Maurizio Moritz

The maneuvers are becoming more and more radical and thus the repairs to the material are also becoming more and more costly. Often the nose or even the area of the mast track are damaged. The Surfbent is the optimal solution to protect the board and thus minimize the repair costs. My first experience with the Surfbent was very positive. At the beginning I thought that the protector would affect me while surfing, but my concerns were without any reason. The Surfbent already protected my board several times when I tried new freestyle moves. In addition to the benefits of the product for advanced surfers, it has also proven to be extremely helpful for beginners, making it easier to pull up the sail and always protecting the board in case of an uncontrolled fall. The Surfbent makes life easier for all surfers, regardless of skill or external conditions.

Lasse Boenecke

Testing the Surfbent while freestyle windsurfing

The new freestyle boards are becoming more and more radical: shorter shapes are needed for faster rotations and the whole board should still be as light as possible. However, the short, very wide noses also mean that there is practically no way around them when spinning forward. To make matters worse, the noses of current freestyle boards are often no longer round, but cut off, so that the energy of a mast impact can no longer be dissipated by "sliding sideways" into the water. Good freestylers no longer produce spin crashes. However, it often happens that the mast rotates uncontrollably during the training of a new move, when one decides that an exit in the middle of the move is probably the better choice for one's health. That's what happened to me when I first hit the water with my new 2018 board. One wrong move, the mast landed on the nose and the board had a significant damage. The session was over, the good mood was washed down the drain and the probably best board mechanic in Kiel was busy for a week and richer by a triple-digit amount. When two weeks later the same thing happened again, a solution was needed. After I had heard online from Surfbent, I decided to give the little part a chance.

The Surfbent board protector weighs 250 grams, has a diameter of about 150mm and forms a ridge around the base of the mast, which reaches its maximum in the direct frontal direction. The elevation flattens to the "zero point" running backwards. The elevation is intended to catch the mast when it falls forward. The kinetic energy is converted into deformation energy, i.e. dissipated by stretching the elastic power joint.

The assembly is simple, the Surfbent is used as a mast base plate and fixed by the mast base on the board. It is a matter of taste, but the resulting look takes some getting used to. "Dog bowl" or "upside-down plunger" were still among the nicer descriptions that could be heard on the beach.

On the water, the first small problem was immediately noticeable: On my Tabou Twister, the Surfbent interfered with doweling. The extreme shortness of the board (209 cm) doesn‘t allow much space between the front loops and the mast base. This problem will probably occur with very few other boards, but it should be mentioned. Less problematic is the execution of all current freestyle moves, because you simply do not notice the protector. The situation is similar for water and beach starts. Only a 180-degree turn of the board over the nose is slightly hindered in the water start.

The Surfbent prevented all mast impacts on the nose of my board within four sessions. Whether these would have severely damaged the board, of course, can not be said in retrospect, but the lack of contact is for me in any case an argument to continue to use the Surfbent. The additional 250 g are minimally noticeable on the water by the central position in the worst case.

A great product in my opinion, but you should be aware that the Surfbent can only dissipate a limited amount of energy. In other words, the extreme crash of a 100 kg surfer at 50 km/h will still mean the end of any board, despite the Surfbent. For (lightweight) beginners, advanced surfers and especially freestylers, however, the Surfbent may save some repairs, avoid an early end of surf sessions and you may achieve a higher resale price of the surfboards in which you invested a lot of money.

From my subjective point of view, the price is set high at 68 €, but is relativized with the first avoided repair. Personally, I would like to see less blocking of the stand area as an improvement and could also imagine a higher-quality variant made of lighter materials as a useful further development.

Until then, I hope the Surfbent makes my Twister the first board to survive the one-year product cycle more or less undamaged.

Lasse Boenecke
G-120

Read more about Lasse: Vom Fußgänger zum Freestyler

Stefan W. from H.

Surfbent has already proven itself twice with me. In two spinning crashes from gliding, the mast with an 8.1 sqm sail hit the protector at an angle with full force. It really banged, but the nose of my board remained intact. The protector now has a few scuffs and the small plastic element that holds Surfbent in the mast track is broken through. But better that way than a notch in the nose and the guide part is replaceable after all. Top.

Stev

Thank you for the fast delivery. Just tested it for 3h freestyle already and approved it to be VERY GOOD.
I will highly recommend the "dog bowl".

Luigi

Tried today and Surfbent makes things a lot easier for the everyday windsurf rider.
I tried on my brand new freestyle wave board and it always saves nose and sides, a very step ahead in board protection.
My fellow Belgium riders were super curious!

Thanks a lot for this great innovation in our sport!