Aurelio Verdi – Shaper of World’s Fastest Windsurf Board – Joins Cobra International
7th July 2023
Cobra announces that renowned watersports board shaper Aurelio Verdi has joined its team. Verdi, a 25 year industry veteran, and shaper of current world speed record holder Antoine Albeau’s 53.27 knot windsurf board, will join as Technical Specialist for Composite Boards (Windsurf, Wingboard, Kiteboard and SUP) with immediate effect, optimising Cobra’s production operations and coordinating with the global brands and OEMs it manufactures for in Thailand.
In 1997, Aurelio Verdi shaped his first boards in his hometown of Grosseto, Italy, at Roberto Ricci’s RRD factory. Quickly establishing himself as one of the sports most talented shapers in the golden age of windsurf board development, Aurelio was soon shaping the entire RRD range of boards including those for team riders such as Josh Angulo. After a short stint in Hawaii, Aurelio continued his partnership with RRD and, in 2007, made the first of many trips to Cobra, rapidly building a strong technical partnership with Cobra’s Chief Innovation Officer Paolo Cecchetti.
Aurelio created the custom speed board used by Antoine Albeau for his, still unbeaten, 53.27 knot 500m speed record run in 2015. Verdi then went on to form his own company, AV Boards, focusing on high-end composite materials and technology to maximise board quality and durability. During this period, Aurelio observed first-hand the challenges of maintaining custom-board quality as production volumes scale up.
Aurelio’s appointment at Cobra sees him join a board manufacturer recognised as the industry leader for watersports composites. He will oversee the technical and quality side of board production across Cobra’s numerous production lines, as well as applying his decades of processing expertise to additional composite manufacturing throughout the Cobra group.
"We are delighted to welcome Aurelio Verdi to the Cobra International family," said Danu Chotikapanich, CEO of Cobra International. "His board shaping skills combined with an ability to translate how tiny variables of a board’s shape will impact both the rider experience and the composite production process make him almost unique in the industry. Having Aurelio onboard will undoubtedly enhance our ability to deliver cutting-edge watersports composite products to our customers and with Aurelio joining forces with industry icons and existing Cobra team members Bruce Wylie and Paolo Cecchetti, we have assembled a truly formidable technical team."
“For me, joining Cobra is an incredible opportunity. I get to work with the leading customers in the sport as well as the superbly talented production teams at Cobra, and together we share one simple goal - to build better boards. Carefully controlling every aspect of a board’s shape, we combine high-volume production with custom-board quality that is tailored to the specific requirements of each individual brand,” commented Verdi.
