SIC MAUI
Like many a master shaper Mark Raaphorst did his time and paid his dues. First as a finisher at Brunotti Boards in his native Holland, then after moving to Maui, he learnt to shape from the old masters, Ed Angulo, Jimmy Lewis, Johnny ‘V’ and Jay Laswell. After a quick jaunt round the World he returned to Maui but couldn’t get a job as a shaper, so he set up his own repair shop – Ding King’s. It was a slow start, but his ability to complete repairs on time and to a great finish made him the go to guy – business was good.
After a while Mark grew bored – wanting to make things. He stepped back from the business and went to learn how to make moulds for the aviation and marine industry. When he returned to Maui, he got into outrigger canoe paddling and before long had bought the mould and started producing OC-1 and OC-4 canoes. His time with the outriggers taught him about paddling.
Around 2004 SUPs started appearing on Maui – as soon as he tried it he was hooked. He started shaping foam SUPs but in the larger sizes they were incredibly heavy. Combining the moulded technology from the outriggers, with surf and sailboat inspired shapes became the beginning of Sandwich Island Composites aka SIC.
Marc Focused on improving the glide of his designs and reducing weight. Before long SIC boards were winning almost every race they entered. It became an industry joke that most riders sponsored by other brands were actually racing on custom graphic SIC boards. Next he started using his design knowledge to enter different areas of SUP.
