Chilli plays a game of details.
Whether it's our FUTURES-produced legrope plug, our Colan Products Carbon weave, our QR identification codes or the signature Line, we've refused to equip our boards with anything but the most finely-sourced assets.
Chilli is more than foam and resin. We keep it unique. Let's unpack the nuances below...
Chilli doesn't underestimate the value of a good legrope plug.
So, we co-designed ours with FUTURES FINS. Moulded and made in the USA out of the FUTURES factory, our plug is completely unique, and can only be found in Chilli surfboards.
It's a celebration of our love for the details. Oh, and like all things Chilli, there's colour options (black, white, light grey or light blue).
Unique to Chilli Surfboards, Chilli's carbon weave is designed with Colan Products Australia to create the perfect combination of strength and performance.
We wanted to keep the natural flex through out the tail so you feel your board and its connection to the wave face, so we strategically ran the stripes of carbon fibre horizontal to the tail's rail line. Blended with standard four ounce weave with a strand of carbon fibre each centimetre, it's proven to be the perfect protection for our boards.
We developed this with Colan Australia and you won't see this used by any other surfboard brand.
When James was designing The Line he sent five boards to Fiji for Andy Irons to ride.
At that stage, The Line was on the deck and bottom. And because it's 1.5 inches off the stringer, it threw Andy off.
He texted James, thinking someone was sabotaging his boards because of the off-axis look when he was paddling or up and riding on a wave.
Which is why now, you'll only find The Line on the bottom of our boards. It's a coloured (black, blue or red) piece of fibreglass woven into the roll, so that when it's laminated on the board the coloured piece of cloth stands out, and the rest is clear.
Why three colours? Red line means research and development; better known as Project Black (more on that below). Black is now a developed Chilli model. And the Blue line is for Chilli Surfboards Japan.
What colour is yours?
Welcome to Project Black, the creme of surfboard research and development. Project Black is a Chilli initiative to put potential new models in the hands of our team, for testing in all conditions. The best surfers giving the best feedback, which we can then use to refine and create a better product for you.
A Project Black board can have any shape or design. Chilli experiments with concave, vee bottoms, rockers, outlines, rails and tails as well as materials, Innegra S Cloth, Carbon Fibre and different density surfboard foams. We don't release anything we're not completely proud of, so the process for getting a board market-ready is a careful one.
How do you recognise a Project Black model?
By the solid black Chilli logo, and the red Line that runs parallel with stringer from tip to tail. You'll usually only see our riders on these, but if you're lucky enough to spot one on a seconds rack, then it's time to strike.
Once a Project Black board has been refined to perfection, we develop a name and logo for it. Then comes the black Line and a killer new model for your quiver.
Watch out for the next graduation from Project Black, coming soon.
We've designed our own special weave of new technology, using four-ounce fibreglass and Innegra S Cloth for strength.
Innegra S Cloth is white in colour, lightweight, and a strengthening fibre that still has a natural flex (unlike carbon fibre which, stiffens things).
When the board is under immense pressure, the Innegra S Cloth allows it to flex to a point where it would normally break or crease, but then flex back out, preventing a crease or breakage.
We've run six strands of Innegra S fibre woven into the cloth on each side of the board, straight up from the side fin boxes. Two more strands up the stringer make 14 strands total. This is the perfect amount of strength vs flex. We tried and tested this a lot with team rider Jay Davies. Jay is 6'1 and 90kg of raw strength, known for being very tough on his boards. After using Innegra S Cloth we've reduced his breakages by 80 percent.
The founding owner of Chilli Surfboards, Jamie Cheal, did his first top turn on a surfboard at the Gold Coast's Greenmount aged 13, and he's been surfing most days since.
In his late teens, Cheal moved to Sydney and started working at a surfboard factory, sanding and sweeping for next to nothing. In 1995, aged 22, Cheal shaped his first board. When he eventually took his creation to water he was more than a little surprised; It actually worked! "It was a total fluke," he laughs. "I shaped about 20 more after that first one and they all went like wet towels."
Cheal knew it wouldn't be a walk in the park, but with that first gem in mind, he persevered with shaping and not long afterwards, it started to pay off. Two years later, Chilli Surfboards was born in a small factory in Brookvale.
In the years that followed, demand for Cheal's boards grew and each week he produced more. Soon, demand was high and some of Australia's best surfers were riding Chilli Surfboards to victory. It wasn't long before World Tour surfers started asking Cheal for boards, too. In 2004, the dearly missed Andy Irons rode Chilli Surfboards in his successful campaign to claim a third world title.
Cheal loves seeing the best surfers in the world ride his boards but would take just as much pride in seeing one under your feet. That's why he's worked hard to create a model range that has something for everyone. Check them out on this site and find your next dream board.
