Steampunk Hotcurl surfboard

Steampunk Hotcurl surfboard. A Victorian nostalgic concept board, with NZ Kauri wood, Carbon fibre fins and metal fittings by Roy Stuart.

Next in the million dollar line of custom surfboards, we have the Steampunk Hotcurl.  Steampunk is a Victorian nostalgic movement, which incorporates old style materials in imaginative configurations. 

Surfing of course was virtually stamped out by the up-tight Victorians, as they viewed the thousand year old Hawaiian sport as a lewd past time, with naked women cavorting in the shore-break.  Of course we know that surfing is more than that, and we liked the design brief. The idea being: something old  combined with something new. The Kauri used for this wooden surfboard project is over a hundred fifty years old, so the sapling was growing in a similar age as the concept of this surfboard. 

Steampunk is a way of expressing a nostalgia without having the constraints the Victorians had. We can benefit from new technologies such as Carbon fibre, or CAD design for the outline, or the latest in Epoxy additives which renders the polish mirror smooth, for example. The steampunk idea comes in with the finished article looking and feeling like the 'real' thing.

As we speak the client is choosing metal deck hardware, having a choice of brass, stainless, and electro-polished stainless, which has a graphite metal lustrous look to it. The fins are going to be hand shaped from carbon panels, so the fins will be a new material with an old world hand polished look to it. 

We chose the Hotcurl design as it would suit a Victorian gentleman, who would want a board which is easy to ride, with no awkward learning curves involved when taking the board out for the first time. The board has a distinct sweet spot, which means 'stand up and go', in surfing terms..  

Applying the final gloss coat.

Stay tuned for more pictures as the board progresses. We might have to get dressed up for this one!

New Zealand Kauri flames with chatoyance, 'the cat's eye effect'

Check out the start of this project, when we milled the Kauri and constructed the board

Steampunk Hotcurl surfboard Roy Stuart Surfboards Manufactured by: Roy Stuart Model: Steampunk Hotcurl Product ID: Steampunk 1200000 NZD New