Semente Surfboards 2026 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Surfboards 2026 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Semente
Interviewee: Nick Uricchio – co-owner and shaper

The latest market studies show a 25% growth in worldwide participation between 2018 and 2024? Does this translate in your sales pattern?
Yeah, there are definitely a lot more people surfing. I don’t think that translates instantly into the sales pattern for hardboard producers. One of the reasons is that many of these new surfers are softboard beginners, so their presence as hardboard customers will probably show up further down the line. There have also been a few shifts in the pattern of sales. During COVID, all board builders were swamped with orders, and we couldn’t make boards fast enough. What followed was an overkill and overbuying by shops, which led to a huge slump in board production for factories over the last couple of years. I’m hopeful that we’ll see a positive season here in Europe, but that will depend on what happens on the world political stage.

Can you share the sales ratio between stock boards, custom orders, online D2C vs brick and mortar shops?
Out of our shop, we sell a lot of stock boards, but we also do a lot of custom orders, as we’re very much a custom, hands-on company. We work with many returning clients we’ve built relationships with over the years, and a lot of customers now shop directly from our factory.
Our online business has definitely picked up as well. In recent years, people have become more accustomed to buying and working online, so that’s become a big part of the market.

How can we lure back the newcomers into hardboards while softboards are their go-to choice?
I don’t know if you’re necessarily getting them back into hardboards as much as seeing a natural graduation from softboards to hardboards. If people keep surfing, they’ll eventually want a regular hard surfboard. A lot of people learn through surf schools, and most schools feature softboards, so that’s the go-to for beginners—you usually learn on whatever you’re given. But if they continue and want to progress in surfing, eventually they have to move into a normal hardboard.

Which are the most sought after designs in 2026? (Mids, fish, grovelers, hi-perf, logs…)
I’d say that in 2026 the most sought-after designs are probably twin fins across different types of waves, along with variations of quads. We’ve seen a continuation of growth in twin fins for solid surf (our Kabuloza model), and quad variations for both small gutless waves and as step-ups into mid-range and big-wave guns. Boards for groms are also on the rise, and midlengths have become the go-to for a lot of older surfers.

In comparison, which designs tend to fall back?
I think the longboard has probably dropped off a bit in the last year or so, and a lot of the longboard crew are playing around with midlengths just to mix things up a bit.

Construction wise, EPS/Epoxy+carbon is gaining momentum. Do you think the fancy tech constructions are all smoke and mirrors, and PU boards won’t disappear shortly?
This seems to be a constant question in the industry. My personal opinion is that as long as 95% of the best surfers in the world are using PU boards in competition, they’re not going to disappear. I also don’t see the application and variety of EPS/epoxy construction as smoke and mirrors. The surfboard industry needs new technology like any other market. Whether it’s the search for a stronger, lighter board or materials that enhance surfboard performance, it’s all fair and necessary. The evolution of surfboards has always been driven by human curiosity and the search for something better, whether in design or technology. All of this also plays a role in board sales, as the hype around new technology is very appealing to consumers.

Organic grown and eco-blanks are available for mass production nowadays: what is your take on those?
Eco blanks are out there, and they’re being used. As always, our clients will dictate what they want, and up until now the use of these blanks has mostly been by request. Personally, I don’t think they’re going to take over. So far, the eco blanks we’ve used have been heavier and darker in color—more brownish. I find that most customers still want a nice white surfboard, which isn’t the case with eco blanks.

Any tips for retailers trying to sort out their order sheets with more designs available than they can actually stock?
With the constant flow of new designs and models, it has become very difficult for retailers to know exactly how to stock their surfboard racks. All surfboard labels feel the need to launch new models throughout the year, so the number of boards a shop would need to keep in stock becomes almost impossible to manage. I’d probably suggest that shops stick with the boards they’ve had results with and listen to both their suppliers and their clients to get a feel for where the trends are heading. A lot of retailers are also minimizing their stock and ordering customs for customers who don’t find what they need on the rack.

Key Products:

Kabuloza:
This “Twin Fin” model stands alone as a completely different type of Twinny. Unlike our D-2 design, this board is built for surfing everything from fun beach breaks to powerful, fast pointbreaks. The foil of the Kabuloza is refined with a very mellow rocker line and a well-balanced distribution of thickness centered on the board, with a smooth dome deck that slopes down to a medium-low rail. The plane shape is parallel with a fuller nose, ensuring entry speed and stability. We feature a slight vee in the forward section of the board, fading into concave and feeding into the four channels on the tail, which provide speed and control in critical sections of the wave. This alternative design excels in fast, demanding, tubular waves and is a great addition to any quiver. If you’re looking for a design that breaks away from your standard, everyday surfboard, the Kabuloza will definitely meet the demand.

Kabuloza-1

Fire Starter:
The Fire Starter is a next generation vehicle and is actually a scaled down model of what my team riders use today. Noses run wider in comparison to a normal board to keep the outline balanced. Rocker is low with a single concave and good tail release to keep the board sensitive and snappy for a lighter smaller surfer. The first stepping stone for the next generation.

Firestarter_white

Catcher:
The Catcher continues to be one of our best sellers, it is a high volume user friendly board. The rocker line is flat and fast with single concave feeding into a vee release tail. Outlines run wider front, mid and tail, lots of planning area and constant speed. Our fin set up allows you to carve hard or drive high depending on wave conditions. Probably one of the most refreshing designs around to motivate a lot of us to surf those gutless days but still versatile enough for the hollows. I personally swear by this model and have been riding them since 2007. We set tail plugs in all catchers to give the surfer an opportunity to try them as 3 fins or as 5 fins with a bump fin out the back. We run the soft double wing on all catchers. Tails can end with squash, diamond, round, square or my personal favorite swallow.

Catcher