Surfboard in the context of "Carbon fiber"

Competitions in the sport of surfing, governed by the International Surfing Association (ISA), have been held at two editions of the Summer Olympic Games. First selected as one of the discretionary sports at the 2020 and 2024 games, surfing will be inducted as one of the mandatory sports at the 2028 games. Athletes compete in the discipline of shortboard surfing, which is the sole event in the sport at the Olympics. The United States have won the most gold medals (2), while Brazil have won the most medals overall (3).

Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found on ocean shores, but can also be found as standing waves in the open ocean, in lakes, in rivers in the form of a tidal bore, or wave pools.

Surfing includes all forms of wave-riding using a board, regardless of the stance. There are several types of boards. The Moche of Peru would often surf on reed craft, while the native peoples of the Pacific surfed waves on alaia, paipo, and other such watercraft. Ancient cultures often surfed on their belly and knees, while modern-day surfing is most often stand-up surfing, in which a surfer rides a wave while standing on a surfboard.

Surf culture includes the people, language, fashion, and lifestyle surrounding the sport of surfing. The history of surfing began with the ancient Polynesians. That initial culture directly influenced modern surfing, which began to flourish and evolve in the early 20th century, with its popularity peaking during the 1950s and 1960s (principally in Hawaii, Australia, and California). It has affected music, fashion, literature, film, art, and youth jargon in popular culture. The number of surfers throughout the world continues to increase as the culture spreads.

Surfers' desire for the best possible waves to ride with their surfboards make them dependent on conditions that may change rapidly, given the unpredictable nature of weather events and their effect on the surface of the ocean. Because surfing was limited by the geographical necessity of an ocean coastline with beaches, the culture of beach life often influenced surfers and vice versa. Surfer Magazine was founded in the 1960s when surfing had gained popularity and was the initial voice for surf culture which included environmental activism. The staff used to say that if they were hard at work and someone yelled "Surf's up!" the office would suddenly empty. Localism or territorialism is a part of the development of surf culture in which individuals or groups of surfers claim certain key surfing spots as their own.

Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth. The plastic matrix may be a thermoset polymer matrix—most often based on thermosetting polymers such as epoxy, polyester resin, or vinyl ester resin—or a thermoplastic.

Cheaper and more flexible than carbon fiber, it is stronger than many metals by weight, non-magnetic, non-conductive, transparent to electromagnetic radiation, can be molded into complex shapes, and is chemically inert under many circumstances. Applications include aircraft, boats, automobiles, bath tubs and enclosures, swimming pools, hot tubs, septic tanks, water tanks, roofing, pipes, cladding, orthopedic casts, surfboards, and external door skins.

Planing (/ˈpleɪnɪŋ/ PLAY-ning) is the mode of operation for a waterborne craft in which its weight is predominantly supported by hydrodynamic lift, rather than hydrostatic lift (buoyancy).

Many forms of marine transport make use of planing, including fast ferries, racing boats, seaplanes, and water skis. Most surfboards are planing or semi-planing hulls. Beyond planing, fast vessel designs have seen a transition to hydrofoil designs.

Lake surfing is surfing on any lake with sufficient surface area for wind to produce waves. As with ocean surfing, ideal wave conditions are when the wind switches offshore. However, when this occurs over a lake the waves generated by previous onshore wind subside relatively quickly. This means lake surfers have a shorter window of opportunity to surf ideal waves. Lake surfers are often out during and experiencing the same storm that creates the waves whereas ocean surfers are more often surfing on swell produced by storms hundreds of miles away and that may have taken days to reach shore. In addition to making it more difficult to manage surfboards, high winds can make the face of a wave and water surface rough. Increased wave frequency due to shorter fetch results in less rest between waves and sets of waves. This can make it necessary to paddle out through waves because there may not be a long enough pause between sets to paddle out between them.

Though not significant enough to necessitate surfboard design changes, the reduced buoyancy of fresh water results in increased drag when paddling. Lake surfers enjoy water that is fresh ("sweet" as opposed to salty) and do not have to worry about the dangers from marine life (e.g. sharks, jellyfish, etc.) that ocean surfers may have to contend with.

An alaia (pronounced /ɑːˈlaɪɑː/, Hawaiian: [əˈlɐjjə]) is a thin, round-nosed, square-tailed surfboard ridden in pre-20th century Hawaii. The boards were about 200 to 350 cm (7 to 12 ft) long, weighed up to 50 kg (100 lb), and generally made from the wood of the Koa Tree. They are distinct from modern surfboards in that they have no ventral fins, and instead rely on the sharpness of the edges to hold the board in the face of the wave.

Modern alaias are about 150 to 350 cm (5 to 12 ft) long and are the larger version of the Paipo board, used for knee or belly surfing, and the smaller version of the Olo board, generally between 550 and 750 cm (18 and 24 ft) long. All of these board types are similar in that each is made of wood and is ridden without a sharks fin/skeg.