The Kev Bomb is my second experiment using 2″ thick XPS foam that is easily found at hardware stores such as Lowes or Home Depot. For this board, I took what I learned from the Motor Olsen and applied it to a surfboard. This is narrower, shorter and thinner than the Sensei Sebastian. Because it’s made within the dimensions of the foam, it doesn’t have a whole lot of nose rocker making it fairly flat.
Specs
- Designation: BPX6 – Kev Bomb
- Length: 5’6″
- Width: 20″
- Thickness: 1 3/4″
- Core: XPS Foam
- Deck Glass:
- 4oz S Glass
- 6oz Warp Glass
- Bottom Glass:
- 4oz S Glass
- 6oz Warp Glass
- Resin: Resin Research 2000 CE Ultra Epoxy
- Hardener: Resin Research 2100S Slow Hardener
- Paint:
- Acrylic airbrushed on foam
- Soundtrack Highlight:
- Pixies – Surfer Rosa
- The board was glassed on the anniversary of the release of the album.
- Pixies – Surfer Rosa
Building the Board
This board was the first board built after this site was created. Below are the posts made during the building of this board in chronological order. Click on the links for detailed descriptions of each step.
- X6 – Stringer and blank
- X6 – Hotwire Guides
- X6 – Template
- X6 – Hotwire Cutting
- X6 – Cut to Template
- X6 – Deck, Nose and Tail
- X6 – Rails
- X6 – Concave
- X6 – Sealing the Board
- X6 – Routing the Fin Boxes
- X6 – Painting
- X6 – Setting the Fin Boxes
- X6 – Bottom Glassing
- X6 – Deck Glassing
- X6 – Hot Coat
- X6 – Bonus Content: Hot Coat Fixes
- X6: Sanding and Polishing
- X6: Traction Pad
The Ride
The X6 was built while under a statewide lockdown during the COVID-19 Pandemic. At the time of this writing, we are still under lockdown.
UPDATE: After the beaches re-opened (officially, for some folks they never closed) I was able to take the Kev bomb out for a ride at Jetty Island. I built this board with the light wind of Jetty in mind and it didn’t disappoint. At 220lbs, flying a 14, I was able to get riding in around 13kts and was on the water before anyone else was able to that day. A day later a person who had seen me said that it looked like there was wind only for me. That may have been the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.
This board is very flat and very square. The lack of nose rocker made it easy to bury the nose during water start and I had to adjust by really shifting my weight to the back. But, once I got going, this thing really planed well and ripped up wind. The quad fins and square tail hampered it’s maneuverability. It had a point and shoot feel to it, but once you get it pointed to where you want to go, it will get you there. Overall, a fun experiment but probably not the board I want to use as my main ride. I was thinking about what I would change while I was riding it and as it turned out, I had done most of that already with the Oh Bey Bee!.
About Kevin Reilly
The Kev Bomb was named after my bud, Kevin, who goes by KevBomber on social media. I had a really hard time learning to water start. After five sessions of about three hours each, I was ready to throw in the towel and make the call that I’m not cut out for kiteboarding. On that day, I met Kevin Reilly and Dennis Bey. I’ll admit it was very close between those two who I would dedicate this board to but it was Kevin specifically who said the magic words that encouraged me to keep going. He told me to not give up and one day when I get it, it will seem like I always knew how to do it. Two sessions later I started getting my first rides. Two years later and I’m riding strapless and making my own boards.
This sport changed my life and I’m so happy I got that boost at the moment I needed it. It’s friends like these that inspire me to pay it forward when I’m helping out folks on the beach.