If you’re reading this, you’re likely a backer of the SipaBoards Air crowd-funding campaigns on either Kickstarter or Indiegogo so I don’t need to explain what the SipaBoards Air is.

If you aren’t — go take a quick look here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1529801280/sipaboards-air-the-self-inflating-sup/

Long story short, as with many pre-production physical items crowdfunded on these platforms, there were massive delays due to design and production issues. Even with a company in this case that had successfully brought a previous campaign to market.

A quick timeline:

March 2016: Campaign launches on Kickstarter with a goal of $100,000 and an estimated delivery date between August and October of 2016. May 2016: Kickstarter campaign successfully raises $173,831 from 165 backers, and soon after another ~$300,000 from 379 backers on Indiegogo. July 2016: Campaign update indicates boards are delayed and to expect them in December.

Updates continued every 2–3 months for the next THREE YEARS with various levels of detail, all the while both project pages are filling up with comments from disappointed/angry backers asking for more details or their money back. To be honest while this was going on the time between each update felt like an eternity and I was losing hope that I would ever receive the self-inflating Paddleboard I had paid for.

I did reach out to the company via various channels (Facebook Messenger, comments on posts, Instagram etc.) and occassionally got enough of a response to give me hope that it would eventually ship.

Throughout I kept my comments and messages positive and that definitely contributed to the reason I was lucky enough to receive board #1 this week:

It lives! It self-inflates!

My understanding of the major reason for the delays after speaking to both SipaBoards and other backers who had been in touch with them, is that the “Air Unit” (which is the compressor that clips into the back of the board — the main feature that sets this apart from an other inflatable SUP) was not sealing fully and/or reliably to the point where it had to be redesigned at least once — the original campaign photos still show the round style Air unit, while the production model I received is long and narrow, even differing slightly from the instructional video they made (with what was likely a prototype):

I imagine this was an expensive and time consuming process to get right, especially when working back and forth with manufacturers in China.

While I’m glad they didn’t ship a defective or inferior product, their communication was lacking and left with a vacuum, backers assumed the worst and figured SipaBoards had vanished with their money.

As of July 2019, they have indicated that there have been approximately 60 boards produced in China, to be shipped from their HQ in Kamnik, Slovenia to various backers.

This does mean that the 165 Kickstarter backers and 379 (!) backers on Indiegogo will have to continue to wait patiently as production ramps up. I am hopeful that there isn’t a funding issue constraining production, in the event that the previously-raised money was spent on R&D and retooling.

Bottom line, the boards exist — I just took mine out for a paddle. I’m very happy with how it self-inflates (with some slight reservations and concerns about it’s long-term longevity, detailed below).

Happy to talk further and answer any questions — feel free to reach out at joshnewman on either gmail or Instagram

I can’t promise you’ll get a response from SipaBoards, I have a feeling my luck came through as I was patient and courteous in all my emails, comments and DMs to them — those who have been threatening online I imagine will end up at the back of the line .

Arrived home to this on my doorstep — DHL left it without a signature (!) as I had already paid the taxes/duties online (just over $200 CDN) — I was lucky no one grabbed it before I got home. That’s a DHL issue.

Contents of the box: leash, inflation hose for to allow it to inflate another paddleboard before you inflate the Air, and patch kit (which doubles as a watertight case when on the water). Unfortunately the charger was nowhere to be found…more on that below

Their bag design is really simple and smart

Backer letter and manual on top

Nice for them to acknowledge the delay and thank us for our patience

15 page manual (happy to share more pics of this if you want to see inside)

Optional 3-piece carbon paddle. It’s very nice (and my first 3-piece paddle)

Unfolded prior to inflation

Fin box on bottom

Sipa Air compressor!

Charging port on the bottom of Sipa Air compressor. Notice the slightly corroded or plasticized screw — wasn’t thrilled about this but hopefully it was just a slight manufacturing glitch and won’t lead to any issues down the road

First Inflation!