There's a version of this story where we tell you we set out to reinvent the surfboard cover. The truth is simpler and more annoying than that. We kept getting the same complaint.
Customer after customer was coming back to us — or emailing, or stopping us at the carpark — with the same problem: the zip had failed. Saltwater corrosion. A rail scratch from the zipper teeth. A stuck slider. Or the classic: the zip pulls off entirely, and now you've got an expensive canvas bag that won't close.
We made quality covers. We were proud of them. But the zip was always the weak point. You're putting a metal mechanism in saltwater, every session, for years. Something's going to give.
The question we should have asked earlier
At some point around 2021, Sarah asked a question that seems obvious in retrospect: why does a surfboard cover need a zip at all?
A cover has one job: to protect the board. Slide it in, close it up, carry it. The zip is just the mechanism we all inherited from travel bags and luggage. Nobody designed it specifically for surfboard covers.
Once we started questioning it, we couldn't stop. What if the closure was part of the cover itself — fabric that wraps over and clips down? What if it adjusted to different board thicknesses automatically?
The Easy Wing
We spent about 18 months on what became the Easy Wing closure. A lot of prototypes. A lot of sessions in the Ocean Grove carpark with test covers and a stopwatch. A lot of feedback from the local crew.
The principle is simple: the tail of the cover extends beyond the board's tail and folds back over itself, then clips down with a strap. No teeth. No slider. No moving parts that can corrode or snap. The fold-over naturally adjusts to the board's thickness.
Putting a metal zip on something that lives in saltwater isn't a design decision. It's an oversight.
Dan O'Connell, co-founderWe patented it in 2022. Not because we're precious about it, but because we'd spent real time and money solving a real problem and we wanted to protect that investment.
Zip vs Easy Wing — the honest comparison
| Zip cover | Easy Wing (Boardsox) |
|---|---|
| Metal teeth exposed to saltwater daily | No metal parts in the closure |
| Zip can scratch rails if misaligned | Fabric-only closure, nothing to scratch |
| Fixed size — board must fit exactly | Rolling tail adjusts to board length and thickness |
| Slider can stick, break or pull off | Nothing to break — fabric and a strap |
| Cover is finished when zip fails | Backed for life — we repair or replace |
What we didn't expect
We expected customers to like not having a broken zip. We didn't expect how much they'd enjoy using the cover itself. Folding the tail over and clipping it down is genuinely satisfying in a way unzipping never was.
We also didn't fully anticipate the length tolerance benefit. Because the tail rolls up before you fold it over, a 6'3" cover handles a 6'5" board without drama. You pick the closest size up and you're done.
Is it for everyone?
Honestly, no. If you've used zip covers your whole life, the Easy Wing takes about two sessions to feel natural. A small number of customers have gone back to zip covers. We respect that.
But the people who stick with it — the vast majority — tend to become quite vocal about it. That's the outcome we were after.
The zip was a reasonable solution to a real problem. We just think we found a better one. See all zipperless covers →
