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How Your Skimboard is Made - Ever wonder what goes into making your skimboard?
How to Get Sponsored - A guide to getting a skimboarding sponsorship.

How Your Skimboard is Made

The Core

Have you ever wondered what lies on the inside of your glass skimboard? Most top quality skimboarding manufacturers nowadays won't consider using anything other than a high density foam; usually 5/8" or 3/4" divinycell. Because divinycell is a high density foam, it is stronger and more durable than your typical foam.

Glassing/Laminating

In order to give your skimboard the hard outer shell that you ride on, it must first be 'glassed' by laminating either fiber glass, or carbon fiber cloth to the foam core using resin. Below, we will talk about some of the different glassing materials used to create a skimboard.

E-glass

The most economical glass. It has sufficient strength, and can be bought at a relatively low cost in comparison with carbon fiber or S-glass. If you're a beginner, and you're looking to try a fiberglass board without burning a hole in your wallet, E-glass may be for you.

S-glass

If you're looking to invest in a slightly stronger board, S-glass may be your best choice. It's 40 to 70 percent stronger than E-glass, and is also more expensive. Generally speaking, an S-glass board will last longer than an E-glass board.

Carbon Fiber

Carbon fiber is at the top of the charts for high-performance applications; thus, if your skimboard was made with carbon fiber, you can almost be certain it's a high performance board. Although carbon fiber boards have their benefits such as being stronger and lighter, be weary; Carbon fiber is also less impact resistant than glass!

Polyester Resin

Generally, there are two types of resin that are used when 'glassing' a skimboard. The first type is polyester resin. If you're attempting to make your own skimboard, and cost is your main consideration, you may want to try using polyester resin. Although polyester resin is of slightly lesser quality than that of epoxy resin, it's also up to four times cheaper!

Epoxy Resin

While being more expensive, epoxy is considered industry standard when it comes to high quality. Board manufacturers such as Exile, only use epoxy. Epoxy resin is not only stronger and stiffer than polyester, but it also has increased water resistance; making it certain your board will last longer (assuming you know how to take care of it.)

Summing it up

So there you have it: everything that makes up a skimboard. Well... maybe not everything. There are resin dyes, decals, and I've seen some board manufacturers go as far as glassing a layer of kevlar to their boards! But overall, the best thing you can do to figure out which board is best for you is experiment with trial & error.

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How to Get Sponsored

Introduction

When trying to get sponsored: You should consider which companies you'd like to become sponsored by, and what you can do in return for them.

Contact Information

A good first step in becoming sponsored, is to compile a list of companies with their corresponding contact information. Where do you find this you might ask? Well first and foremost, competitions! Attending competitions is a great way to meet new skimboarders and their affiliated sponsors. Talk to the sponsored skimboarders, and ask them who you should talk to. Although this is a great start, it is not the only way! Nowadays, the internet has a wealth of information. See if the company you're interested in has a website; if they do, it will most likely have some means of contacting them.

What Does a Sponsor Want From Me?

Before you contact any sponsor, it's important to understand what a sponsor expects out of you. When a company chooses to sponsor you, they are looking for one thing: exposure! That means potentially wearing t-shirts, hats, spreading by word of mouth, etc. Winning competitions is a great way to gain your sponsor some exposure; In fact, some sponsors might toss you a bonus check for winning!

Preparing for Sponsorship

The best thing you can do to improve your chances at becoming sponsored is to create a sponsorship portfolio. This includes pictures, videos, a bio, and whatever else you can think of. Be sure to include any competitions/contests you've won in your bio. Different portal websites such as Loopd.com allow you to showcase your skills by posting pictures and videos. There are many websites like this out there; the ones you sign up for are up to you. You can organize your portfolio in many ways; we'll discuss two of them here. Once you've gathered a list of everything in your portfolio, find a way to get it online! If you don't have experience creating websites, you can post your images and bio in a Microsoft word file; which can also contain links to any video files you may have. Websites such as Vimeo.com and Youtube.com are a great place to upload your videos for easy access.

Contacting the Company

When contacting your desired sponsor, be it through e-mail or phone, be respectful and polite. Ask whomever you contact who you should be talking to regarding sponsorships. Once you are in contact with this person, you must sell yourself. To do this: show them your portfolio, and explain to them exactly how you plan on gaining lots of exposure for their company.

Summing it up

Sponsorships can be very rewarding, whether it be through free gear or your comp fees covered, but before you become sponsored make sure you do your homework! Once you're in the door, your next task is to maintain a strong sponsor/rider relationship. But we'll save that topic for another article.

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