Travelling with surfboards is a nightmare. They’re bulky, fragile and awkwardly shaped. Protecting them requires highly specialised, clunky luggage, making them an expensive product to move around. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, partly because surfers are accustomed to immense choice. A shaper will offer a board in a dozen or more stock sizes and still happily produce one to custom specifications if a buyer prefers. The last significant innovation was replacing fixed fins with detachable ones; an idea which arguably lead to an unintended revolution in how surfers customise equipment.
Transport is a problem most surfers have resigned to enduring. The focus is managing the pain rather than resolving the cause. However, surfers are optimistic by nature. When the right cocktail of ambition, technological advances and new ideas comes along, someone is likely to have a go at changing the game.
Pawel Krzyzanowski at the Surf Flex Lab is taking a swing.
“The travel surfboard is a really unique challenge. A lot of people have tried to solve it before, but no one has quite nailed the balance between convenience and performance. Travel is a huge part of surfing, but boards are still difficult to transport. From an engineering side, it’s interesting because you’re trying to redesign something that’s normally one continuous structure into something modular - without losing how it feels in the water.”
THE UNINTENDED OUTCOME
Surf travel certainly gets a lot better, but the real revolution might unintentionally happen in surfboard manufacturing. A contemporary shaper thinks about a board as a single, coherent form. Rocker line, rail shape, bottom curve, volume, outline, fin placement and angle must all work in unison. A surfboard in motion is a symphony of geometry. How it behaves in the water is a whole other composition; the flex, rebound, surface hardness, and finish are all high impact variables that must harmonise with both wave dynamics and surfer.
“Surfboards are sensitive to small changes. Even slight differences in stiffness or how energy moves through the board completely change how it feels. It made me appreciate how refined traditional surfboard design already is.”
There’s been a fair number of watershed moments, and removable fins are arguably the most significant. A fin box gives surfers direct control of the critical component. Modern surfers take it for granted, but it must have been a mind-blowing paradigm shift when it arrived. Modularity might be an even bigger shift.
A proof of concept. Photo courtesy of Gowings & Surf Flex Lab
WHAT IF...?
Make no mistake, we’re deep into the hypothetical here, but it’s fun to imagine. When modular boards outperform the current dominant form, there are two significant shifts. Firstly, it provides access to the interior of the board, meaning the surfer can conceivably choose a stringer to suit their needs and wants.
Secondly, assuming the parts are universally modular, a surfer can customise their ride in ways we probably can’t meaningfully grasp. The implications for shapers and surfboard design are immense.
Combining different nose and tail profiles would change outline, volume, rail shape, length and stiffness. Identical tails could have different fin configurations rather than one board having 5 or more plugs. A quiver becomes a collection of parts you can mix and match for exponentially more options.
Modularity is no small mountain to climb. And it’s a peak well in the future; we’re certainly not standing at the base camp. Pawel himself has his doubts. But maybe, just maybe, he brings us one step closer to the summit.
PAWEL QNA
Q: What are your qualifications?
I’m a mechanical engineer specialising in mechatronics, with a Master of Philosophy in biofabrication. My work is mostly around advanced manufacturing, materials, and functional design. I’ve also completed Kaizen training, which shaped how I approach problem-solving — focusing on continuous improvement and practical outcomes.
Q: What brought you to the Surf Flex Lab?
I joined during my Master’s under Marc in het Panhuis. After graduating, I was offered a role to continue the work, which felt like a natural next step. It’s a great place to take ideas from concept through to real-world testing.
Q: What’s the biggest engineering hurdle to overcome?
The weight-to-performance ratio, and getting the feel right. The board needs to respond to the surfer like it’s one piece - flex, feedback, everything. If it feels disconnected or stiff, it just doesn’t work. So the goal is to make a modular system that feels completely natural under your feet.
Q: If we announced a market ready solution tomorrow, is the surfing world ready to accept the evolution of board construction?
I think there would be a lot of excitement. Once surfers confirm it isn’t a compromise, I think adoption would happen with time.
Q: Aside from time, what will it take to get them to change?
There’s definitely a psychological barrier. The idea of a board being “split” or modular doesn’t inspire confidence. It comes down to trust - people need to see it, try it, and hear from others that it works. Once that happens, it becomes easier to accept.
Q: What other areas of surf engineering would you like to tackle?
Foiling is evolving really quickly, and there’s a lot of room for engineering and materials innovation.
Q: If a modular surfboard was better in every way, how might it impact surfing?
It could change how people travel with boards quite a bit. If you could pack your board easily without worrying about damage, it opens up a lot more flexibility. People might rely less on having multiple boards in different locations and just travel with their own setup. It could also push design and manufacturing in new directions. One thing could be standardisation, especially around connection systems. If modular boards become common, there might be pressure to align designs across the industry. Expectations around durability could shift — people might expect these boards to be even tougher because of how they’re used. Current boards are simple, proven, and more affordable, and that won’t change. Modular boards will likely sit alongside them as a specialised option, especially for travel. There’s room for both.