This surfboard has a built-in beer tap with ten liters of beer (and it really works)
There are those inventions that make you wonder why they took so long.
So, the ultimate aloha brother gadget. For the man who not only catches waves, but also likes to be caught by the waves after a few drinks. The bizarre project originated from a joke about the way surfers discuss the dimensions of their boards. Gage Roads decided to take that joke a little too seriously and enlisted surfboard builder Chris Garrett of Phantom Surfboards. His brief was simple to explain, but a bit harder to execute: build a surfboard that can carry ten liters of Single Fin Summer Ale without the owner pouring his entire beer supply to the fish after just one wave.
Ten liters of beer under your feet
In the middle of the board sits a food-safe, sealed compartment where the beer is stored. A valve allows pressure to build up, after which you can actually tap a beer from your surfboard via a removable tap. That sounds like something conceived on a beer mat during an evening at the pub, but the development proved to be seriously complicated. The board had to be watertight, keep the beer drinkable, and withstand enough pressure to be able to tap. During the development process, a few units reportedly even exploded. The design of the hollow space is inspired by the Greenough Spoon, an experimental surfboard design from the 1960s. A piece of surf history, then, although we suspect that George Greenough did not consider the possibility of transporting ten liters of beer in his creation at the time.
Can you actually surf with this surfboard with a beer tap?
Jack Robinson was left to figure that out. The Australian pro surfer and Olympic medalist is co-owner of Gage Roads and is normally quite particular when it comes to his equipment. A board with ten sloshing liters of beer isn't exactly the most logical choice, then. Yet, the thing worked surprisingly well. While paddling, Robinson clearly noticed that he was carrying ten liters of extra luggage, but once on his feet, the board proved it could actually catch waves.
He tested it together with freesurfer Brendan 'Margo' Margieson, and afterwards, naturally, the most important part of the test followed: a beer straight from the board. Whether Gage Roads will actually sell the surfboard with a beer tap is unknown. Perhaps that is just as well. After all, ten liters of beer, plus the ocean, sounds like a combination that would make the average travel insurance company nervous.