Page 18 - Flathead Beacon // 4.27.16

INFOCUS MULTIMEDIA SERIES
BY GREG LINDSTROM
Luke Landi builds stand up paddleboards in his shop west of White sh.
SUSTAINABLE SUP Luke Landi, Yatz Boards
After spending the past few years living on a 33-foot sailboat and working on yachts in Florida and in the Caribbean, Luke Landi returned to White sh and began his own venture making stand-up paddleboards.
“I can see that the paddleboard industry is fairly harm- ful,” Landi said, alluding to the plastics and Styrofoam used in many mass-produced boards. “Especially if the boards don’t last, they end up in the land ll and that stu doesn’t go away.”
If he was going to make the jump into the industry, Landi wanted to move in a di erent direction. His boards are made with a recycled foam core and are reinforced with ax ber, which is a natural alternative to carbon and adds strength and durability to the boards. He con- tinues to research natural alternatives such as Myco Foam, a material produced from mushrooms and fungi, as a substitute for the foam core.
Six of Landi’s boards will be available as part of the
Paddle sh Sports rental eet this summer at White sh
Lake. For more information about the boards visit www.
facebook.com/yatzboards. Have a good story idea? Call 257-9220 or email greg@ atheadbeacon.com
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APRIL 27, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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