have you try a S.U.P.?

ANY IDEA ABOUT THE NEW S.U.P. SIZE 11.2ft FROM STARBOARD?

Hey Moonez
now we are talking ...Quatro is developing the same project and I CAN NOT WAIT to receive mine,( I hope before winter)
Sean Ordonez has already been doing them for a coulple of years and is the way to go, the Mistral one is really cool too and easy to approach with soft deck and mast track . I believed that the Starboard one will go just great. Not to sure about the mast track
but I guess it will give you more options. Anyway lets move forward, good for Mind & Soul in the windless days and damn good for your abs!
Ciao
Alberto

thanks marco for your review! do you can tell me the difference from the size 12.2 and 12.6?and what about the mast track it is fix position?let me know what you think about wavesailingin light wind!best regads moonez

Hi Again All,

OK, spent several hours this morning on the SUP's we have. Normally I would never get out of bed on a day like today to go down to the water as I do not surf or paddle boats. However as we have these 2 boards to try before we sell them I thought I would make an effort.

I am so totally stoked that I did, this morning was SSE at about 8 knots and a sizeable wave for Dutchies. Firstly I tried the 12'2 just as a paddle board but found I was still a bit wobbly and especially as my legs still hurt from the previous day. Still managed to get about well enough and found the best stance to be with the feet level on the rails and facing forward. Today we had full length paddles of about 85" this meant you can stand straight and put the blade deep through the water.

As the wind was light I then decided to place a 5.0 rig on and try the board for windsurfing. The mast base has 2 position to choose from, with the mast base screwing stright into a threaded lug. This is where the board totally blew me away, I have never been out wave sailing in such light conditions and feeling like I was actually out truley wavesailing a longboard. To be out with Mal ridders, surf ski's, goat boats and the odd short board was crazy and I am sure they weren't stoked because I was picking up heaps of waves. You realy get the feeling that when you steer the board on the wave you have to walk to different positions to turn the board for a bottom turn then top turn, it was a weird feeling but felt great to be out in such light conditions.

I then tried the 12'6 to paddle surf and managed to get a full wave ride for the first time. You cannot imagine the buzz I got to be surfing when I have never tried before, it almost felt like I was cheating somehow. The 12'6 was much more stable and made paddling to catch a wave alot easier to do, the extra width helps alot in this area. I did not try the rig on this board.

It was then back to the 12'2 for another session of catching heaps of waves, the glide on this board is super smoothe and you can actually get planning quite easy. The board goes upwind very easy and with only the small tail fin remained very balanced, never spun out on a wave or just getting around. At the end of a ride it was easier to tack but you need to be quick a very precise with the feet as the board only has grip just after the mast base. We have chosen not to spoil the look of the board by using wax but this can be done. to gybe the board took some practice but can be done in a wideish arc, tacking was simpler and made catching waves alot easier.

Anyway that was my day of 3 hours on the water where I would never have been before, the only thing was that my legs hurt and was to stuffed to go sailing when the wind picked up in the afternoon. But I had all those waves to myself when nobody even thought of going for a sail.

Cheers
Marco

Hi,

The Starboard SUP should retail around the same price as an average sailboard approx $2000.00, you will also need a paddle to suit and they can range from $150.00 to $500.00.

If the weather permits we will anounce a Demo down at dutchies this coming weekend. I am afraid we will not let the boards to far out of our sight for the time being, so a demo down at saftey bay may have to wait for a while.

Here is a link to the Starboard website for further info

http://www.star-board.com/viewpage.php?page_id=68

Cheers

Hi All,

If you are keen to checkout and ride Starboards SUP, come along to Dutch Inn between 8 - 10am Saturday 14th.

Cheers
Marco

Auswind

Hi Folks,

Pink Floyd works all right on surfing sound tracks! Not so sure about the cutback side of the riding thing though. These don't seem to come too naturally to the SUPs...


Jens

just recive this email/REVIEW from a friend ,Graig !

Took the SUP out for a paddle.
I sucked.
Here's the proof: www.pbase.com:443/hughden/sup

Put a sail on it with the center fin attached.
Well, it just wanted to point straight into the wind. When I did get
speed up it was railing like crazy.

Today I went for a paddle in very small waves.
I was able to balance much better and even caught some tiny wavelets.

I Put a 6.5M sail on and played around, I left the center fin out
this time.

This board is a dedicated Wave Board. It is essentially a Malibu
surfboard. (not sure how much longer or wider it is if at all)

Now I really started to have fun.
I surfed in the shore-break for an hour.
The small fin allowed me to ride the waves all the way into ankle
deep water.
With the sail to power me. I was able to get onto and ride un-
breaking swell that was really small.
The wind was very light. But the board is quite fast and points
upwind fine with just the rear fin.

Tacking in the shore-break in ankle deep water was easy.
It gybes well also. Though, it will take me a while to understand how
to carve on the beautiful long tucked under rail.

Later the wind picked up and I put a 7.5M Glide on. Still with the
tiny rear fin only.

Sailed great upwind no spin out. Sailing without footstraps is
tricky, the rail of the board is slippery but the EVA deck is great.
I could get onto waves that barely existed.
The board works much better with a small maneuverable sail though,
the extra power of the Glide tended to just sink the back of the
board and slow it down when I closed the sail.

Really have an excuse to buy sexy small wave sails now.

Later I took the board out again with just the paddle.
My balance had improved a great deal already and I caught a wave
straight away.

Had a lot of laughs today, using terms like "out the back" or "in the
lineup".

These boards will be very popular just for the shear fun factor.
Easy and fun to wave sail on tiny mush.

Very stable and forgiving as a windsurfer.

Give yourself time if you want to stand up paddle wave ride though.
I was using the smaller model and it is not easy.

It is a skill that will develop surprisingly quickly I suspect, if
you are having fun.