French designer Thomas De Lussac’s inflatable surfboard, the Surf Air, made of PVC-coated fabric. This will run you about 490 Euros, aka $640.00 USD.
Anyone who has ever traveled with a surfboard can attest to the suffocating anxiety that accompanies turning one of your most prized possessions over to a baggage handler. It’s not pretty. I’ve seen boards destroyed, board bags melted, and heard countless other horror stories of airlines mishandling equipment. Moreover, it’s hard to come to terms with the heartache associated with sacrificing hard-earned money to get your stick a seat in the cargo area of a plane. One hundred fifty dollars each way? Really, Delta? I swear that guy just loaded a 125 lb. German Shepherd and full set of golf clubs for free. C’mon!
Which is exactly why, in continuing with our technology and surf series (See WaveJet and Dolphin JetPack) French designer Thomas De Lussac’s inflatable surfboard, the Surf Air, is pretty interesting. Granted, the board, which is made of PVC-coated fabric, doesn’t appear to be revolutionizing surfing any time soon, but if Merrick or Stretch were tinkering with inflatable materials in their labs, we might be getting somewhere. Imagine. You could just slam your board into your carry-on. Free of charge. The transportability factor is hard to deny.
On the other hand, this is an inflatable surfboard. It might be great for someone learning to surf or even just to replace the inflatable whale that you bring to the pool, but I can only imagine how this would fly in the lineup at Pipe.
While the jury is still out on inflatable surfboards, if they ride waves as well as Thomas rides those saw horses, we may be in business! A special props to Thomas for rocking that sick early ‘90s hockey haircut. Jaromir Jagr would be proud!
Rock on, Thomas! Let the mane flow!
