CAS project

For my final CAS project, I used my creativity to learn how to make a surfboard. I have been surfing for quite some time now, which I enjoy. It gained more relevance in my life over the last year as I based my extended essay topic on surf tourism in the South Coast. I have always wanted to have my own surfboard and I could think of a better opportunity to try and make my own. 

I was able to get in touch with an OSC parent, Mr. Sergio, who is a professional surfer and surfboard designer. Together with him, I planned out the size of my board. I opted for a small board, only 5 ft in length. The reason is that I wanted my surfboard to serve two purposes, to be used and also to be visually appealing on my bedroom wall. I had also initially planned to use this board in my IB Visual Art exhibition as a showcase of my crafting skills.

Sergio briefed me on what the process would look like, and how surfboards take their shape from a piece of EPS foam. Together we curved out the shape of my board using a pencil, ruler, and template onto the EPS foam, the template was used to help us determine the lines and curves of the board. We then proceeded to use a saw to cut out the board from the foam. The rough cutout visually looked like a surfboard, but it was very thick and surfboards have to be thin to maximize their hydrodynamics. In order to make the board thinner, I used sandpaper and sanded the board multiple times to get rid of the excess foam. The board was finally starting to take shape. The final step was to use a slightly different piece of sandpaper to sand the rails of the board.

 

I had finally made a board that actually looked like a surfboard! This entire process took about 2 and a half hours. The next step is to paint the board and apply it with a resin to make it more sturdy and my board will be ready to surf!