Custom Designed Specialised Products
Our goal is to provide premium custom-made products direct from the factory to the customer with unmatched expertise and service.
Established in 2014, it all started with a dream in Mom’s single garage. A few years down the line we find ourselves in a modern 280m2 production facility creating 4 employment opportunities and growing rapidly in volume, quality and products.
Next step for us is to turn Zeal Surf into an International Premium composite watercraft brand. Thank you for your encouragement and willingness to support the South African economy allowing us to make a change in the Local community.
Without you, this would not be possible!
MEET THE TEAM
Meet the team behind the Zeal Surf brand. Each member plays a pivotal role when it comes to producing the quality boards that we are proud of. Keen to find out more about us? Click our images on the right.
IAN WOLMARANS
Founder & Owner
Lyndon Reed
Shaper
Jon Cole Shaper
Shaper
Simon
Compositor
Custom Designed Specialised Products
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE TECH
Our Carbon boards make use of the latest technological developments and manufacturing processes used to build premium Carbon Sandwich construction paddleboards. Leaning on our extensive composite experience, we took those build processes and tailored and refined them to meet our expectations in performance, weight and durability for all our Zeal Surf products.
We carefully calculated our laminate specifications to enhance the desirable flex-reflex characteristics of our boards and underwent further refinements through prototype testing until we had a product that exceeds the international standard, and of which we are proud to put our name on.
All Zeal Surf products are designed, made and tested in Cape Town South Africa. We have the added advantage of manufacturing our own boards in a hand-made, low volume environment where we can pay special attention to the build and quality of the product.
Our Carbon Sandwich boards are built using a very lightweight expanded polystyrene blank (EPS) that is shaped using a computer numerical controlled (CNC) machine with an accuracy of up to 1mm. Once shaped, we lay down strategically, placed the high-quality lightweight glass and carbon fibre reinforcing then wrap the deck, hull and rails with a 3mm high-density PVC core that has excellent shear properties in composite construction with great impact resistance.
We then wrap the entire boards in off-axis +- 45 biaxial carbon fibre. This adds huge strength to the board, without compromising the desirable flex- reflex characteristics that generate huge amounts of speed and drive. We use Carbon Fiber for all our reinforcing: this provides unmatched strength and weight savings. The board is then placed into a vacuum bag to consolidate all the layers of material and remove excess resin, following which the board is placed in a temperature-controlled environment to post-cure the resin and finish the composite structure.
THIS IS WHY WE MANUFACTURE
A light EPS Epoxy Longboard has many performance advantages over standard PU surfboards. The saving in weight, better quality resin and in some cases the use of small amounts of carbon fibre reinforcements have a huge effect on the board’s responsiveness to the rider’s input. It also aids in the board’s ability to perform radical moves.
Unfortunately, this all has a trade-off: lightweight EPS epoxy boards are not very durable. They very quickly pick up pressure dings under normal use and are prone to snapping if they are made too light. Most EPS boards do not use stringers to keep the weight down, but this also compromises the board’s strength and makes it more prone to snapping. For the regular high-performance surfer, this is a problem that results in having to replace their board twice a year due to normal wear and tear.
For the past 3 years, we have been working hard to come up with a solution. We have designed and built many different prototype boards and tested them to destruction. Our goal is to design a laminate spec for Long Boards that are of the lightest on the market, but are strong, without compromising desirable flex -reflex characteristics and are very resistant to pressure dings.
The result? The most durable, lightest, strongest performance board on the market.
THIS IS WHY WE MANUFACTURE
Our Wood sandwich boards make use of the more traditional manufacture processes where cost is of more importance that having the lightest board on the water. Having said this, due to cleaver laminate spec calculations and build processes, our Wood sandwich boards are lighter than equivalent spec boards on the market.
All Zeal Surf products are designed, made and tested in Cape Town South Africa. We have the added advantage of manufacturing our own boards in a hand-made, low volume environment where we can pay special attention to the build and quality of the product.
Our Epoxy Tech boards are built using slightly denser expanded polystyrene blank (EPS) in comparison to our Carbon tech boards, this offers a more robust final product with a slight added weight penalty.
The blank is shaped using a computer numerical controlled (CNC) machine with an accuracy of up to 1mm. We laminate the fin boxes and leash plug into the board using biaxial carbon fibre for added strength and weight savings. From there we Lay down 2 layers of E-glass on the bottom and have a wood sandwich construction (sustainable sourced 0.6mm bamboo veneer) on the deck. The veneer not only add a huge amount of strength and impact resistance especially in the standing area, it also gives the board a beautiful wood finish that complements the classic flowing lines of the board. The board is then placed into a vacuum bag to consolidate all the layers of material and remove excess resin, following which the board is placed in a temperature-controlled environment to post cure the resin and finish the composite structure.