C4 Waterman Producing New SUPs in its own State-of-the-Art Facility
C4 Waterman Producing Its Own SUPs In State-of-the-Art Factory
Leading Paddlesports Company Enters Joint Venture To Build New FeatherCore Composite™ Line
Honolulu, Hawaii September 29, 2011
C4 Waterman, Inc. is excited to announce that it has completed negotiations to have all its SUP models manufactured at a new factory in Asia. Three weeks after canceling its exclusive licensing agreement with Boardworks Surf, C4 has entered into a joint venture with the factory, an innovative, molded-composite builder that will be the exclusive manufacturer of the company’s 12 radical new SUP models as well as its substantial legacy line.
C4 Waterman CEO Todd Bradley and shaper/designer Dave Parmenter have collaborated with the technicians at the new factory to develop C4’s new FeatherCore Composite™ fabrication technique, an advanced form of composite sandwich construction based on the engineering principles related to the unique core-to-skin ratio of stand-up paddleboards. The FeatherCore Composite™ process achieves lighter, friskier SUPs, possesses enhanced molecular and mechanical bonds of all the laminants/facings to the lightweight core, and delivers it all inexpensively and with ‘greener’ materials than the norm.
“I am very pleased with our new factory and partners,” said C4 CEO Todd Bradley after his recent visit to the new factory. “They’re young, eager, highly-educated individuals, and they are all VERY talented in composite technology systems. They’ve already got most of our molds on the floor and will begin to ship product immediately, allowing us to be ready for full global distribution by Spring 2012 season, and at a very competitive price.”
C4 designer/VP Dave Parmenter agrees: “After spending the last two years designing and testing a whole quiver of new models from 8′4″ to 12′6″, this is refreshing news for us, as there have been rumors floating around that we were not ready to take on the task of servicing the C4 brand after leaving Boardworks. On the contrary, we are loaded for bear now. The new SUB9 line, and the expanded, renovated C4 line of SUPs are going to surprise a lot of people. We have a 9′2″ Mark Richards Model that MR and I collaborated on, and I guarantee that it’s gonna be a bombshell; it’ll even have MR’s famous logo and colorways! We are in complete control of our production and distribution now, we have a radical new inflatable technology, patent-pending paddle designs, and a new sport-specific accessory and apparel line. And best of all, we have Ty Zulim, recently hired to be of Global Sales Manager of C4. With Ty and his new sales rep network, I am confident we are finally going to be able to satisfy all our loyal customers who have been waiting the last few years for our brand to stop hanging fire. ”
C4 Waterman, Inc. was founded in 2007 on the four core disciplines that apply to the ocean as much as they do to life: balance, endurance, strength and tradition. C4 is a waterman-owned and operated paddlesports company based in Hawaii, and the employee roster includes some the world’s most respected watermen – Todd Bradley, Brian Keaulana, Dave Parmenter and Archie Kalepa. Honolulu’s C4 Waterman Inc. continues to forge ground as a worldwide leader and pioneer in the action water sports industry. For more information, please visit: www.c4waterman.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/c4watermanFan, on YouTube at www.youtube.com/c4waterman or email info@c4waterman.com.
For sales inquiries contact Ty Zulim at ty@c4waterman.com.
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More on the new FeatherCore Composite™ construction:
C4 Waterman’s new FeatherCore Composite™ line of SUPs is based on the rigorous refinement of the foam sandwich/composite structures to find the construction that best suits the unique needs of the next generation of high-performance stand-up paddleboards.
“Our testing has found that deck and bottom bamboo veneer laminates provide the lightest, strongest, least expensive ’skin’ to complement our featherlight EPS-cored SUPs” said Dave Parmenter. “These very thin sheets of bamboo are sandwiched between successive layers of fiberglass and epoxy resin and then pressure molded around the EPS core. In effect this creates a monocoque fuselage, much like an aircraft, in which the skin of the surfboard acts as the stringer or stiffener. We’ve also changed the finish on our new range of boards to a classic gloss resin surfboard-style look and feel. No more chipping!”
Some advantages to bamboo veneer as a substrate in the foam-sandwich construction:
- Bamboo veneer, when laminated with epoxy resins, endures more flex cycles than traditional fiberglass/resin lay-ups.
- Bamboo veneer is a renewable resource that is cheaper than carbon fiber and less energy-consumptive to manufacture.
- Bamboo is the strongest natural material on Earth on a strength-to-weight ratio.
- Bamboo veneer as a laminate has incredible impact resistance, even when paper-thin, yet it is very permeable, allowing for an excellent mechanical bond to the core without excess resin absorption. The result is a very light SUP with unbeatable impact, tensile, and shear strengths.
- Bamboo veneer as a composite skin possesses superior ‘flex appeal’; the stiff, twangy ‘life’ in a composite structure that is most conducive to high-performance surfboards and surfing.
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