Watercooled Polyester Custom surfboards represent the traditional construction method which has dominated the market since the 1950's. Although the shape of the short board has evolved over the years, ever striving to achieve higher performance levels, the construction methods remain much the same.

Custom surfboards all start off as a polyurethane foam blank with a wooden stringer providing strength and rigidity before being hand shaped and encased in fiberglass using a polyester resin. Today, Watercooled Custom boards are all created based on designs made by our master shaper, Kim Thompson.

Spray designs ranging in intricacy are applied to the finished shaped board by a specialist 'air brusher'. The board complete with spray design is then passed to the skilled laminator who laminates the board using layers of fiberglass cloth in a hand wet out process.

Once laminated, the fin system and leash plugs are fitted to the board making it ready for sanding. The Sander is able to finish the board in a variety of finishes ranging from wet sanding, clear spray finishes (generally using a polyurethane paint) to resin applications which are then wet sanded and buffed to a high gloss finish. Finishing techniques vary depending on the type of board design and weight requirements.