Our Story
Before Blueprint Surf started, I wanted to design a product that people could connect with. I had spent years learning about 3d-printing and composites, and had been asked dozens of times if it was possible to 3d-print a surfboard. Uh… yeah, sort of. The first board that Mike and I made at Blueprint was flimsy and leaked like a sieve, but we definitely surfed it! The second board we made was watertight and looked great in photos, but weighed more than a full grown Corgi.
Is it possible to 3d-print a surfboard that’s as beautiful as the Acadia coast, as durable as a Downeast lobster boat, and fun enough be the board you choose when your favorite break is pumping? Oh, and make sure you’re on the right side of the global plastic crisis and minimizing your carbon footprint. Those are real challenges that Mike and I are passionate about. We’ve had a fun ride so far, and we think our boards can change the way surfers interact with their environment.
We are so grateful for your support. Building boards is our dream job, and creating a community that appreciates our environmental priorities is beyond cool. We hope you’ll try one of our products soon, because we can’t wait to share a wave with you!
- Luke Diehl, Co-Founder
A couple years ago, Mike and I were both happily bobbing around the North Atlantic on chunks of foam. Beautiful, fast, maneuverable chunks of foam. We loved those boards so much that even when they buckled and broke, we still took them to the beach as though they might resurrect for one more wave. While we knew they were terrible for the environment, our foam boards felt like childhood friends whose personality flaws got more and more obvious as we grew up. We’re never getting rid of them, but we’re looking for something different now.
Mike was an Environmental Science major at Colby College, and leader of the Colby Surf Club. He’s so laid back about it, I didn’t realize how much of an environmentalist he was before we partnered up at Blueprint Surf. After a couple rounds of vegetarian tacos, and coffee meetings where he brought his own mug, I started noticing little details that let Mike live sustainably without imposing his expectations on the people around him. He would never say anything, but it still feels good to refill a water bottle when you’re with Mike; it’s like he’s letting you opt-in to his lifestyle whenever you can without guilt-tripping you for last night’s cheeseburger.
How did we get here?
When Luke and I first came together to 3d-print a surfboard, we were pretty surprised by what came in the mail. The board was split into four pieces, twice as heavy as any surfboard on the market, and printed in the wrong orientation. We figured it couldn’t get worse from here, but we still gave it a shot. We took the 3d-printed nose and frankensteined it onto an old longboard. Without laying down any fiberglass, we immediately realized we had a lot of work to do.
Our Journey
Our second board was our first board ever to see the ocean. We glassed it right on top of an office conference room table. The board was not strong, water-tight, or a good shape. However, we got it in the water and under our feet. In that first session, little gaps in the board allowed it to fill with water. We would catch a wave, paddle back out, and then stand and drain the water out of the board. Even though we had almost no swell in the water and a submarine surfboard, we were hooked. From that day on, we switched 3d-printers, redefined our lattice structure to optimize weight and strength, defined our sustainability goals, made some heavy boards, surfed, reduced the board weight, drank a few beers, and finally made some beautiful surfboards.
- Mike Ballin, Co-Founder
