Surfboard innovator rides wave of success

As a keen surfer, Jared Smith had the brainwave of making a "smarter" board - one that could change its shape to suit the surf.He has done so by designing a board with a tail that can be detached and switched to suit conditions. The interchangeable surfboard has a joint about two-thirds of the way down which can be quickly unscrewed using a 20 cent coin.It can then be connected to different tails, so the surfer needs to carry only a few and decide which ones will suit the day's waves. Jared earned the Best Potential for Commercialisation award with his interchangeable surfboard at an exhibition of the best HSC Design and Technology projects for 2007. Now a Chinese company, Headside Surf Gears, has expressed interest in manufacturing the board. Jared wants to mass produce it, but is still waiting for the patent on his design. "When I found Headside, they were heaps keen, but of course I have to get the patent first," Jared said. He said it was cheaper to make the boards in China."It might cost a company here $2000 a board, but in China it costs about $200. "But I'd have to pay for them to make it. It's not like they're going to put in any money. I'd have to put in all the funds," Jared added."I think it would be about $200 for them to make a board and they'd probably sell for about $800, so it'd be a pretty good profit." This year has been Jared's gap year and he has played and coached tennis to earn money. He will begin a double degree in engineering and chemistry next year at the University of Wollongong.The design of the board has been changed, mostly to improve the joint where users switch between tails. "The join section is going to be injection-moulded to suit mass production, because it takes too long to individually make each piece by hand," he said.Jared searched internet trade directories for production companies and then found a lawyer to help him secure a patent. The patent has been pending for a year because others claimed to have invented the carbon fibre and Kevlar structure that make his surfboard so unique."The patent has taken forever, but it's close, hopefully," Jared said. "It hasn't been denied." He had some time in the spotlight when a crew filmed him for the Discovery Channel in March this year. When asked what his mates thought about all this attention, Jared said they were very supportive."My friends all think that it's great."