Stock image.
Camera IconStock image. Credit: Supplied/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Swell Times: Softboards offer summer fun at Perth beaches

Neil Atkinson, The Surf BoardroomStirling Times

IF you have spent any time at the beach this summer, you will no doubt have seen more than the odd soft surfboard or two.

Known as softboards, these bodyboards shaped like a surfboard have become a very popular surf craft for delivering the most fun in the less than ideal surf that our metro beaches produce during the summer months.

Softboards are being used by all the Learn to Surf Schools for coaching and are becoming sought after by more good surfers who want a good fun board to use on Perth beaches.

PerthNow Digital Edition.
Your local paper, whenever you want it.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

Softboards’ humble beginnings can be traced back to the foamy or Coolites popular in the 1970s and ’80s.

I remember buying a foamy in 1981 featuring a red lightning bolt on the deck, which matched the colour of the rash it gave me. It cost $50 and lasted only two weeks before it snapped on a small Trigg wave.

Today’s softboards are extremely durable and will last for years.

Brands such as Softlite, Surftech and Catch Surf dominate the market.

These quality boards are being ridden by surfers such as Mick Fanning, Jamie O’Brien and Kalani Robb.