The Tabou Company started in March 1993, and quickly became popular in Europe - Tabou is known as a producer of excellent quality radical custom surf and windsurf boards.

Part of the Tabou success in Europe has been in keeping a European style trendy graphics appearance. The graphic inspiration comes from the music, fashion, and design of the South European scene and takes on the spirit of where the brand originally came from. The Tabou style is about lifestyle enjoyment, spirit and energy.

Tabou’s primary focus is developing boards that perform well, and are easy to use for beginners through to professionals.

Stage 1. OK now lets get the board prepared
It is important to degrease your board before you start, even if it looks clean. Any impurities whatsoever will impair the adhesive properties of the silicone and prevent good adhesion. Next offer the the nose guard onto the board and make a light pencil line on the smooth part of the rail where the nose guard finishes.
TIP; If the nose guard does not stay in place on its own, you will need to cut two 30cm strips of the 5cm duct tape to hold the ends in place when we get to stage 4.   
 

Stage 2. Now lets save time later by masking up the board.
With the nose guard in situ, mask up the board completely around the entire perimeter of the nose guard to save getting any silicone sealant where it is not wanted, this will also give a professional finish to the project.
TIP; It is easer to prevent silicone getting on a surface than it is to clean it of afterwards. Silicone is extremely slippery, you must avoid getting it on the deck at all costs..!
 

Stage 3. Apply a Silicone bead to the surface of the board.
Apply a silicon bead to the surface of the board but not on the roughened grip surface as this will cause problems regarding cleaning off the cured silicone should you with to remove the nose guard at a later time.
TIP 1 : Using the sharp knife, carefully cut the nozzle of the silicon cartridge at a 45º angle, allowing a 5mm diameter bead to be extruded.

TIP 2 : We recommend that the silicon bead should be kept approximately 1 cm away from any edge as the bead will spread out when compressed by applying the nose guard.
 

Stage 4. Affixing the Nose Guard
Carefully align the nose guard with the board and gently press into place on the  the board. You may have to gradually apply a firm pressure to ensure the nose guard settles into the correct position.
TIP: At this point it may be necessary to tap home the nose guard with the palm of your hand to ensure a sound fit .

Stage 5. Edge finishing
This is not always necessary. However, you may wish to run a bead of silicon where the nose guard and the board join but this should be done with great care and should be continued around the complete perimeter of the nose guard
TIP1 : Clean up any over-runs with a damp cloth, use long smooth gentle strokes. Don't over do the smoothing, remember - less is more.


TIP2 : Unwanted silicon can be removed with silicon remover

Stage 6. Finishing off
Once you are happy with the result or your work up to and including stage 5, you should carefully remove all the masking tape whilst the silicon is not yet cured, but be mindful not to move the nose protector or undo your perfect finishing of the silicon edge during this process.

TIP: At this point it may be necessary to use either duct tape or similar to hold the nose guard in place during the initial curing process which will take about 24 hours.

Job done!
The visible silicon should cure in about 24 hours but the main holding silicon may take 2-3 days to cure completely. For this reason, we recommend not putting your board onto the water for 3 days after applying the nose guard, after all, you wouldn't want to undo all the good work you have just done..!
TIP: should you need to remove the nose guard at some future date, any lingering silicon left on the board can be removed with "silicon remover" which is available at the top of this page. 
 

Let Blue Chip take the strain of fitting your
nose guard

Nose Guard fitting by Blue Chip
If you feel uncomfortable about fitting any nose guard yourself, or you just haven't got the time, or you feel unsure regarding your competence in this type of project, we can do this for you in one of our fully equipped heated workshops for a charge of £30  

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