Poplar wood veneer is the best choice,” Achim Allrich believes. The Cologne carpentry teacher is talking about the material that his students have been working with since 2008 to make their own kiteboards. He had the idea as he is himself a passionate devotee of this trendy water sport, in which you are pulled along on a board by a large kite. “A good kiteboard must be both light and flexible, so that it doesn’t break,” Achim says. “And it must be properly shaped of course.” The students select a combination of veneer types, design their own look, glue the board together, give it an individual airbrushing and then apply a layer of varnish. As is right for a true craftsman, they then have the opportunity to test the quality and water-tightness of their creations on location with ramps thrown in. By having his students make something different from the traditional chairs, tables and cupboards, Achim hopes to stimulate a love for wood in them. “It is a unique material,” he says. “You don’t find this warmth anywhere else.”