Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. Looking for some opinions with my problem please.

I bought a brand new surfboard, gloss finish and started to shatter/crack on the deck and a few in the rail. This is spreading out as I use it and there are couple that catches my finger nails that I have to repair it. There are two in the rail, one I have already patched it with Solarez and one that needs another repair as there were dirts that got in to the cracks last weekend I surfed it so I'm pretty sure that is not water tight.

I understand that pressure dents are normal on the surfboards but I don't think shatters/cracks are normal? I'm concerned that couple of months down the road and I will end up with a board that has patch of repairs all over the place.

I'm very disappointed with the quality of this board and I don't think it will last long.

I'm taking it to the shop I bought it from this weekend so they can have a closer look. But I just need to be prepared and do my homework first. I want to be fair to them and be calm and be professional about this as I like the shop and the staff, they all have been very helpful in the past and willing to help me out on this issue. But also I would like to know what is fair to me as a consumer.

Thanks all in advance.

If you smash it with your knee, elbow, car door etc fair chance if it's light glass it will crack.

The glass looks light and a lot of those cracks look like impact wounds.

What brand is it? I'm guessing bought of the rack popout?

Thats standard wear and tear

Its a McTavish Sumo and yes bought off the rack. The dents/cracks from the dark blue part are from my hands (last pic) are from my hands when grabbing the rail during popup. 4th pic no compression dent just crack.

I dont think I smashed it in the car as it is akways in a board bag and I even take the bag to the beach.

Yep wear and tear on a light weight, **** board. Sorry.

That sucks but explains it.

I assume it is a GSI Made in Thailand? Seen a few that have lasted less then expected.

Yep that sucks big time. Paying $700+ on a board carrying McTavish name you would have thought it is good and high quality board.

I was wrong about you get what you pay for thing this time. I was going to buy $450 Sanctum board from Northern Beaches but I thought forking out the extra couple of hundred bucks I would get me a higher quality and better board that will last longer. But no my brother's Sanctum still looks like new with only two or three tiny compression dents. And he's way heavier than I am with same skill level and only surfed it about 10times.

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SP said...
That sucks but explains it.

I assume it is a GSI Made in Thailand? Seen a few that have lasted less then expected.

Yes it is GSI made in Thailand.

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inhozente said..

SP said...
That sucks but explains it.

I assume it is a GSI Made in Thailand? Seen a few that have lasted less then expected.

Yes it is GSI made in Thailand.

Don't stress too much mate, looks fairly superficial at this stage, like most of the crew have said it's pretty standard wear and tear for a board such as this. I don't think you'll get much good news at the shop.

Unfortunately that looks like a light glass job just like others have said. Get a custom and double 6oz next time or be more fussy about the cheap board. The Surfboardwarehouse Flume is a very similar board and has a heavy glass job. I have the model before it and there is barely a scratch on it after 6 months. Chinese board, but double 6oz.

Ouch. Its worth a try I guess. Im also concerned about how well the leash plug will hold up. Im kinda scared of it coming off and potentially injuring myself, other surfers or beach users. Hmmpp.

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inhozente said..
Ouch. Its worth a try I guess. Im also concerned about how well the leash plug will hold up. Im kinda scared of it coming off and potentially injuring myself, other surfers or beach users. Hmmpp.

I wouldnt worry too much about the leash plug, they really dont come out that often

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genuine said..
Thats standard wear and tear

ditto

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inhozente said..
Ouch. Its worth a try I guess. Im also concerned about how well the leash plug will hold up. Im kinda scared of it coming off and potentially injuring myself, other surfers or beach users. Hmmpp.

I've got an Al Merrick Gravy 6'1 x 20.5 x 2 5/8 (33.7 L) that I might be interested in swapping for it if your interested. It's got one tiny repaired ding. I'd like to have a go of the Sumo

Its 6 + 4 ounce PU glass on top & 4 on the bottom.

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MickPC said...

inhozente said..
Ouch. Its worth a try I guess. Im also concerned about how well the leash plug will hold up. Im kinda scared of it coming off and potentially injuring myself, other surfers or beach users. Hmmpp.

I've got an Al Merrick Gravy 6'1 x 20.5 x 2 5/8 (33.7 L) that I might be interested in swapping for it if your interested. It's got one tiny repaired ding. I'd like to have a go of the Sumo

Its 6 + 4 ounce PU glass on top & 4 on the bottom.

Sorry Mick this is the shortest board I can have fun with at the moment due to my skill level. Its a 6'8 with 46L but my wave count has gone up since owning this board. So Im planning to keep it.

Probably going to get the deck reglassed to make it last a little longer. Not sure though if it is going to make it harder to paddle?

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inhozente said..

Sorry Mick this is the shortest board I can have fun with at the moment due to my skill level. Its a 6'8 with 46L but my wave count has gone up since owning this board. So Im planning to keep it.

