New starboard twinfin. Carbon or limited edition

I got my Acute 8'9" x 32" 150L last week as well as a 9' 2" X 30" 135L Sunova Speed. I traded in a 9' 6" Ghost (which was too big really quickly from when I got it late last year, but still fun) and an 8' 10" x 32" used custom Infinity (pretty much a wide speed).

I am really stoked with this quiver now, especially the Speed, very, very fun.

I've ridden the Starboard twice and it is super fun, very light, turns nicely. The Speed was better in the mushy waves I was on, and it feels like a performance board a bit, that trims well like a long board. I used to prone long board so that was a nice feeling.

I really liked the Ghost, but I think I like the Speed better for my waves, Southern California beach break.

I'm almost 58, 5' 11", about 185lbs. In under a year, I progressed from 2 cheap Amazon inflatables to 2 nice Red Paddle inflatables on flat water, to a VESL 10' 6" to a Sunova Style XL 10' 6" (got it for $300 from FB) to the Ghost and Infinity, now these two boards. I think I'm dialed in for a while now. Thanks to SUP I can surf again, not really able to prone anymore. I thought I was done for good before I discovered SUP.

So I got my 8'3 TF in the Acute Custom Carbon version about three weeks ago. Have since taken it out every other day in moderate La Jolla / San Diego beach breaks, up to shoulder, maybe head high, and here are my two cents.

As per background, I am 6'1, 48 years handsome, 200lbs flat, and have been SUP surfing for about five years, after another fifteen of prone surfing. My daily driver for the past two years has been an 8'7 2024/2025 Starboard Pro in the Carbon Sandwich version. The Pro is a remarkable board. As Ruben from Supboarder says, you can use it on almost every wave, as long as there is some juice to them. You could easily compare it to a German - unassuming, efficient, and reliable. You could be on a double overhead, staring down at jagged rocks and some people on Wavestorms who shouldn't be there, and you know this board will see you safely through. I sometimes think it quietly berates me when I don't make a wave. I doubt I will ever stop loving it.

You could compare the Twin Fin, on the other hand, to a different kind of German - the one who's all respectability and Vorsprung durch Technik on the surface, but may hold a member of his family locked up in his basement. Unpredictable, is what I am saying. Though it is five liters less in volume, and only a half inch wider, it is far more stable than the Pro. It has a lovely bit of glide. You can get into waves easily. However, when you do start down a wave, it will just shoot forward. And then you get to kind of play on the wave face; it will just go wherever you want it to. Cutbacks are smooth and easy. Power turns are - dare I say it - fun, and I find myself taking them deeper than I am used to. You can get long rides out of smaller, even weaker waves.

I haven't encountered any downsides to the Twin Fin yet, but I have to admit that I haven't put it on bigger, more powerful waves. There haven't been any. The last weeks here have been weird.

As goes the construction, I am very happy with it. I am one of those people who knows every nick and scratch on his equipment, and I hate shelving out $2K+ for a board that looks like a golf ball after a month. It's one of the reasons I like the Carbon Sandwich construction Starboard do; you can hit that with a hammer and it would't really show. The Acute Custom Carbon looks like it's holding up just fine - not a mark on it yet. The handle on the 8'3 is the standard, larger handle. I prefer the new deck pad to the older crocodile skin one; it is a bit longer in the front to compensate for the fact that they haven't put Star Touch on it. I wouldn't say it's lighter than the Pro at 8'+ length, but it is light.

In short - it is a truly great board. If you can get your hands on if (and that's a big if, apparently), you should.