Surfboards

Seabase-  the home of Quiver®, Seasoft and Turtle Bay Surfboards.

We started surfing in the early 60’s. In 1976 we started Seabase. In the early 80’s we began making surfboards. Back then, Seaglass was probably the largest surfboard factory in Europe, making thousands of boards every year. Today, that number is much reduced, and we’ve expanded with a huge range of surf related accessories and surf products.  Most our current surfboard production is farmed out to glassing factories, taking the strain out of what is a very intensive manufacturing process. Seabase has made over 35,000 surfboards; the depth of knowledge gained and the breadth of experience has helped us with our material design and surfboard construction. We made parabolic boards in 1982. We used carbon rails in 1988. We used carbon fishing rods inserted in EPS foam to produce different flex patterns in the 90’s. We experimented heavily with techniques then, producing white, strong, surfboards not then seen in the industry. Our brands are still seen on beaches all over Europe, thanks mostly to highly UV stable Isophthalic resins. Famous names came to Newquay to shape boards made under license. In the past, Seaglass made surfboards for Hobie, Stewart, FCS, Hawaiian Island Creations, Rusty, Turtle Bay and other famous names, with many of the world’s renowned shapers passing through the factory. Those days have gone – global changes and local custom markets have reduced the demand for high priced named boards. 

At the same time as our surfboard market was growing, we were selling famous brand accessory products from other manufacturers, including FCS, Futures, Creature of Leisure, Cobian and others. When they took over the by then successful distribution, or their magic faded, we designed our own ranges of accessories, now established and very well received by in the markets. The quality of our boards translated to the accessories, and we made it a mission to improve every aspect of our product range to meet increasing demands of strength and functional design. The Beyond® range of accessories compliments our surfboards reputation totally.

We’ve still kept the best surfboards in-house though, designing Seasoft® softboards and engineering our world-renowned Quiver® surfboard range here, while still operating the most accurate cad-cam shaping machine in Europe for many shapers. (See “Seashapes”.) We’ve concentrated on new surfboard manufacturing techniques, and now almost exclusively make surfboards from advance blank designs, utilising very advanced composites few other board makers are using. (Our new lightweight 1 oz carbon sheets on a polyester matrix are the latest – as is unidirectional S-glass). Our Quiver® Seaflex® technology is used for testing materials and advancing surfboard construction. The use of modern materials, and the help of US Blanks advanced superfused EPS foam with specialised stringer construction, has pushed surfboard construction to new levels. We can make 1 kg (2.2 lb) surfboards you cannot break!  Not practical, but the techniques flow into mainstream boards that benefit from customisable shapes with variable flex patterns for all or specific wave conditions. We are currently making in-house lightweight, very tough Surf Rescue Boards for the RNLI. These rescue boards had three years of intense use and RNLI engineer testing before being approved. Quiver® Surfboards are pushing boundaries not seen in the industry, and passing these advances on to shapers and material customers for use in their production.

Today, we make Quiver® high performance Epoxy surfboards, the new range of  longboards and post-modern fish and funboards, the respected range of Seasoft® softboards for learners and surf schools, and specialised boards for other high-end manufacturers using our developed technologies. From this extensive experience we also make every accessory you need for your new surfboard, including the hugely respected Beyond Board Bag and Beyond Fin range.