Surfboard lost off Tasmania washes up 2400km away in Raglan after 17‑month journey

Alvaro Bon shared his find to a surfing enthusiasts' group in a bid to find the board's background. Photo / Alvaro Bon

A surfboard has made it thousands of kilometres away from Tasmania in one piece, washing up on a Raglan beach.

Alvaro Bon was kitesurfing in the Waikato when he found the 2.29m surfboard, the BBC reports.

After some research, Bon thought the board’s shaper Josh Fairleigh was likely South African, and posted on social media to a local surfing group in the hopes he could locate the rightful owner.

“Definitely not an everyday board...wonder if the board could have drifted from east Australia??”, he wrote.

In a subsequent update, Bon confirmed the mystery had been solved after a friend of the board’s original owner put them in contact.

The owner reportedly lost the big wave gun nearly 17 months earlier on the south Tasmanian coast.

Its owner Liam had apparently been on a May 14 boat trip last year when the board was blown into the water.

The straight line distance from Tasmania to Raglan is 2400km - the board will have travelled further in the Tasman Sea currents.

Bon will be returning the board to Liam, who is in Auckland for a wedding this week.

Commenters told Bon to get in contact with the board's shaper, Josh Fairleigh. Photo / Alvaro Bon

Meanwhile, shaper Josh Fairleigh is from Newcastle, New South Wales - not South Africa - and no longer makes boards.

He posted about the find on Instagram, writing “imagine the storms and sea life it’s seen!”.

“This board may have accumulated more ocean time and wisdom than all of us.

“It’s now working out its next leg of the journey home to its rightful owner in tassie”, the designer wrote.

“What a mission.”

Bon told the BBC he believes the discovery was fateful.

“Every story has got a meaning to it... the day I found the surfboard, I lost my kite,” he said.

He had let go of his kite after getting caught in strong currents, leading him to spot the board.

“Maybe that’s the meaning... sometimes you need to let go of some stuff to find better.”