Dark Boards.....Too Hot?

marc5 · Joined: 21 Oct 2015 Posts: 60 Location: SW Ohio

The old schooler finally bought a new board which arrived today: an RRD Firemove LTD 122. I had borrowed a wood version of this board (plenty of white on it) which I really liked. Unpacking the new board, I was surprised at how dark it is--much darker than it appears on the RRD website. Most of it seems almost black. The rails are black except for white fade near the rails.

Back in the day, almost all boards were white. The thought back then was that dark epoxy boards can get too hot and either pop the rail seams or delaminate. With white boards I never worried. The only time I removed the vent plug was for a road trip over the continental divide. Am I being overly concerned about the color of my new board? I don't want to have to play that "plug-unpug" game.....we know how that ends for an aging brain!

I did spring for a silver board bag for car-topping and general bump protection, but obviously the board will spend some time naked on the beach.

Marc

NOVAAN · Joined: 28 Sep 1994 Posts: 1551

Eva the board lady is adamant about removing the vent screw every time. No matter the color of the board. The heating and cooling of a board with the plug in causes expansion and contraction. This over time will lead to a delamination. Its a simple thing to insure a long life of your new board. I take mine all the way out and place it upside down in my two bolt deck plate.
If you know anything about Eva, you will follow her advice....

swchandler · Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 10588

I'm a believer that you tighten the vent plug, and never touch it unless you take it aboard an airplane or travel over higher elevations. Never a problem for over 23 years, so why complicate things by opening the door now?

If you put your board away in a bag wet, what do you think happens if you open the vent plug? You open the door to introducing untold humidity into the board until everything dries out, if it ever does.

jingebritsen · Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 3371

exocet has used black for quite a while now. no problems, including the racing circuit in the tropics. you know racing, right/ 90% sitting around, and 10% sailing....

GURGLETROUSERS · Joined: 30 Dec 2009 Posts: 2643

The logic of continually opening and closing vent screws in 'normal' daily usage doesn't seem to make sense.

Obvious case: travel with board with vent screw open on a hot sunny summer day, arive at coast, screw vent shut on heated vented inside board, and immediately plunge into COLD sea water for an extended stressful (to the low pressured interior integrity of the pre-heated board) surfing session. Isn't that ill treatment, and asking for premature failure?

I've never touched the vent screws on any of my many (old and fairly new) boards in NORMAL daily usage, yet they all last in a sound state as long as any boards have a right to. Besides, some of the most durable boards don't have vent screws (Bics, and older Mistral D.C.S. boards) yet they outlast most others.

flaherty · Joined: 01 May 1997 Posts: 437

I was in the camp of never removing the vent plug , never had a problem..until this year. had my beloved real Wind 250 in Kauai, removed plug for the flight to Maui, the after sailing two days in Maui, it delamed. $275 to fix it, or three hundred if I wanted it painted. The whole bottom was delamed. Believe me, after one incident of a board delaming, you will go over to the other side and remove the vent plug after sailing.

GURGLETROUSERS · Joined: 30 Dec 2009 Posts: 2643

Surely it's more than just coincidence that your much prized board delaminated after the one occasion on which you opened the screw, and vented the interior foam at lower air pressure, on a flight?

Don't you thjink THAT fact (leaking out the air bubbles in the foam under low air pressure) alone may account for the foam 'tearing' away from the bottom of the board under the thumping sailing stresses immediately after the venting flight?

Perhaps the moral is, somr boards should not be taken on flights, where low air pressure and open vent plugs can 'shrink' (leaking out air from the aerated interior foam thereby causing it to compact) the inside structure. A bit like 'popping' bubble wrap, which, once popped never reinflates itself!

Just a thought!

NOVAAN · Joined: 28 Sep 1994 Posts: 1551

Eva states on her site, that she tested her board for expansion with the plug in. The board deviated over 1/4 of and inch during the day. Over 365 days in a year, that's a lot of unnecessary stress on the structure of a board. Yes when the board is placed in the water it could be stressed. That is unavoidable. Removing the plug is a simple thing to do to help prolong the life of the board...

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

I asked Mark Nelson about the 2" blisters on the deck of his board I owned. His first question was, "Are they in black areas? They are the first places to overheat and delam." My newest and sofar little-used board has black rails which get too hot to touch; the rail paint has already mottled from the temps despite some effort to keep them in any shade available on the beach.

coachg · Joined: 10 Sep 2000 Posts: 3550

And there you go. We all agree to disagree And can't answer your question one way or the other. I've had a black Exocet formula board since 2009 and a black Fanatic Falcon since 2012. Other than being hot to the touch if left out in the sun I have had no problems. I will point out that I don't leave my board on the beach when not in use. Far too busy where I sail with kids playing, equipment coming, going & getting blown around by the wind. Too great a risk of getting a ding.

Coachg