Norden film "For The Love of Stand-Up Paddling"
You've practically always been a surfer - but when was the first time you stood on a board with a paddle in your hand?
2007 - I was a regular visitor to Hawaii at the time and saw this at Laird Hamilton. I was always curious about new material, especially if you could ride waves with it.
You already had a long career in water sports behind you.
Yes, but that was a coincidence. I enjoyed riding BMX bikes and skateboarding as a child. But I didn't really have a good start in life because I was born with a hip defect. My father thought that cycling and skating weren't ideal and gave me a windsurfing course at a quarry pond for my birthday. I was so enthusiastic about it that I sold my BMX bike and skateboard and bought my first windsurfing board. That was my introduction to water sports. This was quickly followed by the plan to become a professional surfer after school. I actually spent many years as a semi-pro and eventually started working for my sponsors. However, you are very limited in your influence and the logical step at some point was to set up my own company - Norden Surfboards.
It's amazing that you founded a surfing brand and not a windsurfing brand.
Yes, that's right, stand-up paddling only came to Norden later. I had long been fascinated by the simplicity of surfing: You just need a board, a wetsuit and you can have fun. At the end of my windsurfing regatta days, the extensive equipment eventually got on my nerves. In contrast, surfing was always like a little holiday.
Simplicity can also be found in stand-up paddling.
Exactly, it's very similar. And with stand-up paddling, there's also how versatile it is. We don't have perfect conditions for surfing every day in Germany, but you get the feeling, you feel the Waterman attitude. The Hawaiian guys around Laird Hamilton showed us how it's done, they shouldered their 12-foot boards and did coast runs or paddled in races or even went into some big waves.
What part of it excited you?
No matter which board, the fascination for me was always the wave. I learnt to windsurf on a quarry pond, but going into the wave for the first time really lured me in and it was exactly the same with stand-up paddling. The focus was always on the wave, but you get that surfing feeling with the SUP on the Baltic Sea even on days when you can't surf waves.
What kind of board did you use at the beginning?
I had a board from Starboard that was 12'6" × 30", which is still in my stash. We used it for coastal runs, from the Kiel Fjord to Eckernförde Bay, or I'd go down the waves in Klitmøller in three and a half metre waves on the outer sandbank, far out, alone with a mate on those huge things. We'd seen that on the internet and in magazines and just did it.
The Norden Glider 12'4" (Test in SUP 1/2023) is similar, at least not a canoe-like touring board like many others.
The material cycle in SUP is similar to that in many other sports. It starts out all-round and for everyone, then it becomes very extreme. Then the sport loses people and then at some point the turning point comes. In SUP, the wave boards got smaller and smaller very early on, the race boards got narrower and narrower and in between there were the widebody boards: very wide and unsexy. The classic all-round board, with which you can catch a wave, but also paddle along the coast - as in the early days - that was the challenge for the glider. We also have a touring board with a displacement hull and a freeracer, but the Glider is the board I put on my campervan, take to Brittany, paddle along the coast or surf a few good waves, based on the origins of the SUP.
A hardboard like the Glider offers more design options than an iSUP. How does the development process work?
I actually designed the glider for myself. We have a basic model in the computer and I then developed it further with the shape programme. At some point, a dealer asked me if we would like to bring a board like this into series production, he would certainly buy some of them. With a board like this, you build prototypes, get feedback - also from customers - and can develop it further. You can change the edge shape slightly, you can optimise the volume distribution, you can change the rocker line, i.e. the bend, which has an influence on the turning characteristics and paddling speed. We are not restricted to specific vintages. We don't necessarily have to bring out a 2023 range. It's only when I think I can improve something significantly that we do it and then it can be implemented quickly. We have boards that have remained unchanged for five years because, based on customer feedback and our own impressions, there is no reason to tinker with them.
Keyword prototype - how is a hardboard built?
