New Product!! STIC-IT COMPOSITE SOFT PAD EYES

Hi Surfski forum!

My name is Ross Lefrank, I'm a 31 year old avid SUP'er from Adelaide, I found your team through a friend who paddles surf ski's in Sydney.

I have developed a product from my experience in the America's Cup and high end yacht racing industry that I think will transfer well to the SUP, Kayak, surf ski world for cruising, downwind paddling, touring and racing.

Basically what I have developed is a small low profile carbon disc with a small strong rope loop through the middle that when adhered to a board/kayak, with either an epoxy or sikaflex type product, it can have a variety of uses. I have sold a bunch to the US and Europe for people to use as a criss crossing bunjee lashing system on the front of their SUP boards to store things like life jackets, drink bottles etc. I also feel it may lend well as a safety system for gopro's, extra or replacing existing leg rope plugs and many other uses. There are also a few guys in Victoria and NSW trialling them on theirs SUP's and kayaks.

Having only limited knowledge of high performance kayak's and surf ski's I have seen at least one use for a product like the one I'm producing. This was to replace the standard bolt in eye for a bunjee lashing between foot pedals that helped the rudder centre automatically. Replacing this with one of my soft pad eyes would mean no holes, bolts and hence no leaks! As well as this I figure for touring etc it would be handy to be able to store a dry bag, drink bottle, spray jacket etc which I know some brands don't offer.

My soft pad eyes are super strong (managing to hold over 100kg when stuck with the right glues), require no holes to be drilled in your board/kayak, have a low profile look (no stubbing your toes) and are super light (weighing around 6g each).
These come in 2 sizes at the moment, 25mm and 40mm diameters with the larger having a greater working load.

Check out my website, www.stic-it.com, I can send you some more pictures if you would like (as my website is still under construction). Also one of my customers has started a forum thread which may help shed some light www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Pad...ots-on-my-new-board/

I have also developed a way of retrofitting a surf life saving style handle to a board. This works by using my larger 40mm pad eye with a bolt that taps into the centre of the pad eye. The handle will be easily removed and all you will be left with is a round carbon disc with a 4-5mm wide hole in the top. The bolt only goes into the disc, so there would be no holes at all in your board. This same soft pad eye can be used for mounting just about anything that requires a bolt, previous customers have used them to mount navigational lights and bike drink bottle cages.

I have used the same disc but with a different thread pattern to attach a tripod mount for a go-pro which in my opinion is a lot safer.

Im looking to get a few more kayak/sufr ski guys out and using my products and would be interested in any feedback you could give me. If you or anyone you would know would be interested in using my soft pad eyes please don't hesitate to get in contact with me.

I look forward to hearing from you

Cheers!

Look like a tidy solution.

My surfski is lacking deck bungies behind me.

I'm curious to know, what will keep the line from chafing and failing
where it protrudes through the composite?
How UV resistant is the line?

To take your comment one step further:

WHEN the line fails from chafing/rubbing, is there a way to replace the line without trying to rip that gorgeous carbon piece off the surfski deck?

Hi Fath2o,

The line is an extremely tough, durable and strong modern marine rope used extensively on most modern racing yachts with great success. The glue used behind the composite disc is filled all the way up to the small hole where the rope protrudes. This minimises movement and hence friction between the loop and the composite disc.

In applications where there isn't a lot of directional movement of the loop i.e. a fore deck lashing etc chaffing would not occur.

The rope is UV stable and will only silver further in time in the sun, it will not degrade and will carry its properties. It also does not absorb water, keeping the rope light and not allowing it suffer the effects of mould.

Cheers

Fath2o wrote: I'm curious to know, what will keep the line from chafing and failing
where it protrudes through the composite?
How UV resistant is the line?

CyberSki wrote: To take your comment one step further:

WHEN the line fails from chafing/rubbing, is there a way to replace the line without trying to rip that gorgeous carbon piece off the surfski deck?

Hi Cyberski,

Unfortunately if there was an occurrence of severe chaffing that led to the rope being cut or comprimised then the carbon disc would simply need to be knocked off with a chisel with next to no damage to your ski. You would simply then need to stick a new pad eye over the top of where the old one was. But as I mentioned in the previous post this is unlikely to happen.

cheers

FWIW - I really think you are onto something good here.

Here is an alternative just in case you have never tried this:

Instead of a cord locked into the fitting, run a tube underneath the carbon - look up "Maroske fitting". This way, the bungee runs between all the fittings and doesn't need a "loop". Replacing the bungee is simple enough though this might cause your pad eye to be slightly taller.

I also like the idea of a stick on Maroske fitting.

Price???

CyberSki wrote: FWIW - I really think you are onto something good here.

Here is an alternative just in case you have never tried this:

Instead of a cord locked into the fitting, run a tube underneath the carbon - look up "Maroske fitting". This way, the bungee runs between all the fittings and doesn't need a "loop". Replacing the bungee is simple enough though this might cause your pad eye to be slightly taller.

Hi CyberSki.

I have seen similar things to this built mid construction of a kayak, this is a neat solution but needs to be done with the deck off.

The reason for why I tried to keep my soft pad eyes as small and as low profile as possible is as much of a safety thing as an aesthetic thing. On SUP's there is a risk of falling forward and over the front of your board, so I kept them as low as possible and with a soft loop so there was nothing large and raised to hit on your way into the water. The same goes on high performance racing boats, larger fittings are often kicked or tripped over so a smaller solution was needed.

I understand that on a Kayak/surfski neither of these problems exist so if it is something you would be interested in I could look into this for you if you like?

Cheers.

These from Huki in USA look neat.
www.huki.com/store/index.php?main_page=p...sor3bjatl4ab4ehh6g91

I've been using those bungee loops from Huki. Great product.

Righto guys! Ill look into making some sort of maroske fitting! Ill post what I come up with

cheers

How is the Maroske development going?

Agree, the bungie anchors that Huki sells are excellent. Simple and elegant design, nothing to fail and low profile.

sAsLEX wrote: How is the Maroske development going?

Hi, Sorry for a long absence from this forum.

The direct downfall of business going well is a lack of time to work on new innovations. Unfortunately I haven't been able to make much progress on this product as yet. But with some expected time off over christmas Ill be able to give it a good nudge!

Watch this space and thanks for your patience.

(90's video game reference) Riiiise from your Graaave!!!

I need a couple loops just like this for my new boat. Are these sold in or shipped to the USA? I did not see a sales link or distributors on the website.

4 years on, can anyone comment on their longevity?

Thanks

i got mine direct from Ross when they first came out and they are in as new condition except for fading of the dyneema line or whatever it is.  so that's 4 or 5 years use on my sup.  i just put them on with full strength epoxy not the 5 minute stuff.  i went for the smallest loop so as not to feel them being stepped on when i'm surfing/paddling.  with hindsight i would go with the next loop size up.  as you can see they close up if you don't use them for a while and need to be opened with a phillips head screwdriver or a pencil etc.  a bit of a pain when i'm keen to hit the water.  they're positioned on my sup so i can attach shock cord lines to hold down my storage seat.  a great product
hope this helps.....Pete