of the board in/on the wave.

Many years ago I paddled out on a brand new Al Byrne short board and it snapped between my hands duck diving the first wave before even getting to ride it.

I would get in touch with the shop you bought it from and see if they can do you a good deal on a replacement and write it off as a bad experience.

Personally I have had 4 SMIKS and surfed them in all conditions/size waves in various breaks around the world and found them tough as.

Good luck.

This sounds horribly unlucky. I'm yet to destroy a board like that in my 10 years of sup surfing. I've only ever heard good things about SMIK though. Did you buy it on credit card to purchase? I'd use consumer protection & get it charged back by the card (they have duty of care as well as supplier & pay out instead of supplier. I have less problem charging multi billion ? banks the cost than small suppliers), or maybe that is only a European thing?

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wazza66 said..
I know it's disappointing to break a board but stuff happens in the surf. The power of a wave can be unpredictable depending also on the position of the board in/on the wave.

Many years ago I paddled out on a brand new Al Byrne short board and it snapped between my hands duck diving the first wave before even getting to ride it.

I would get in touch with the shop you bought it from and see if they can do you a good deal on a replacement and write it off as a bad experience.

Personally I have had 4 SMIKS and surfed them in all conditions/size waves in various breaks around the world and found them tough as.

Good luck.

Yes Have been in contact with the shop and with SMIK. Shop is trying to help out with discounted new board, but haven't mentioned what the end price will be as of yet. Wheels are in motion.
Thanks for your feed back

That sucks. Anyone would be super annoyed at that happening, particularly on your 3rd outing!
I have many Smik SUP boards and can't rate them highly enough in all respects.

As mentioned there is a chance of a manufacturing defect but i would say a very, very low probability.

Most likely reason, IMO, based on where the board snapped, is leg rope leverage combined with a long, thin high performance SUP and a wave hitting on the wrong angle. All boards have a lot of reinforcing under where you stand and particulaly around the fins... so load will transfer to the weak point ahead of this. If your body weight is attached to the tail then the wave has full 10foot of leverage.. if it hit it on the wrong angle... super bad luck.

Also, I have owned a 10' Style Lord. Wow these surf amazingly.. and theres a reason...these are not your average mals, nor a 20kg Starboard Wedge. They are, for their size, very thin and light weight.. hence you probably wont find a better performing board this size. But performance comes with a price.

I know a young guy who did the same with a super light weight 5'6 shortboard. Super gutted but not a lot you can do.
My son has snapped 3 of those super strong Odessey 9' foamy logs .. they have 3 x 10mm ply stringers.. Nothing is break proof .. although to be fair he only goes out in 8ft+
And i am constantly repairing our kite surfboards... breaking gear is the cost of doing business.
As some old dude told me once... if you're not breaking things you arent charging hard enough.
So reframe this as... you're charging just hard.enough ;-)

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thuffam said..
That sucks. Anyone would be super annoyed at that happening, particularly on your 3rd outing!
I have many Smik SUP boards and can't rate them highly enough in all respects.

As mentioned there is a chance of a manufacturing defect but i would say a very, very low probability.

Most likely reason, IMO, based on where the board snapped, is leg rope leverage combined with a long, thin high performance SUP and a wave hitting on the wrong angle. All boards have a lot of reinforcing under where you stand and particulaly around the fins... so load will transfer to the weak point ahead of this. If your body weight is attached to the tail then the wave has full 10foot of leverage.. if it hit it on the wrong angle... super bad luck.

Also, I have owned a 10' Style Lord. Wow these surf amazingly.. and theres a reason...these are not your average mals, nor a 20kg Starboard Wedge. They are, for their size, very thin and light weight.. hence you probably wont find a better performing board this size. But performance comes with a price.

I know a young guy who did the same with a super light weight 5'6 shortboard. Super gutted but not a lot you can do.
My son has snapped 3 of those super strong Odessey 9' foamy logs .. they have 3 x 10mm ply stringers.. Nothing is break proof .. although to be fair he only goes out in 8ft+
And i am constantly repairing our kite surfboards... breaking gear is the cost of doing business.
As some old dude told me once... if you're not breaking things you arent charging hard enough.
So reframe this as... you're charging just hard.enough ;-)

Thanks for your reply. I have ordered a new stylelord, a bit hesitantly but. I did love the way it performed, just not a fan of the life of it. By the sounds of it, it was as a lot of people have said" a unfortunate accident" Didn't seem like a lot of force was put on it at the time, as I had said, have been in much bigger conditions before. Hopefully the new one will last a bit longer
The comment of charging hard enough, I probably would have been happier to have broken it in a wipeout on some wave than breaking it just paddling out for the first wave of the day

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SupsailDave said..

thuffam said..
That sucks. Anyone would be super annoyed at that happening, particularly on your 3rd outing!
I have many Smik SUP boards and can't rate them highly enough in all respects.

