marco gribi said..

Rider: Experienced
Weight: 76kg
Starboard affiliated

Finally had the chance to ride our Carbon demo board in some pretty small beach break conditions.

Definitely an improvement over the 2013 version, the attributes taken from the Airborn liven the board up nicely. Normally I don't enjoy the wider thicker railed boards as I just don't have the weight to drive the board from rail to rail as I would like and I find they require too much leg strength to turn.

However the thinned down rails have made the turn ability much better and I could pump the board along quite easily to generate speed. They have also seemed to improve the entry onto the wave as it paddled in pretty easily onto small slop.

For me the stability is a non issue but I am sure the bigger guys are still going to find the 123L easy enough as the flatter deck seems real stable.

I think I actually prefer the new 8'2 over the 31.5 Airborn, just seemed to be more user friendly straight out of the box.


Cheers,
Marco

Hi Marco, How was it for getting over whitewater and catching waves? Does it zig-zag much? Im bout 93 kilo and seriously thinking about getting the 8'2. Did you use the standard fins and where did you have them positioned?

Hi Windara,

I cannot really comment on getting over white water as I was not faced with anything much over 1' and it did that with ease
As I mentioned it was pretty small but I did find that it was pretty easy at catching a wave, even small ones. They have really refined the bottom shape and I feel this helps with entry onto the wave.

I did not really notice any more zig zagging than what you would normally expect from a smaller board, seemed to paddle pretty true but this is can also be a technique thing.

The board was setup with supplied fins and with the larger 4.7's at the front and the 4.5's at the back. This setup worked pretty well, the board was loose, plenty of drive and the ability to pump along. So I would be pretty happy like this supplied as a stock setup, obviously from there you can make tweaks for personal preference.


Hi SaltH2O,

I don't dislike the 31.5" but for a low volume board and the slight improvement in stability over the 30" I would go the 30" every single time for my weight. If I was looking for a board with more stability and all round fun factor the new 8'2 is a pretty good option with the new changes for 2014. For me the 31.5 did need a fin tweak to get it turning better and it did make a big difference in feel, but for a board of this width I would probably go the new 8'2.


Cheers,
Marco

Can anyone say whether these boards will be available to demo at Merimbula in a few weeks?

Hi Cyberhusky,

We are making the annual trip from Perth to Merimbula again this year and with even more boards.

Below is a list of some of what we are bringing with us

7'1 x 24 Pro
7'4 x 25.5 Pro
7'4 x 28 Airborn
7'7 x 27 Pro
7'10 x 30 Airborn
7'10 x 31.5 Airborn
8'0 x 28 Pro
8'2 x 32 Wide Point
8'5 x 29 Pro
8'5 x 30 Pocket Rocket
8'10 x 32 Wide Point
9'0 x 29 Pro
9'0 x 30 Converse
9'5 x 32 Wide Point
9'8 x 30 Element
10' 0 x 30 Nose Rider
10'0 x 34 Whopper
10'5 x 30 Drive
10'5 x 32 Wide Point
12'2 x 30 Freeride

2014 Race Boards
10'6 x 24 Junior All Star
12'6 x 25.5 All Star Turtle Bay
12'6 x 28 All Star
14'0 x 28 All Star
14'0 x 25 Ace
14'0 x 26 Sprint

And a few inflatables

After Merimbula many of these boards will be staying over East and on the road with Rod for additional demo days up and down the coast.


Cheers,
Marco

See you all in a few weeks

dkeating said...
Any itinerary of the locations.
wil the boards be coming to Vic? what dates places etc.

Hey mate, the Demo Trailer headed down to Vicco for a week straight after Merimbula, and ran a bunch of demo sessions whilst there, then headed up to Qld after the Great Melbourne Paddle. It was advertised on here so a bummer that you didn't see it and get the chance to try the range.

Maybe get in touch with a few of the local starboard retailers and see whether they have any in store demo stock. Strapper Surf at Torquay and RPS & The ZU in Melbourne all sell Starboards, but being from QLD I'm not sure what they hold in the way of demo stock. Hopefully you can find one to have a go :)

you would think so seeing they are based in Perth but I havn't seen any dates for demo's etc

THis board looks the ticket. Any tried it with a sail in the waves?