Today's Blog is a review on the Starboard 14' x 24" x 6" SUP Racing Board that we ordered for a customer. It is quite an impressive piece of equipment. I like to enjoy other peoples toys, without necessarily wanting to own them, this is one that would come in handy for travel adventures.
This series of boards are named "Air-line" after the ingenious method of stiffening the board. The red circle in this photo shows a plastic nose-cone. There is dynema string with a loop that hooks onto the front of the board, the string runs through the nose cone, along the bottom of the board and attaches to the fin box. This line puts the inflated board under tension and prevents it from folding or bending under the weight of the rider.
This photo shows where the dyneema (light, non-stretch synthetic rope used for kite-boarding lines) string attaches to the finbox.
This board is made for winning races, so it is light, it has no bungee straps, auxiliary air chambers, or excessive rubber deck grip, it is stripped down for speed and stiffened in the lightest ways currently available and easily transportable.
This fin has had excess plastic left out of the mould to reduce weight, it uses a clever FCS tool free method of installation and fast extraction. That little roller wheel engages with a corresponding slot in the housing and is held by the spring tension in its stainless steel axle.
Attention to detail, constant refinement, clever choice of materials and endless testing make Starboard products fantastic value for money with solid resale value. Notice the little note to aways wear a leash, even with a life jacket. The air-line system allows the board stiffness to be maintained at a more sane 18psi - leaving some capacity for additional expansion if the board is left in the full sun, (not recommended out of the water).
There are carbon fibres in the rail bands, and the most expensive German glues and pre-glue preparations are used. Inflatable products and indeed all items made with plastic or rubber tend to fall apart in the tropics, even without UV exposure. This is why we still recommend a hard board whenever possible for this part of the world. There is quite enough wasted hydrocarbons in landfill and sprayed onto crops already.
The board comes wrapped in paper rather than plastic, the book that comes with the board is also made from unbleached recycled paper.
The bag is a beautifully made piece of durable but lightweight luggage with fold away backpack straps and roller wheels.
The bag is made from recycled PET bottles, another example of the tireless commitment to genuinely lower the environmental impact of owning these toys. Nobody wants to race, train or explore on dirty polluted and life-less waters. SUP riders are not adrenaline junkies, they seek flow through dropping excess tension and aligning with gravity as they apply force. This creates a deep and lasting healing, rather than a shallow and expensive distraction.
Most importantly, the board is fast, very fast, it is taking podium places against hard shell boards, making the possibility of international travel cheaper and easier for athletes, coaches and amateur sports people.
In Thailand these boards retail for about 43,000THB, they come complete with Bag, Leash, fin and Pump, paddles are offered separately. Photographed on location at http://www.amarawatersports.com