TEN questions to get to the heart of a brand. This time around, handcrafted wooden paddleboards hailing from the Urals.

Why are so many folks down on social media? It is a tool, and like any tool, it’s value lies in how you use it. This interview is a testament to that. There is no way I would have come across Mitrich Boats&Boards without the dark magic of Instagrams algorithm. Somehow in between me posting pics of denim and well-dressed dudes and exclusively liking all Adam Levine, Karlie Kloss and John Mayer posts, Instagram decided that I would be interested in Paddleboards from a brand in the Urals. That’s in Russia. Yip, I had to look it up too. But you know what? They were right.

Mitrich Boats&Boards handcraft some of the most exquisite paddleboards out there. The kind of thing you would want resting in the corner of your living room even if you were aquaphobic. I wanted to know more, and I guess you do too. So we fired over ten questions to Dmitry Kornouhov founder of Mitrich.

1. Who are you and what do you do?

We are Mitrich Boats&Boards and we handcraft wooden paddleboards, canoes and paddles

2. How did you get into the board making business?

This might sound a bit of a cliché but it was an instant insight when I saw the picture of a strip-built kayak for the first time. I was absolutely amazed. It had style, its own uniqueness, but what was even more important to me, it was still useful gear, equipment that can bring adventure to one’s life. Though it took me several years since that day to start building my first paddleboard, I never had a single doubt that I’m going to be building boats and boards. A shift from sea kayaks to paddleboards happened simply due to geographical reason – we are located at the South Urals, a land of thousand lakes and thousands of kilometers away from any sea. However, the main idea remains unchanged – building ultimate adventure gear with a unique style and natural beauty.

Few months after I’ve started the first board, my friends, Zhenya and Nick, joined me. They both had well-paid jobs but I believe they both wished for something more than a socially acceptable CV and a pile of papers on a desktop. There’s still some magic to me about how it all came up but now certainly Zhenya’s perfectionism and Nick’s uncompromising attitude is what pushes us forward constantly.

3. Tell us a little about the boards you build?

Our boards, besides being absolutely amazing, also have great characteristics. Strength, durability and lightness come from hollow-core design and wood-fibreglass-epoxy sandwich that create great composite material. Any superficial damage done to the fibreglass can be easily fixed and removed at home or at any surfboard shop.

Each paddleboard we build is unique – credits to nature that created all these wood patterns that act like human fingerprints.

Our boards look so much better than standard paddleboards with all these intense colors that just don’t match with nature

4. Do you make anything else?

We do some fun and interior stuff like balance boards, wine racks, lamps and tables – but only when we need to switch from paddleboard building. All of that goes to our friends as birthday presents so that’s another good thing about having a workshop – we don’t think about birthday presents too much.

This is fun when you do something you’ve never done before. But’s that’s what we call a ‘side quest’

5. You clearly have a passion for craft and working with wood, where did you learn your skills?

It all came with personal experience. It took about a year from my first day at the workshop (that actually was just a small, cold and dark garage) to start the first board, which was just a pile of firewood, as I see it now. That year included some chairs and stools that no one should ever see, some key shelves and wall guitar hangers for myself and few friends, some interior stuff that I was even paid for. Also, there were a couple of cut nails, several minor injuries from saws and chisels and dozens of splinters. And, of course, a lot of books and videos on woodworking in general and wooden boatbuilding in particular.

6. What inspires you when crafting a paddleboard?

Flashbacks from our own paddling experience always work. All these silent sunrise rides and romantic sunset cruises, beach fun with friends and races against wind and waves help us to feel each board through the whole build process.

Trying to do something new with each new build is also a great inspiration. At first, these changes from board to board were huge. Now, when all of the techniques and building processes are settled, these are tiny changes no one ever will see, but completing these hidden tasks brings joy to the whole build.

Sometimes, this inspiration might not be enough. We make mistakes, the process might seem a bit of a routine. When it happens – we just try to remember what it was like to wake up every day to be at the office by 9 am and not a minute later. It helps, inspiration returns immediately.

7. What are the advantages of a wooden board over one made with synthetic materials?

The petroleum-based foam core that is standard in most boards has been replaced with an environmentally responsible wood skeleton and air! A standard paddleboard has 150-200 litres of non-recyclable foam inside so this is a big deal for the planet. We use the most advanced materials available and our wood boards are glassed with 70% less resin and use epoxy instead of the weaker polyester resin

And we can also build a customized board with special design on it – it can be a logo, picture or anything else. Since it’s not a mass-market – we can do anything on our boards

8. Is there another brand, craftsman or anything else that inspires you?

Literally anyone who creates beauty (especially any floating, flying or rolling beauty, of course) with their own hands.

9. Are there any up-coming or unknown brands that you think are exciting? For Example, friends, colleagues, other craftsmen you might know.

If I’m to name a few, then I’d say Nick Schade, a boatbuilding legend to me. Alexandr Sinitsyn, a guy from our town, who started his jewellery business when I was only gathering all my bravery to escape from the office and begin building boards.

10. How can we order a paddleboard?

You can contact us on our website or Instagram profile – that’s the best way to have all your questions answered. We do deliver our boards to EC and accept PayPal payments