Surfboard made from 150 aluminum cans and vinyl records for fins wins Vissla ‘Upcycle’ contest

In a previous life, the soda and beer cans held carbonated drinks that were sipped – or guzzled – but in their new form, these recycled cans will help a surfer ride waves.

And, in the ’60s, sounds once filled the air from the two black vinyl records that are now used as the surfboard’s fins.

The unique surfboard was the first-place winner of the “Vissla + Surfrider Creators & Innovators Upcycle Contest,” where the public comes up with creative ways to use discarded trash and turns it into something that can be used in the ocean.

“Every year, everybody has been pushing the envelope and getting more and more creative,” Vissla founder Paul Naude said at the event held Friday, Oct. 26, at the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano. “It’s great to see what these guys come up with.”

Naude marveled at the choice of the vinyl records for the board’s fins and how the creator, Titouan La Droitte, used a plastic bottle cap for the leash plug. In addition to the 150 aluminum cans, the surfboard maker from France also used split pallet wood to create the winning board.

La Droitte said he only learned of the contest two weeks before the deadline, and the hardest part was collecting the cans, washing them, cutting and sanding the aluminum, then gluing them together.

The records used for the fins were found in an attic: children’s songs that went along with fairy tails, such as Cinderella, sung in French.

“I am very happy to win the first place, especially with all the great entries this year,” he said. “I took it as a crafting game with a true message behind it.”

Naude, who was one of three judges, said 200 entries from around the world came in for the contest, with 10 boards making it to the final stage and on display at the public event.

Surf industry consultant Bob Mignogna has attended the event for the past four years, and at the latest gathering spent time looking over the detail of each board design.

“The commitment of the kids all around the world to spend so much time using upcycling trash materials shows their individual and collective commitment to a better environmental future for our beaches and oceans,” he said.

The second place board was made by Korey Nolan, of New Hampshire, who utilized 700 Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cups. He used a snowboard press to compress the cups together with epoxy, then used a flexible silicone heat blanket for snowboard building to flash cure the epoxy in 40 minutes, according to the Vissla website. Fins were made from plastic straws.

Nolan’s creation was one of two boards made with discarded coffee cups.

Australian Josh Lea and friends make the annual pilgrimage to the United States each year to showcase their designs. He also used an estimated 700 coffee cups for his creation.

“I sort of thought, if I could do my part by saving my cups, they won’t go in a landfill,” he said. “I pretty much had the whole town involved in saving their cups. They all saved them for me. Mom and Dad were pretty angry, I was keeping them in the garage, it stunk.”

Gathering the rubbish took about five months, while the board itself took two months to make.

“It’s not just picking up a surfboard blank and making a board – which suits us well, because we don’t know how to shape boards,” he said.  “You gotta think a lot, it’s your own idea. No board from this comp is the exact same.”

Two board makers tied for third place, both former winners. François Jaubert, of France, built a surfboard using fruit and beer packaging, glassed with upcycled boardshorts, cigar boxes, grass and a favorite T-shirt, among other items. Dane Reynolds, of Australia, made a board from two old cedar blinds, builders foam and old timber saw blades.