June 2, 2008 Things that travel well on water are usually equally as cumbersome on dry land. We've seen collapsible solutions for larger craft like catamarans but what about the humble surfboard? Although modern designs are much less of a hassle to transport than the long boards of old, wrestling six feet of fiberglass into the back of the wagon, tying it to the roof, or even negotiating airports can still present quite a challenge. An inflatable surfboard is one solution, another is this collapsible concept design from Nick Notara - it's a surfboard that breaks down into two pieces for transportation purposes whilst retaining its structural integrity via the use of a carbon fibre backbone and two self centering, constant loading pin joints.
The modular concept is taken a step further by the inclusion of a "hot-swappable" fin configuration that lets you tailor the set-up to the type of wave being surfed.
Notara's concept design was a recent finalist in the Australian Design Award/Dyson Student Award.