Probably going to get the deck reglassed to make it last a little longer. Not sure though if it is going to make it harder to paddle?

No prob mate, yeah if your enjoying the board & want it to last longer that's not a bad idea. The board weight won't hinder its performance, a bit of weight can often help. Its already got plenty of float & glide due to its shape. Take it to Dave Smith of Katana surfboards in Ozy Pk, he'll get it sorted for ya

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MickPC said...

inhozente said..

Sorry Mick this is the shortest board I can have fun with at the moment due to my skill level. Its a 6'8 with 46L but my wave count has gone up since owning this board. So Im planning to keep it.

Probably going to get the deck reglassed to make it last a little longer. Not sure though if it is going to make it harder to paddle?

No prob mate, yeah if your enjoying the board & want it to last longer that's not a bad idea. The board weight won't hinder its performance, a bit of weight can often help. Its already got plenty of float & glide due to its shape. Take it to Dave Smith of Katana surfboards in Ozy Pk, he'll get it sorted for ya

Exactly what Mick said. If you need that board because of your skill level, then you certainly aren't good enough for a little more glass to noticeably affect performance. You weigh 80kg. An extra kilo of glass is barely noticeable against your weight, yet it will be far stronger.

Most people could use more glass and save themselves wear on their boards, but they don't feel as sexy under the arm and it's all about the heft under the arm. IMO only comp surfers can really benefit from the marginal performance improvements of light glass.

+1 for more glass.

I got two customs made before a Ments trip earlier in the year, but with 6oz glass all over. I took off too deep on the 2nd wave of my very first session, got clamped and snapped my leggie. The board took off and washed in over the dry reef. It was like crocodile teeth in there, i had to go back to the boat to get booties, then get dropped off by our tender to do the walk of shame and collect my fins.

Unbelievably the board was pretty much unscathed apart from a single small rail shatter - and was still watertight. I have no doubt that if this was one of the lightly glassed 'off the rack' boards i would have been down a board for the rest of the trip.

The extra glass does make a small difference to the weight of my board when under my arm, but to be honest i don't notice it at all in the water.

The Gsi boards definitely have quality control issues. Have seen a few on the racks in star where you can clearly see who ever has sanded them has almost gone thru to the foam in some patches. Some look ok some don't. A new Aus made JS would probably crumble just as much as they very lightly glassed. Best to get a custom and tell them what glass job u want. A board shouldn't pressure ding just by picking it up.

no one has yet mentioned blanks, if you have a dense solid blank with even floatation this is the key. prior to laying glass the important part is what your laying it on to. you can have light glass on a solid blank and it will last nearly as long as on a six ounce jobbie( i run 6 ounce and they do last longer)

yes they are wear and tear and superficial damage. No there is not much theyll say other than that.

however the blank is everthing, you may ask why this effects dings, sunken foam shatters, relate back to a cuttlefish and a sponge. if you glass both, one is a solid rigid floating surfboard,(they can be shaped and glassef free billion dollar idea if anyones interestef.did make a nice looking singlefin fit for a smurf, i digress) which is the cuttlefish the other the sponge once glassed has different properties it carries more air and has better floatation however it is also less rigid and has less structural integrity. therefore the spongeis easier to compress,ding etc. mass production versus master craftsman. look im guilty too ive bought almerrick pro models last three months, js (5 months) etc etc, all awesome boards well shaped rada rada rads but mass produced, and yes you pay more for less

Good point. Blanks are very important. Shame it took me 20 years to catch on to that one. Nice explanation too.

No need to get another layer of glass mate, I really really really think that you are overthinking this.

Whilst extra/heavier glass jobs during the construction phase will increase a boards chances of longevity, I highly doubt that in your case getting another layer over the top of a used will have much benefit. You also have the risk that you have a cheap blank, as Razzonater said, which will make the extra glass layer redundant.

Those cracks are nothing, seriously. I know you must be disappointed being a new board but the only thing you have to worry about is if you get any cracks on the rail that let water in. These will get bigger if unattended and will lead to a weak spot in your rail and will usually snap in this place after a while.

I would save your money, ride this for a year then trade it in or sell it.

I just stumbled across this thread - Any news about the board?

I've been riding a 6'4" sumo (same colour scheme as yours) since September last year (at least 3-5 surfs a week) and the glass job on mine seems very solid and more than adequate during normal use. I'm 6'2" and 105kg and the only repair I've had to make was from smacking my chin on a rail. It was a hard impact - I saw stars. The crack in the rail was almost a mirror of the split on my chin. It's also one of the ones made in Thailand but I've been very happy with my board until this point.

Very interested to hear what the shop said about your board.

Same happened to me with a Vampirate board made in Thailand. 1000 $ with shipment....thought was Aussie hand made. ..