As mentioned there is a chance of a manufacturing defect but i would say a very, very low probability.

Most likely reason, IMO, based on where the board snapped, is leg rope leverage combined with a long, thin high performance SUP and a wave hitting on the wrong angle. All boards have a lot of reinforcing under where you stand and particulaly around the fins... so load will transfer to the weak point ahead of this. If your body weight is attached to the tail then the wave has full 10foot of leverage.. if it hit it on the wrong angle... super bad luck.

Also, I have owned a 10' Style Lord. Wow these surf amazingly.. and theres a reason...these are not your average mals, nor a 20kg Starboard Wedge. They are, for their size, very thin and light weight.. hence you probably wont find a better performing board this size. But performance comes with a price.

I know a young guy who did the same with a super light weight 5'6 shortboard. Super gutted but not a lot you can do.
My son has snapped 3 of those super strong Odessey 9' foamy logs .. they have 3 x 10mm ply stringers.. Nothing is break proof .. although to be fair he only goes out in 8ft+
And i am constantly repairing our kite surfboards... breaking gear is the cost of doing business.
As some old dude told me once... if you're not breaking things you arent charging hard enough.
So reframe this as... you're charging just hard.enough ;-)

Thanks for your reply. I have ordered a new stylelord, a bit hesitantly but. I did love the way it performed, just not a fan of the life of it. By the sounds of it, it was as a lot of people have said" a unfortunate accident" Didn't seem like a lot of force was put on it at the time, as I had said, have been in much bigger conditions before. Hopefully the new one will last a bit longer
The comment of charging hard enough, I probably would have been happier to have broken it in a wipeout on some wave than breaking it just paddling out for the first wave of the day

Little note that seems to have not been mentioned is that we're building a new board with no margins as we felt bad about this happening. Even though I'm positive that it wouldn't not have been a factory lay up issue.

sometimes it's the most random of acts that can get you.

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scott mckerc said..

SupsailDave said..

thuffam said..
That sucks. Anyone would be super annoyed at that happening, particularly on your 3rd outing!
I have many Smik SUP boards and can't rate them highly enough in all respects.

As mentioned there is a chance of a manufacturing defect but i would say a very, very low probability.

Most likely reason, IMO, based on where the board snapped, is leg rope leverage combined with a long, thin high performance SUP and a wave hitting on the wrong angle. All boards have a lot of reinforcing under where you stand and particulaly around the fins... so load will transfer to the weak point ahead of this. If your body weight is attached to the tail then the wave has full 10foot of leverage.. if it hit it on the wrong angle... super bad luck.

Also, I have owned a 10' Style Lord. Wow these surf amazingly.. and theres a reason...these are not your average mals, nor a 20kg Starboard Wedge. They are, for their size, very thin and light weight.. hence you probably wont find a better performing board this size. But performance comes with a price.

I know a young guy who did the same with a super light weight 5'6 shortboard. Super gutted but not a lot you can do.
My son has snapped 3 of those super strong Odessey 9' foamy logs .. they have 3 x 10mm ply stringers.. Nothing is break proof .. although to be fair he only goes out in 8ft+
And i am constantly repairing our kite surfboards... breaking gear is the cost of doing business.
As some old dude told me once... if you're not breaking things you arent charging hard enough.
So reframe this as... you're charging just hard.enough ;-)

Thanks for your reply. I have ordered a new stylelord, a bit hesitantly but. I did love the way it performed, just not a fan of the life of it. By the sounds of it, it was as a lot of people have said" a unfortunate accident" Didn't seem like a lot of force was put on it at the time, as I had said, have been in much bigger conditions before. Hopefully the new one will last a bit longer
The comment of charging hard enough, I probably would have been happier to have broken it in a wipeout on some wave than breaking it just paddling out for the first wave of the day

Little note that seems to have not been mentioned is that we're building a new board with no margins as we felt bad about this happening. Even though I'm positive that it wouldn't not have been a factory lay up issue.

sometimes it's the most random of acts that can get you.

Great to have the owner of the company stepping up and building the customer a new board.

I have had 5 smik boards and currently own an 8ft custom hipster and a 9'2 hipster longboard and they and surf them in big and small surf and can't fault them.

Sh.t happens sometimes in the water.

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scott mckerc said..

SupsailDave said..

thuffam said..
That sucks. Anyone would be super annoyed at that happening, particularly on your 3rd outing!
I have many Smik SUP boards and can't rate them highly enough in all respects.

As mentioned there is a chance of a manufacturing defect but i would say a very, very low probability.

Most likely reason, IMO, based on where the board snapped, is leg rope leverage combined with a long, thin high performance SUP and a wave hitting on the wrong angle. All boards have a lot of reinforcing under where you stand and particulaly around the fins... so load will transfer to the weak point ahead of this. If your body weight is attached to the tail then the wave has full 10foot of leverage.. if it hit it on the wrong angle... super bad luck.

