September 2006
Ocean Green, winners of The Surfer's Path magazine's first ever Green Wave award for surfboard manufacturing, are set to revolutionise the industry with their range of EcoFoil boards.
The Green Wave awards are presented for excellence and achievement in promoting sustainability and environmental consciousness in the surfing world.
Based in Nicaragua and the UK, Ocean Green are the only manufacturer in the world developing boards made entirely from natural materials that provide a real alternative to existing products in terms of both price and performance.
OG's founder and co-director Stuart Thomson said, "It's great to be recognised for our work so far, but there is still some way to go before we reach our goal".
Their aim is to replace each of a surfboards three standard base materials (poly foam blanks, fibre glass and petroleum derived resins) with an environmentally sustainable alternative that has equal or better qualities for the job.
An OG EcoFoil replaces the industry standard polyurethane or polystyrene foam blank with a hollow one made from FSC sustainably forested balsa wood grown in Central America, which is significantly more dense, and therefore stronger, than the balsa wood commonly found in shops.
After the wood has been carefully selected for each particular component, ribs, nose and tail blocks, stringers, rails and deck panels are cut using digitally rendered templates that provide the accuracy needed to assemble a precision blank, similar in construction to an aircraft wing.
From there on the boards are completely hand shaped and finished, a process made much quicker and less wasteful because of the precise assembly of the balsa blank.
The EcoFoils are then glassed with organically grown hemp cloth, an amazing material that, through testing at Bangor University in Wales, has been proved to create a stronger composite, weight for weight, than the usual fibreglass equivalent.
So, with two of the surfboards three base materials already replaced with biodegradable alternatives, it now only remains for a workable natural resin to be found for Ocean Green to reach their goal.
OG's founder Stuart Thomson remarks "the large bio-chemical companies claim they are working on alternatives to fossil fuel based resins, but exactly how much effort they are making is hard to tell. In the meantime we keep in contact with several bio-composite research labs and are prepared to trial any viable solutions they can offer."
The EcoFoils are manufactured at Ocean Green's fair trade workshop near Managua in Nicaragua by a team of carpenters and shapers. "The guys in the workshop deserve a great deal of credit for this award" said OG's co-director Graham Nicholson, "without their experience and craftsmanship these boards may never have even made it to the water."
Every EcoFoil is truly unique thanks to the beautifully varied grain and natural colours of the balsa wood, and each one is individually numbered and dated by hand so that a boards history can be traced and its ownership certified. After all, a good surfboard should last a lifetime.
The initial EcoFoil range of four boards are the 6'4" Vencejo (Fish), 6'8" Colibrí (Thruster), 7'6" Gaviota (EasyRider) and the 9'1" Águila (Longboard). There are currently three other board shapes being designed.
After many years of research and development by OG, every surfer now has the choice whether or not to put their money where their heart is. If you would like to be part of the Ocean Green revolution you can start by visiting their website at www.oceangreen.org.