When Sam Holmes is not off crossing oceans in his Cape Dory 28, he can always be found trying out new things like aerobatic gliding, cruising around in his 16’ Hobie Catamaran or completing DIY boat projects. He just tackled this latest project days before flying back out to Sweden to continue his solo sailing journey; A Hydrofoil Surfboard that he fiberglassed and built using our High Performance Epoxy!
Sam Holmes is a passionate YouTube sailor who has previously done 27 days alone at sea sailing to Hawaii in his last boat, a 23 Ranger. And most recently completed a successful solo circumnavigation across the Atlantic in his 1979 Cape Dory 28, Picked Herring, documenting his adventures along the way on his channel, Sam Holmes Sailing.
Foil surfing is the sport of riding a surfboard which has a hydrofoil attached to the board instead of a fin. This allows the surfboard to fly above the water. Sam will essentially be surfing the foil, but riding the board! Foil surfing offers a whole new edge and excitement to surfing! Sam begins the build by starting off with a DIY kit he purchased from Clearwater Foils that comes with all the pieces and foam boards already carved out. He starts by using thickened epoxy to glue the pieces together. He then has to fiberglass the board, fins, foil and mast. Sam measures and cuts the fiberglass cloth before measuring and mixing his first batch of epoxy.
He applies five layers of glass to all the pieces for the ultimate strength and durability. Sam brings us some satisfying footage pouring and saturating the fiberglass with the epoxy throughout the video. Once everything is coated and sanded smooth, he attaches the board to the base with more thickened epoxy to finish up this fulfilling project. Now that this build is complete, Sam is ready for his next challenge- learning how to ride the waves in his new hydrofoil surfboard!
It did not take Sam long to catch onto this new sport either. Watch until the end of the video to see Sam bring his new board to the water and ride the waves, with some heartwarming commentary from Sam’s grandmother! Now that he has more fiberglass and epoxy experience, he is even considering building his own boat in the future! Be sure to like and subscribe to Sam’s channel to follow more of his ocean adventures. Thank you for watching!
