Lightweight Reading: Endless Summer Edition

Welcome to another installment of Lightweight Reading, CWs semi-regular blog post rounding up some of the fun and sometimes unusual product releases and news within the composites industry. As summer draws to a close, I thought it might be fun to reflect on a couple of recent water sport products that feature composites.

 

Surf’s Up

 

First up, Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk released a Tesla surfboard designed in collaboration with Lost Surfboards and well known surfboard shaper Matt “Mayhem” Biolos – you know, just because.

The carbon fiber surfboard was released in late July in a limited run of 200 boards and sold out within a day. With red and black Tesla livery, the board cost $1,500 at the time of release, but now you’ll find them on eBay from $3K-$9K. At one point I saw a listing with bidding up to almost $12K.

 

Loughborough University student 3D prints underwater jetpack

As part of a  final year project, Loughborough University student Archie O’Brien designed an underwater jetpack that is said to be faster than other underwater propulsion devices, reaching speeds of 8mph. The pack was manufactured using CNC machining, turning and 3D printing.

O’Brien’s CUDA underwater jetpack features a patented propulsion system made from 45 components which were SLS printed using carbon fiber material.

While the pack is currently at the prototype stage, he aims to start production early next year.

You can find more info about the CUDA underwater jetpack at cudajet.com.