In the last PWA event in Torbole, there's only 4 racers with Starboard foils, and one only with SLR wings. And the results are not good. In Spain we have serious problem for receive the material (delay of five-six months!!). The prices are the same of Phantom and F4, but in race the results are not good. Anybody knows whats happening with Starboard? I'm thinking to change to another brand, like Patrik or Zfins foils
Starboard is currently living the Olympic pension dream and has little initiative to fight for the crumbs that are PWA sales. From what I heard they are trying to carve up a piece of the larger wingfoil market.
Their performance at Torbole by the 21 year old Benoit Merceur on the SLR gear actually impressed me. He held up against Iachino, Vonk, Maciek and his fellow countrymen Bordes and Mathis on the 8th heat of 2nd elimination at 3:02:43 :
Let me know if anyone wants to sell their SLR gear at a discount
My skills need time to catch up
Select to expand quoteDishpet said..
Starboard is currently living the Olympic pension dream and has little initiative to fight for the crumbs that are PWA sales. From what I heard they are trying to carve up a piece of the larger wingfoil market.
the second part is correct, they are certainly working hard (as all brands are) to get a bigger slice of the wingding pie (which appears to not be growing as fast as before).
the first is not quite on point. Starboard has actually invested a fair amount of time and effort in improving their PWA foil lineup, if not for the sales, for the bragging rights and perceived prestige that come from doing well in the PWA. they just haven't had much success there. The SLR wings (introduced last year to the public, and registered along with the Mk 2 mast and Evo Mk2 fuses publicly unveiled this year) were not found to be particularly competitive by the top pros; so as result, they were barely used in Sylt/Japan, and only by riders that were not in the top tiers as i recall.
for this year, they developed and registered with the PWA *two* lines of wings (the SLR mk2s, and another developed by Martin Fischer who has experience with America's Cup foilboats) along with a new "Jumbo" fuselage. Alas, no one of note registered or raced this kit at Torbole. possible reasons (not mutually exclusive) for that can be:
a) SB was not able to finish and deliver the kit in time to more interested riders (there quite a number or stories being told of competitors getting their kit as late as two days before the event);
b) some riders that would/may be riding these foils were at the iQFoil competition in Greece;
c) riders who had the chance to try them found other foils to be more competitive/comfortable/suited to their style, etc. (i have no idea which riders worked with SB during the development phase).Select to expand quoteDishpet said..
Their performance at Torbole by the 21 year old Benoit Merceur on the SLR gear actually impressed me. He held up against Iachino, Vonk, Maciek and his fellow countrymen Bordes and Mathis on the 8th heat of 2nd elimination at
He ended this elimination with a 2nd place in the runners up final, not bad for a new guy.
that is indeed a remarkable performance; his overall 16th and two appearances in the (loser's) final is much better than the 37th of Koen Hessels (NED 88) who did register the SLR Mk2 wings and was only able to advance into the quarterfinals in the first elimination.
Thanks for your opinions. In my case, Starboard make a big step forwards with the SLR wings, and I have made a big advance in terms of speed(from top speed of 26.5 knots and average of 25.5 with 650 EVO wing. My best with SLR 460 is now 28.2 and average of 27.2 knots). But compared with a F4, F4 is incredible stiff: mast, wings, etc. I have had a few Starboard wing c800, and the stiff is similar. But the price of f4 is similar of Starboard. I agree Starboard is living the olimpic dream with IQfoils, and forgetting the slalom foil as a priority.
In the other hand, I can't understand why Blanca Alabau amb Matteo Iachino, part of Starboard team don't use Starboard foils, and both use Zfinsfoils
Select to expand quoteXavierFerrer said..
In the other hand, I can't understand why Blanca Alabau amb Matteo Iachino, part of Starboard team don't use Starboard foils, and both use Zfinsfoils
That reminds me. When Nico was here, still working for SB, he was using Neil Pryde foils. I didn't know this, just knowing he had NP sails and SB boards, and I asked him if he was using the SLR wings. Nope. Neil Pryde.
Select to expand quoteXavierFerrer said..
Thanks for your opinions. In my case, Starboard make a big step forwards with the SLR wings, and I have made a big advance in terms of speed(from top speed of 26.5 knots and average of 25.5 with 650 EVO wing.
SB did make a step forward with the SLR wings (vs. the 725/650/575 Evo).
and while that progress may have been enough for you, it was not enough for top competitors (including their team riders) who found faster foils elsewhere: Select to expand quoteXavierFerrer said..
In the other hand, I can't understand why Blanca Alabau amb Matteo Iachino, part of Starboard team don't use Starboard foils, and both use Zfinsfoils
i just told you why above.
they want a chance at winning, not just make up the numbers for a race... and for that, they're going to ride the fastest foil they can get.Select to expand quoteXavierFerrer said..
I agree Starboard is living the olimpic dream with IQfoils, and forgetting the slalom foil as a priority.
that makes for nice slogan, but doesn't square with reality. for one thing, the iQFoil kit is set and no development on that front happens, so it's not like SB is prioritising iQFoil: they just have to produce it now and up the quality/consistency. on to the PWA, if it didn't matter much (or at all) to them, i doubt they would have worked on two tracks (one of them involving hiring someone with Luna Rossa AC75 design chops) to produce two lines of new foils.
contrary to your (and other's) belief, i think SB wants to do well in the PWA, and in fact, continuing to "live the Olympic dream" may depend on it: following the 2024 Olympics if the foil part of the kit comes up for re-evaluation, they would want to show that they can make a fast and competitive foil. results in the PWA would be a key component of that 
