Select to expand quoteLast year I set myself a new goal and I wanted to try foiling. I have been windsurfing for many years. I feel the light wind condition slalom gear is heavy and my strength has not grown since I turned 50 years last year. So the goal was to try if foiling would be a light wind alternative for me. And I must admit, I was instantly hooked by the experience of foiling in light and easy conditions. So far so good.
As I have been a fan of Starboard and have had the full range of isonics 2015 carbon an since 2 years a full set of 2019, the obvious choice for me was to use Starboard foils. I choose the Ecolution Freeride 1100 with the Alu85 mast. I wanted it to use on my lightwind isonic 83 in combination with a dedicated sail GA Airride 6.7.
Fitting the mast to the board for the first time caused some problems. I destroyed 2 bolts and 2 screws as the holes of the box did not align with the bolts in the mast. Fortunately, it came with extra bolts and I have plenty screws laying around. After using a drill to get some more play in the mast fitting of the bolts I was able to get an easy fit in the board. On my holiday at lake Garda I was foiling in the morning with flat water and northern wind and switched to fins in the afternoon when the wind picked-up coming from the south with swell/chop. So I am convinced that foiling is a nice light wind addition for me.
This year I wanted to upgrade. As the balance and control of the set was not optimum I bought a dedicated foilboard. I did not want to go too big (100) I opted for the Phantom iris X83 of 2021. At the beginning of this month I wanted to try the net set but to.my surprise I could not get the Alu mast fit the board. The holes were far from alignment and I had to tilt the mast to extreme values to get them aligned. However the mast screws don't allow tilting so I needed a drill to get more clearance. After 2 hours of filling I managed to get it fit, sort of. However when I went on the water it turned out that the back screw was not properly fitted and the mast tilted forward during the first run out. I did not immediately know what happened but I went back to the beach and gave up. Back home I spend 2 more hours to get it fit and eventually I had it connected properly. Unfortunately I have not been able to use it since. I did reach out to the shop where I bought it from and they indicated this was abnormal. When I contacted Starboard,.I got basically the confirmation, this is a known issue. This is what I got replied:
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For strength reasons, we had to reduce the tolerance of pivoting allowed in the deep tuttle insert holes across all Alu masts. This means the fit with non-Starboard Foil boards is not guaranteed. The Carbon masts still have pivot in the insert as they have less strength issues, so they do not suffer the same problem.
For matching the mast with a non-Starboard foil board, you can either file the aluminium a bit on the mast side, allow the bolts to pivot more,
or open slightly the holes in the foil box of the board
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So now I understand it. However, I'm not happy since they tell me to weaken it furthe for a proper fit. Something they clearly not do before selling it for strength reasons.
So I was thinking, better to get myself a carbonmast upgrade. But these things are not cheap and I already upgraded the board, so funds are drying up. I asked if Starboard could give me some discount on a carbon upgrade. I again got a weird message back:
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Unfortunately we can only guarantee that Starboard Foil masts will work with dedicated Starboard windsurf foil boards. This means we can't offer any warranty or extra support on a case where a SB Foils part doesn't fit well in a Phantom board, or non- foiling dedicated Starboard board.
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Frankly I'm underwhelmed by their support and think this will be my last SB foil purchase.
Has anyone had better experience with the SB Alu foil masts? For me this has been a quite disappointing experience. I cannot recommend this to anyone, unless.you have tested the fit. Once it fitted I had some great first foiling experience, but the aftermath has been a bit of a disappointment.
I had the iQFoil alu mast and it cracked where the front insert goes. It was under warranty so I had the option to get the newer iQFoil alu mast (reinforced) or the iQFoil carbon. I bit the bullet and bought the carbon one. It was a massive improvement in stability. I am somewhat dissatisfied with SB customer service but to switch brands I would need to spend a lot of money so for now I will keep it. Eventually I might switch for something different.
Hi there Freezer,
sorry to read about your experience 
i do agree that the current crop of Starboard Alu masts (V5) is not very good in a key area: the interfaces (to the board and the fuselage). while it is possible you may have had a warranty claim based on defects, that is not totally clear.
one thing that is clear to me is that you were not particularly well served by your shop(s).
when your fitup problem first came up last year they should have provided you some guidance and support, and hopefully advised you that the easiest way to accomplish alignment is by elongating the screw hole in the board with a file (one of the options starboard gave you). having done this a number of times since the early days of foiling (and with deep tuttle fins before), i know it's a fairly straightforward process that shouldn't take more than half an hour. a shop with good service may have even done it for you! they also should have noted whether your mast was correctly fabricated or the head "spacer" piece was incorrectly installed (exacerbating misalignment), and if so, pursue and process a warranty claim with starboard on your behalf. [i will also add that, as a common sense thing, it's also fairly clear to me that taking material off the base (or head) of a foil, particularly drilling metal, is not the preferred path to go. i am quite surprised starboard gave you that as an option].
when you got your new Phantom board (congratulations!!) your shop should have also provided you fitup assistance/advice, and if alignment would have been difficult to achieve, recommend you a different board (for example, Starboard and Severne foil boards come with slotted screw holes that make fitup alignment easy; Fanatic, Goya, and JP did not last i saw them).
finally, after not providing you guidance/advice/support through your fitup issues, your shop(s) left you on your own to deal with Starboard. don't know how things are setup in Italy, but in North America good dealers handle warranty claims for customers with the brands, working together to make things right. for example, the shop where i buy my kit has a very high rate of success in resolving Starboard foils claims in the customer's favour - including some cases of obtaining discounts such as the one you requested.
so sure, change brands, but also choose your dealers with care.
