Data-Driven Characterisation of Materials for Fins and Surfboards

Surfing waves with surfboards for sport of leasure is practiced in many coastal areas around the world. Surfboards consisting of balsa wood started to spread from Hawaii to mainland USA and Australia. Modern surfboards with a foam core were introduced at the end of the 1950’s.<br/><br/>The mechanical characteristics of surfboards (and fins) most valued by surfers is mechanical stiffness and is generally referred to as flex. During characteristic surfing manoeuvres (bottom turns) a surfboard (and its fins) will bend either due to the shape of wave or the force exerted on the board by the surfer or a combination of both effects.<br/><br/>However, development of new materials for surfboards and fins are almost entirely based on subjective experiences (feedback from surfers) rather than scientific data.<br/><br/>In this presentation we show that data-driven approaches (using sensors) can be used to develop new materials for fins and surfboards that improve performance for surfers. We present the development and field-testing of a working prototype of a surfboard with inbuilt electronics and a set of instrumented fins. We demonstrate that data collected in real-time via telemetry during surfing waves can be used as a research tool for developing new materials for surfboards and/or fins.