C3 (Carbon / Cork / Composite ) technology is a surfboard construction method initially developed by East Coast US board builder, Drew Bagget. Our relationship with Drew began when he walked up to our (Surf Expo) trade show booth holding an early version of his construction. Although still a bit crude, and not completely refined, I was immediately enamored with his creation.

After more than two years of both technical and aesthetic RnD, from myself and the team at …Lost, together we have arrived at a patent protected product that we feel brings valid performance merit to your surfing experience. Beautifully built boards, combined with …Lost Surfboards latest models, that resemble nothing else available today.

The construction starts with light weight, stringer-less, eps blanks. The blanks are cut and shaped from the same cad designs, and hand finished, like all of our custom surfboards. The deck and rails are then wrapped (and vacuum bagged to remove all excess resin) with our exclusively developed, uni-directional, carbon fiber cloth. Carbon fiber is the 2nd most common natural element on planet earth and remains one of the highest strength to weight ratio, and cost effective building materials available. The Carbon runs nose to tail and is held together by an “S” Glass fill, running across the deck. The specially “cored” Carbon is an extremely flat weave that doesn’t fray or “fuzz”. The vacuum process removes all the excess resin. The Carbon structure, unlike wood stringers, stays consistent and wont break down over time…ensuring a very light board that is also strong and has a fast, lively and predictable reflex memory. The carbon wrapping the rails creates a “C” structure that keeps the board from over flexing under the weight of the surfer, and minimizes torsional flex. Thicker boards (and thus rails) for larger surfers, are proportionately more rigid than the thinner boards…for lighter surfers.

The Second unique feature is the natural, exposed, “CoreCork” sheeting that is also vacuumed to the deck. We purchase our CoreCork from Amorim, an over 100 year old company…with a surfing CEO, who use protected Portuguese trees, that are never killed, but “harvested”, like a Sheep’s wool, every 8 years. Cork is a natural vibration dampener and its use in our boards negates the often twitchy, erratic feel of other epoxy surfboards. The Cork deck gives the surfer a smoother, more neutral and predictable ride.

Our cork is purposely left exposed, with no fiberglas over the top of it. When vacuumed onto the carbon, the C3 process pulls resin completely through the cork, adhering it firmly to the deck. The excess resin is sanded off, leaving a smooth, raw cork surface to stand on. The is no need for wax on the cork areas of the C3 boards. When wet, the cork becomes a natural, non abrasive, non-slip surface. Standing and surfing on the C3 cork deck is akin to putting on a nice pair of sandals after walking barefoot for hours ….smoothing out the ride.

Our cork is purposely left exposed, with no fiberglas over the top of it. When vacuumed onto the carbon, the C3 process pulls resin completely through the cork, adhering it firmly to the deck. The excess resin is sanded off, leaving a smooth, raw cork surface to stand on. The is no need for wax on the cork areas of the C3 boards. When wet, the cork becomes a natural, non abrasive, non-slip surface. Standing and surfing on the C3 cork deck is akin to putting on a nice pair of sandals after walking barefoot for hours ….smoothing out the ride.

When submerged in water, the cork only saturates 2-3% more than its dry weight when wet. It quickly drys…like a ducks feathers, after leaving the water. On our more HP minded designs we have left the cork off the tail area of the board to leave an exposed carbon surface for applying after market, adhesive traction. Traction does stick to the cork, but where traction is used, the dampening features of the cork are not as needed. The bottom of the C3 board is then glassed using multiple layers of clear, 4oz Warp glass. The Warp glass slightly overlaps the CoreCork on the deck, to ensure the cork remains permanently bonded to the rails. All the boards are then finished off with beautifully colored pin-lines (matching the logos) and the deck logos are hot iron “branded” into the cork. The C3 boards are light, strong and visually stunning. They feature a quick, lively and forgiving performance that absolutely adds a bit of spark in typical surfing conditions, for average and above average surfers alike

Enjoy!

Matt Biolos…