Surfboards are mostly made of polyester resin. For awhile some mfrs were trying epoxy, but many found it was more caustic to work with (one I know of developed sensitivity to epoxy).

I have seen ten, twenty, even thirty year old boards still in use. I have one that is about 18 years old, and it has turned brown for one or both of two reasons: It is stored in sunlight, and it has absorbed some moisture through dings that were not immediately properly repaired. As far as strength goes, I get the feeling it's a bit more brittle than when it was new, but it seems plenty strong enough.

I have another one that is about 12 yrs old, it has been stored in a padded bag for the last ten (I put it up in my garage's rafters when I got married and went to college), and I expect it will look like new when I take it out of the bag.

Both boards were custom made for me, and they were white (foam w/ clear fiberglass) with only some small graphic accents.

> Fiberglass boats usually have a gel coat. This provides the UV protection
> instead of varnish. The varnish is to protect the resin from UV. I'm not
> sure about surf boards, but if they are painted that would do the same
> thing. What is the life expectancy of a surf board. If it is less than a
> couple of years, there would be no need to provide UV protection.