Sometimes we still work a bit old school and shape (ed.: plane and grind out of a foam block) the prototype by hand. It is tested, then measured and a 3D file is created on the computer. The file is then sent by e-mail to the factory in Asia for the production of the series samples. It takes a year from the prototype to the first series board.
How is such a board constructed?
It is always a so-called sandwich board. This is a foam core that is pressed together with several layers of different materials. There are two variants. In mould construction, everything is pressed together at the same time in a very solid, two-part mould, i.e. the foam core is first wrapped all around with the different materials. The other variant is to cut out the shape of the board very precisely from a foam block using a computer milling machine and then laminate it on both sides with fibreglass, carbon, wood veneers or rigid foam sheets and resin. It is then sanded, painted and the EVA deck is applied.
Do you also test your boards in flat water?
Everywhere. I live outside Kiel on a lake that could also be in Bavaria. I test the normal paddling speed there, even in smooth water without wind. Then I go to the Baltic Sea with choppy conditions and at the weekend I take it into real waves in Klitmøller. I have to like the board so that I can sell it. My test pilots come from my circle of friends, from total beginners to professional paddlers.
Your glider has a lot of deflection. That wouldn't work for windsurfing on flat water, but apparently it does for SUP?
The board has a lot of nose lift so that it doesn't tip in so quickly on the wave. Behind this, it has a relatively long, flatter section through which the board builds up speed and finally the tail rocker at the back. A windsurf board is very flat there, but it practically rides on the fin, just touching the surface of the water, while a SUP displaces a relatively large amount of water. That's why you need a significant bend at the back so that the water drains cleanly to the rear. If it doesn't come off cleanly, or if very heavy people are standing on a SUP, you will see a stern wave like on a motorboat. And that slows you down. That's why SUPs with a lot of tail rocker are amazingly fast.
What is the ratio of wave SUPs sold at Norden to the rest?
The wave market is now very small. The ratio has changed from 90:10 to 10:90.
But if you do want to glide down a wave on an all-round board, how and where should you ideally start?
You can start with a downwinder on a large lake. In other words, paddle a longer distance with a tailwind and ride down the small swell to feel what happens when the board is pushed forwards by a wave. Even here at Westensee, a small swell builds up in the middle of the lake when the wind is force seven, which really pushes. Otherwise, a good way to get started is to paddle up to waist-high waves on a windless day, i.e. without any disturbing side waves, and feel your way around.
Your brand does not offer inflatable boards?
The Norden brand is a surfboard brand, so an inflatable board doesn't fit in. Wave or no wave, we make many different shapes, but that was never an issue.
Are people switching to your brand?
I have always vehemently argued that we are a hardboard brand and that anyone who buys an inflatable board will end up with us at some point. Funnily enough, many customers even believe that the big brands only have inflatable boards and that hardboards are only available from Norden.
Will the current oversupply of SUP boards and the lower demand compared to 2021 affect the hardboard market in particular?
We are in a consumer slump, but we have the advantage in the hardboard sector that many brands are not interested in hardboards. It starts with the importer and ends with the shop. They don't want to put up these huge boxes. There are 80 hardboards in the catalogue, but most of them are not available. It's different with us.
You also have longer model cycles, does that make it easier?
Of course. One problem is that although many brands harp on about sustainability, they have to launch new collections every year and bring them to market. In some cases, older goods are destroyed because the current products need to be sold.
What is sustainable for you?
For me, it's important that the quality is great so that people say: "Wow, I've had that Norden board for so long, but it's so good!" In windsurfing or kitesurfing, a board from last year is a worse board in terms of image when you get to the beach with it. When surfing, on the other hand, I'm more likely to hear "Wow" and "Awesome" as comments when I'm carrying my 20-year-old longboard under my arm. For me, that's value.
How would you estimate the life expectancy of an all-round hardboard?
I can still see boards from our first year in business on the motorhomes in Klitmøller. If you always repair damage in good time so that no water gets in, a board like this can always be repaired and last ten or even 20 years without any problems.
