Hi, just scratched my new board on the front rail. Anyone consider rail tape like that sometimes used on SUP boards? Seems like it would be sensible protection but doesn't seem overly common. Cheers.

I put rail tape on my new Sealion that I purchased as I have been using it as a Sup for myself and the kids as well as a windsurfer. I thought about the performance reduction as well and with this board it didn't really concern me. What was interesting was that I asked about replacing the damaged tape on my Fanatic all wave I found out that it was a big job to replace it. Would need a heat gun and about 2 hours labour to get the old stuff off and there was a possibility that the paint work on the board may get damaged anyway. So for anything that is no a SUP I think I will fill and paint if needed.

Hey, I sell rail tape, and it would certainly work for other boards. You might want to buy it by the meter so you can go all the way around, rather than just on the sides like SUPs do.Dean, getting tape off is certainly a problem, ours is rated to have no adhesion loss after 3 weeks in 80C heat, so I'm not even sure if a heat gun would work... Then again, you would literally have to stab our tape to cut through it.

What kind of damage is it getting?

Hello, Homestraight,

You might care to rig up a sail, join the sail to the board, then lay the board down on its side, in the sand. Using a tape measure, find out how much of the board rail contacts the sand. Add 10cm either end and you’ll have the length of tape you need, per side. Also, you’ll see where the tape needs to be applied.

Clean the rails with a non-oily cleaner before tape application.

Whilst Justin’s info about his tape is good, you can imagine how difficult it would be to run the tape around the back-end (pin tail?) of the board.

Personally, I’m using gaffer tape on the rails. Works when the board is on sand, but probably no good on rocky/bitumen surfaces.

Hope this helps.

I don't think I have ever scratched a board thru normal use, only if it is dragged across a rock or something on the beach or careless handling at home / loading in the car. With a quality bag and only ever laying it on sand or grass I don't see the issue.
By the time it looks tatty you probably want another one anyway....

Justins example of how hard it is to remove rail tape is why repairers charge a lot more if they have to deal with that issue. It is annoying to get it off do a repair then reapply. For SUP I would never tape the rails, just do electrical tape around the paddle blade properly and your board will be fine.

As a repairer - I recommend not using rail tape if intending to damage your board. If you look after your board - rail tape is great! Always allow and extra $50 if a repairer has to touch your rail tape and add the cost of replacement.
Note that if you hit a sup hard enough with a paddle to damage a board without rail tape, the damage is likely to occur under the rail tape anyway and reveal itself when the repairer removes your tape to fix a different ding. I've had 1.5m of carbon and glass come away from rails on either sides of boards - $150 quote becomes $400 including tape and a repairer with a big dent in his margin...and an unhappy customer looking for someone to blame.
Bottom line is...look after your gear of pay the price. Your board is not designed to come into contact with anything other than water and that does not include flat landings or being hit by breaking waves..go figure

Thanks yeah... It was low tide, I was tired from a huge session and must have inadvertently let the nose dip (not crash) and lightly brush across a rock. It's only a light scratch but on a new board its frustrating. My old board was virtually scratch less. Have gone off the idea of rail tape. Agree with Mark's comments and put down to a one-off, partly due to the sailing location / tide.

If your old board was scratch less, then you weren't using it hard enough.
Scratches are signs that you are using it often, and should be considered signs of an aggressive sailor. Own your scratches, and be proud of them, behind every scratch there should be a good story.
Kind of like brand new sneakers, trainers, tennis shoes, or whatever you call them down under, brand new ones suck, can't wait to scuff them up.