Local resident reinvents the classic boogie board design
By Natalie Harden, Staff Writer
WEST ORANGE, NJ - West Orange resident Bruce Blumenfield remembers his first body boarding experience with his father when he was 6 years old. Although the first form of the sport was on inflatable rafts, it was to be one of his greatest passions.
“You would ride the rafts and they would eventually break and that was the end of them, but I remember how much fun it was with my dad, and I’ve been doing it for basically my whole life,” he said.
Forty years later, avid body boarder Blumenfield has made his own mark on the body boarding sport by creating a new and, in his opinion, vastly improved version of the body board. In 2003 Blumenfield decided that traditional boards needed some revamping.
“Normally a body board is like pancake-flat on the top and bottom, 2 to 3 inches thick, and unless you are very skilled you are at the mercy of the waves,” Blumenfield said.
He set out on a quest to create a new board that was both safer and easier to use, and more accessible to the general public. Body boarding is a form of surfing in which the user rides waves lying on his or her stomach on the body board. According to Blumenfield, body boarding is popular on the East Coast because the waves are much shorter and break close to shore, which makes it safer and easier to ride them using a body board.
Body boards are also allowed in close proximity to swimmers, which makes them popular with children, rather than surfboards, which are not due to the number of sharp edges they have.
Blumenfield created 10 different prototypes by cutting apart other body boards and fastening them together with duct tape.
He tested them out over the course of two years before settling on his design with the help of a computer program.
Blumenfield was inspired by a professional surfing competition he observed on television. Because surfboards are equipped with fins, they are able to maneuver more effectively in the water, according to Blumenfield’s thinking.
What eventually developed were the Water Skater and the Water Skater “XR.”
The Water Skater and the Water Skater “XR” are a new design of boogie board that feature a handrail and “ergonomic shaping,” which refers to a stomach cavity on the board which allows riders to hold on to the board more securely.
The boards also include arm cavities and a twin pontoon system, which provides the board with a rudder system similar to the fin on a traditional surf board. This system allows the rider to maintain control over the board and ride a wave into shore.
“It’s fun, safe, and a nice thrill of speed — that’s what this is. It’s such a powerful force of nature; to harness the ocean even for a few seconds is a powerful feeling,” Blumenfield said.
The Wave Skater is designed for riders 150 pounds or more, and the Wave Skater “XR” was created for smaller riders who are less than 150 pounds.
Customers are fitted to a board according to their personal measurements because, according to Blumenfield, “We sell boards to suit the person, not the other way around.” Unlike traditional boards, the Wave Skaters are made of a single piece of material rather than multiple pieces which are pressed together.
Because they are made of a single piece of a new foam-like material, they are not prone to pealing or delaminating, both of which occur frequently with other boards. The material, which is used to buoy commercial fishing lines, also affects the weight of the boards.
Wave Skaters weigh four pounds rather than the average nine, and dents can be smoothed out with a blow dryer.
“You would ride the rafts and they would eventually break and that was the end of them, but I remember how much fun it was with my dad, and I’ve been doing it for basically my whole life,” he said.
Forty years later, avid body boarder Blumenfield has made his own mark on the body boarding sport by creating a new and, in his opinion, vastly improved version of the body board. In 2003 Blumenfield decided that traditional boards needed some revamping.
“Normally a body board is like pancake-flat on the top and bottom, 2 to 3 inches thick, and unless you are very skilled you are at the mercy of the waves,” Blumenfield said.
He set out on a quest to create a new board that was both safer and easier to use, and more accessible to the general public. Body boarding is a form of surfing in which the user rides waves lying on his or her stomach on the body board. According to Blumenfield, body boarding is popular on the East Coast because the waves are much shorter and break close to shore, which makes it safer and easier to ride them using a body board.
Body boards are also allowed in close proximity to swimmers, which makes them popular with children, rather than surfboards, which are not due to the number of sharp edges they have.
Blumenfield created 10 different prototypes by cutting apart other body boards and fastening them together with duct tape.
He tested them out over the course of two years before settling on his design with the help of a computer program.
Blumenfield was inspired by a professional surfing competition he observed on television. Because surfboards are equipped with fins, they are able to maneuver more effectively in the water, according to Blumenfield’s thinking.
What eventually developed were the Water Skater and the Water Skater “XR.”
The Water Skater and the Water Skater “XR” are a new design of boogie board that feature a handrail and “ergonomic shaping,” which refers to a stomach cavity on the board which allows riders to hold on to the board more securely.
The boards also include arm cavities and a twin pontoon system, which provides the board with a rudder system similar to the fin on a traditional surf board. This system allows the rider to maintain control over the board and ride a wave into shore.
“It’s fun, safe, and a nice thrill of speed — that’s what this is. It’s such a powerful force of nature; to harness the ocean even for a few seconds is a powerful feeling,” Blumenfield said.
The Wave Skater is designed for riders 150 pounds or more, and the Wave Skater “XR” was created for smaller riders who are less than 150 pounds.
Customers are fitted to a board according to their personal measurements because, according to Blumenfield, “We sell boards to suit the person, not the other way around.” Unlike traditional boards, the Wave Skaters are made of a single piece of material rather than multiple pieces which are pressed together.
Because they are made of a single piece of a new foam-like material, they are not prone to pealing or delaminating, both of which occur frequently with other boards. The material, which is used to buoy commercial fishing lines, also affects the weight of the boards.
Wave Skaters weigh four pounds rather than the average nine, and dents can be smoothed out with a blow dryer.
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