Every surfer is unique, and their board should be too. This belief is at the center of everything the Munich-based company, HIDROSURF, does.

Founded in 2014 this self-described group of pirates set out to create mind-blowing custom surf fins. The idea was born from their own work customizing their surf boards and stumbling across the creative potential of 3D printing.

HIDROSURF’s aim was to give customers exactly what they wanted, which meant allowing for aesthetic and ergonomic configuration of the surf fins. Customers would be able to tailor a fin’s design to improve performance, for example increasing speed or stability. We partnered with them to make the web-based, user-friendly configurator that would make creating the ideal fin simple for everyone.

In a community where change is a constant, offering customers virtually total freedom to modify their board is very important. CEO, Sandro Stark: “Surfing evolves at a rapid speed and people develop themselves and their boards into so many different directions and styles. All over the world innovative shapers and boutique manufacturers experiment with new shapes and materials. I believe that we are facing another surge of technology in surfing. We are proud to partner with trinckle to challenge the status-quo.” 3D printing was just the kind of technology that allowed HIDROSURF to test new forms without having to invest in large series production.

“The advantage of automated design is more than lowering design costs. It makes a business model, like HIDROSURF’s scalable. In the age of digital business having the right tools to generate growth is more important than ever.”

3D printing and new business models
As a small business it can be a challenge to balance cost-effective and sustainable production. For HIDROSURF using 3D printing technology made finding this balance easier. And although they wanted customers to be free to create their ideal fin, there needed to be a way to guarantee structural soundness and manufacturability. Based on parametric design principles, paramate’s algorithms automatically assess the printability and never approve designs with potential weaknesses.

At trinckle not only do we see ourselves as enabling the realization of amazing product customization ideas, but also in helping businesses grow.