Just added to the quiver. Here are some pics...

Nice one DJ, yes I saw the Pocket Rocket in the store. Gotta love that "No Forklift" sign on the box.

Thanks to Fab at RPS and Michael at Auswind for their patience.

After a relatively brief amount of time in the water, the Hero is an interesting experience for me. Even though it is rated as one of Starboard's most stable boards, I definitely found myself swimming a lot more than I have done on a Naish Mana. I can only imagine the Pocket Rocket would have been even more of a challenge, so it's worked out well in the end.

I don't know what the volume of the Hero is, but for the first time on a SUP, I noticed my 70kg frame was sinking the tail under water ever so slightly. Considering the fact that I can pretty much walk the length of the Pin, the Blend and the Naish 11'6" without getting my ankles wet, this is definitely a new experience. It obviously must have a fairly concise area of optimum balance.

Greenroom said...

NICE
I cant even get my board from my car to the water without being stopped by someone interested in the smooth looking TAC

Yeah it certainly attracts attention. How good is the star touch grip? Well, I think it's great, albeit that I was in the bay and less than 1 foot swell. My knees disagree as it took some skin off. Take 2 - I went for the full length wet suit.

Th0m0 said...

Very nice looking board. Of course you had to get a woody to go with your woody

I have the converse 9 x 30 and the centre fin on mine has a much more swept back tip on it than yours. Yours is a more conventional shape but I think it would be a bit longer as it has a 17 on it (which I think means cm long) where as mine is a 12cm. You shouldn't have any problems with floatation at your weight. I'm about 87kg and the converse keeps my feet pretty dry. I changed the side fins in mine as the supplied ones were a bit too flexy.

Yes the side fins do feel a bit lame. I'm sure you're right about the board floating me just fine, it's supposed to be built for much heavier riders than me. I was just intrigued by water over the tail of the board in flat water. I guess I just have to take a step forward.

Yeah interested to hear that you were getting wet feet at 70kg. But I spose its worth remembering that 9' is still pretty short, even if it is 33" wide

Great looking board regardless, am I right in thinking this is the one Terje Haakonsen (world famous snowboarder) had a hand in designing?