Hi there,

A quick question. I found that my 3 months old wing board has developed several small bubbles that showed through cracks in the top coat. The cracks are located around the cutouts at the rear of the board and the area around the cracks is soft. It also shows noticeable heel dents in several spots on the deck. I am a 55kg rider and have neither fallen onto the deck, nor jumped the board. The board has always been stored safely in a board bag out of the sun and heat. I am now wondering what I should expect from the manufacturer: A repair? A replacement? If there are any professionals from the industry reading this, I'd greatly appreciate your input.

Thanks!

Sounds like it got dropped on the tail...? Pics really going to help. Little bubbles can be osmosis from being put in bag wet.

BUT heel dents on a new winger with a light rider sounds pretty crap so I'd be interested to hear for sure!

BTW by heel dents you don't mean you can see where you stood and the EVA has compressed - u mean the deck laminate is soft.....?

Never dropped the board once. Never put away wet either and always well aerated.
Heel dents, yes, I can see and feel where I stood, looks like EVA is compressed, more on one side than on the other. I'm often riding heel side out and switch back - compression dents are most on the side where I ride heel side.

Some wing boards are build very simply, in SUP-style construction. I've seen one where the winger was able to put his knee through the nose in a crash, because the construction was just foam with fiberglass on top, without any reinforcements. There are plenty of reports that this brand has lots of returns (I won't name the brand since this is all hearsay, except for the "knee through the nose" board I saw).

Considering your weight and that you do not jump, this sounds like a construction issue. If you're lucky, it is something like not enough epoxy at the heel dent, because whoever did the lamination had a bad day. That matches with the cutout bubbles. Laminating around the cutouts is tricky, and it sounds like there may be areas that remained unglassed, or where the glass was sanded away (I've seen the second problem in a wing board, albeit near the nose).

I would expect the manufacturer to replace the board without any problems (other that perhaps getting a new board shipped). If they refuse to replace the board, please post some pictures of the damage here that shows the brand name and board type, so others are warned.

Select to expand quote

boardsurfr said..
Some wing boards are build very simply, in SUP-style construction. I've seen one where the winger was able to put his knee through the nose in a crash, because the construction was just foam with fiberglass on top, without any reinforcements. There are plenty of reports that this brand has lots of returns (I won't name the brand since this is all hearsay, except for the "knee through the nose" board I saw).

Considering your weight and that you do not jump, this sounds like a construction issue. If you're lucky, it is something like not enough epoxy at the heel dent, because whoever did the lamination had a bad day. That matches with the cutout bubbles. Laminating around the cutouts is tricky, and it sounds like there may be areas that remained unglassed, or where the glass was sanded away (I've seen the second problem in a wing board, albeit near the nose).

I would expect the manufacturer to replace the board without any problems (other that perhaps getting a new board shipped). If they refuse to replace the board, please post some pictures of the damage here that shows the brand name and board type, so others are warned.

I imagine this is the reason. there is a reason why some sups are 800 (single skin) and others are closer to 2K (divinycell sandwhich)

@boarsurfr
Thanks for your input, it supports my thoughts around the issue (I have built a kite foil board before myself) and had a faulty kite foil board replaced due to glass sanded away on the nose, board was replaced without hesitation (shoutout to foilboarding.com).
I am currently waiting for the manufacturer's assessment and will post the update, hopefully not pictures of the damaged board.
Thanks again!