Also, I have owned a 10' Style Lord. Wow these surf amazingly.. and theres a reason...these are not your average mals, nor a 20kg Starboard Wedge. They are, for their size, very thin and light weight.. hence you probably wont find a better performing board this size. But performance comes with a price.

I know a young guy who did the same with a super light weight 5'6 shortboard. Super gutted but not a lot you can do.
My son has snapped 3 of those super strong Odessey 9' foamy logs .. they have 3 x 10mm ply stringers.. Nothing is break proof .. although to be fair he only goes out in 8ft+
And i am constantly repairing our kite surfboards... breaking gear is the cost of doing business.
As some old dude told me once... if you're not breaking things you arent charging hard enough.
So reframe this as... you're charging just hard.enough ;-)

Thanks for your reply. I have ordered a new stylelord, a bit hesitantly but. I did love the way it performed, just not a fan of the life of it. By the sounds of it, it was as a lot of people have said" a unfortunate accident" Didn't seem like a lot of force was put on it at the time, as I had said, have been in much bigger conditions before. Hopefully the new one will last a bit longer
The comment of charging hard enough, I probably would have been happier to have broken it in a wipeout on some wave than breaking it just paddling out for the first wave of the day

Little note that seems to have not been mentioned is that we're building a new board with no margins as we felt bad about this happening. Even though I'm positive that it wouldn't not have been a factory lay up issue.

sometimes it's the most random of acts that can get you.

So here in lies a successful formula. A quality person in Scott. With that a quality owner, designer, craftsman and board builder. Equating to quality boards in both design and construction. Power to you Scott and Smik.

We have 11 x SMIK sups that are all regular riders from original V1 n V2 Hipsters and StyleLords, EzyRider to later LSR event customs.
Used in many different surf travel locations n conditions.
We can not fault the construction's durability over the watertime enjoyed .
However LIFE has happened to a couple with surf bingles n a scooter mishap.. BUT.. looking SMIK again
Wishing you the best for your next SMIK sup surfing adventure.. ENJOY

That sounds very unlucky and can understand your frustration. I've had a Smik hipster twin since March and had plenty of other boards in the last 17 years of SUP. I believe the construction to be the best I have ever experienced - the board is light, but in 7 months of use I can't even see a dent or paint chip in the rail - that's with no rail tape but it has the fabric inlay built in. Super happy with this board and brand

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scott mckerc said..

SupsailDave said..

thuffam said..
That sucks. Anyone would be super annoyed at that happening, particularly on your 3rd outing!
I have many Smik SUP boards and can't rate them highly enough in all respects.

As mentioned there is a chance of a manufacturing defect but i would say a very, very low probability.

Most likely reason, IMO, based on where the board snapped, is leg rope leverage combined with a long, thin high performance SUP and a wave hitting on the wrong angle. All boards have a lot of reinforcing under where you stand and particulaly around the fins... so load will transfer to the weak point ahead of this. If your body weight is attached to the tail then the wave has full 10foot of leverage.. if it hit it on the wrong angle... super bad luck.

Also, I have owned a 10' Style Lord. Wow these surf amazingly.. and theres a reason...these are not your average mals, nor a 20kg Starboard Wedge. They are, for their size, very thin and light weight.. hence you probably wont find a better performing board this size. But performance comes with a price.

I know a young guy who did the same with a super light weight 5'6 shortboard. Super gutted but not a lot you can do.
My son has snapped 3 of those super strong Odessey 9' foamy logs .. they have 3 x 10mm ply stringers.. Nothing is break proof .. although to be fair he only goes out in 8ft+
And i am constantly repairing our kite surfboards... breaking gear is the cost of doing business.
As some old dude told me once... if you're not breaking things you arent charging hard enough.
So reframe this as... you're charging just hard.enough ;-)

Thanks for your reply. I have ordered a new stylelord, a bit hesitantly but. I did love the way it performed, just not a fan of the life of it. By the sounds of it, it was as a lot of people have said" a unfortunate accident" Didn't seem like a lot of force was put on it at the time, as I had said, have been in much bigger conditions before. Hopefully the new one will last a bit longer
The comment of charging hard enough, I probably would have been happier to have broken it in a wipeout on some wave than breaking it just paddling out for the first wave of the day

Little note that seems to have not been mentioned is that we're building a new board with no margins as we felt bad about this happening. Even though I'm positive that it wouldn't not have been a factory lay up issue.

sometimes it's the most random of acts that can get you.

Little note Scott, It has been mentioned that a new board has been ordered at a discounted price (1 Sept 2025 comment). And a big thank you for your part in this
Not having a go at you or you business, I was just asking if anyone else has had any issues with the construction of this brand of boards. Going by the responses, these boards are good and everyone seems to love them. I loved the way the board handled and performed too. looking forward to the new one arriving
Thanks for your input