A custom-made surfboard which fell off a boat in Tasmania almost 18 months ago has been found off the west coast of New Zealand, after drifting about 2,400 km (1,490 miles) across the sea.

Frenchman Alvaro Bon was kitesurfing in Raglan Harbour on the North Island about two weeks ago when he found the barnacle-covered board.

He posted his find on several online surfing groups and days later, a friend of the board’s owner recognised it and connected the pair.

The board will be collected in Auckland this week, and reunited with its Australian owner, known only as Liam, who says the board was blown overboard in May 2024.

“He couldn’t believe it,” Bon told the BBC, adding that the board was irreplaceable because the designer no longer makes surfboards.

The 30-year-old, who has lived in New Zealand for about ten years and kitesurfs in Raglan daily, said the day he found the board, he had been forced to let go of his kite due to particularly strong currents.

It was a split-second decision to sacrifice his kite or risk being swept out to sea.

He sought refuge on a remote side of the harbour before spotting the cream-coloured 7ft 6in (229cm) board, covered in mussels and barnacles but remarkably undamaged.

He hid it in the sand dunes and returned a few days later before kitesurfing the board back to the harbour – holding it under one arm, while grabbing his kite with his other hand.

After cleaning the board, he took to social media to try find its owner, posting pictures that showed the unique signature of the board’s designer.

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

“I remember I posted the pictures in the message and then I went for a surf in Raglan again,” Bon said.

When he returned, his phone was full of replies about the mystery board, with hundreds of people sharing the post and even more commenting on the unusual find.

After his friend spotted the board, Liam sent Bon pictures of the board to prove its ownership and organised for a family friend to pick it up and bring it home.

As for his fateful discovery, Bon was philosophical about it.

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

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