Attn Tech Lovers: This Is Slater Designs’ Next Step

There’s no question board design is an art form. However, the merit of composition has required the marriage of both art and technology nowadays. Multiple channels, hard rails, soft rails, lift, drag and water pressure distribution are all factors shapers must take into account to keep their boards relevant in today’s market. However, out of art and tech, it’s usually the specifics of the former that tend to guide our decision process when buying a board. Too often we might pretend to know, but not really understand, the minutia. You’ll shake your head knowingly while your shaper describes the components of a potential new sled. Attention to aesthetics and more tangible elements are a comfortable area to latch on to, leaving our actual in-depth knowledge rather surface-level as buyers.

Still confused? No worries, because Firewire’s Tech Talk will continue breaking it down for you. In this episode, Italian aero and fluid dynamic scientist and surfer, Ricardo Rossi, sits down to dissect surfboard performance and various complicated characteristics in regards to board design, and puts them into layman’s terms. It’s a little lengthy, but worth a view. Knowledge is power!