Menuisier Surfboards was initiated as a project during the bachelor thesis of me and Leandro Destefani at University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. Surfing is a young sport in Senegal which is mainly reserved to tourists because senegalese people can’t afford the expensive imported surfboards. Additionally common surfboards ding easily and there’s a lack of repairing materials. Based on these facts we tried to find resources and production methods in Senegal that have the required qualities to build a surfboard.
In Dakar we found many carpenters with high expertise and wood is an easy accessible building material. Because of that we decided to team up with local carpenters to find out how we could build a wooden surfboard with their possibilities. As a result of this collaboration we created a construction manual with which every carpenter can build a wooden surfboard. The construction manual for our first Menuisier Surfboards shape, the MS PATAAS is open source and available here. During the second stage of the project we teamed up with Adama “Happy” Ba. Happy is a senegalese surfer who worked as a carpenter for seven years and then worked as a surfguide for NGor Island Surf Camp since. With Happy we found our perfect partner for Menuisier Surfboards to improve the first Menuisier Surfboards shape and work on further shapes. Happy is also taking care of Menuisier Surfboards in Senegal when we are gone again. Starting as a project Menuisier Surfboards turned now into a surf brand.
