July 17, 2006

Surfing to the future - technology to the rescue

I had written earlier about the closing of Clark Foam and its impact on the world of surfing. Basically, some environmental pin-dicks in California were concerned about the "toxins" used in the manufacture of the plastic foam blanks used for manufacturing surfboards and Gordon Clark decided to close up shop instead of looking for alternatives (he was 73 at the time of the decision -- some toxins...) The business was effectively moved to England and Seabase Ltd. But, according to Popular Science, technology comes to the rescue:
Saving Surfing
How nuclear physicists are invigorating the surfboard market—and helping the planet

The surfboard industry is going nuclear—and greening up in the process. As early as this summer, boards made from foam designed to protect the electronics and transistors in nuclear warheads could be available at your local surf shop, thanks to LeRoy Whinnery, an enterprising scientist at Sandia National Laboratory. When Whinnery heard the news last December that the world's largest maker of surfboard blanks was shutting down, he realized that the insulating foam he'd been working on for nine years could help fill the gap, with benefits for both surfers and the environment.

TufFoam, as Whinnery's invention has been dubbed, is made without the carcinogenic chemical toluene di-isocyonate, a danger to workers and the local environment, and without CFCs, powerful agents in global warming and ozone-layer destruction. Most surfboard foam is still made with both, and the heavy EPA restrictions on TDI use were one of the reasons that industry giant Clark Foam gave for closing its doors.

A small San Diego foam company, Petritech, licensed TufFoam from the weapons lab in April and believes that it will produce better surfboards. "The primary failure mechanism for boards is that they snap, and TufFoam is significantly stronger than the TDI foams we've tested it against," says Petritech CEO Dave Sheehan. "Plus, we think surfers will appreciate the cleaner chemistry."

So is Whinnery planning to field-test his invention? "My wife is a more serious surfer than I am," he says. "She called to reserve the first TufFoam board a long time ago."
Petritech's website is here: Petritech Cool stuff! Posted by DaveH at July 17, 2006 9:06 PM | TrackBack