Surfers stoked on bio-boards

Homeblown US in January revealed the surf industry’s first plant-based polyurethane “blank.” The independently owned subsidiary of Homegrown UK says it’s ramping up production of Biofoam blanks in the coming months at its San Diego manufacturing plant.

Nearly 50 percent of Biofoam’s ingredients originate from plant resins, says Ned McMahon, general manager of Homeblown US. The resins replace polyol, a petroleum-based product used in polyurethane foam. Homeblown makes the plantbased foam into surfboard blanks, which it then sells to custom surfboard manufacturers.

The surfboard industry has struggled for years to develop foam from non-toxic chemicals. Clark Foam, a company that held an estimated 80 percent of the world surfboard foam market, shocked the industry in December 2005 when it closed shop after California state officials scrutinized its manufacturing process.

The closure, dubbed “Blank Monday,” sent a wave of panic through the industry, causing the price of a custom surfboard to increase by $200 almost overnight, according to media reports. Clark reportedly used toluene diisocyanate, or TDI, in its manufacturing process. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2000 named TDI a hazardous air pollutant because chronic exposure to the chemical causes serious respiratory problems for factory workers. “The vast majority of all surfboards are made with TDI,” McMahon says. But, he adds, new federal standards caused many foam manufacturers to consider switching to methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, or MDI.

Independent tests show MDI foam emits no volatile organic compounds, is 5 to 15 percent stronger, has better flex, and is up to 10 times more waterproof than TDI foam. McMahon claims Homeblown was the first, and remains the only, company to offer MDI surfboard blanks. The company plans to continue offering regular MDI blanks along with its new Biofoam product, but McMahon says he hopes to sell only Biofoam by the end of the year.

To that end, the company sells Biofoam blanks at the same price as its regular surfboard blanks. “We know the product has to be as good, or better, than anything else on the market, including price points,” McMahon says.

Both Patagonia and Channel Island, the world’s largest surfboard shaper, plan to add Biofoam to their lines. Craig Hollingsworth, an Encinitas, Calif.-based surfboard shaper for over 30 years, committed to switching the entire production of his surfboard line over to Biofoam. “For once, it’s nice to do something that’s better for the environment but not more expensive,” Hollingsworth says. “I have only shaped a few of them, but it looks good. The strength is good, and the weight is good.”

Within a year of Clark Foam’s exit from the U.S. custom surfboard industry — estimated by the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association to generate $140 million in annual sales — a number of new foam companies arrived on the scene.

“When they closed over a year ago, that opened the door for us to come in,” McMahon says. Homeblown, like Patagonia, donates 1 percent of its profits to nonprofit environmental organizations.