Paul, Did you used to go to STHS??

Both the boards were reviewed in a recent Boards mag and both had really good reviews. The Carve planed a little earlier and the X Cite was a little faster. Going by the report you can't go wrong with either, may come down to preference on fittings and price.

Have a look at the most recent review here

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16968



The carves have had that ALOT of rave review - which gives them alot of credibility.

Starboard invented the modern freeride category 8 years ago with their first carves- while everyone else was making narrow hard release boards that gybed like pigs. So they tend to have a lead in the sweet ride / sweet gybe style boards.

The Carves gybe as well or better than the wave boards in the range -with the volume giving you drive through the arc. this means you can throw a 122 or 133 litre board into a full banking hard carve and come flying out just as fast as you went in!(with experience)

Nowadays some brands have responded with some good products in the freeride category - which is great for the industry as a whole.

Have a look at all the excellent reviews of the carves over the years on the Starboard website and you will get the idea.

quote:

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The carves have had that ALOT of rave review - which gives them alot of credibility.

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No it doesn't. It just means that Starboard has a huge advertising budget.

Auswind are the distributors of The Starboard brand here in Australia.

we do tend to be biased towards The Starboard Vision as we have a vested interest in the brand as well as input into much of the West Australian R and D that they do. (Starboard has solid aussie content which we are proud of in such a successful international brand)

However our position is very much to promote the growth of windsurfing as a sport rather than actively focus on taking market share from other brands. Having said that we will take every opportunity to promote our products where they perform with particular strength.

In the end we aim to offer an informed option to the consumer who has the final choice! As a major sponsor of Seabreeze we use this as a platform to deliver information - if it reads like hype or being bigoted we apologize - that is our enthusiasm for the sport and products coming through.

In review we still stand by our comments as being truthful and in good faith.

We will always back up info on the Starboard brand with test results, competition results or other forms of useful feedback.

It is no secret that Starboard has helped lead, through Start boards and widestyle board development that runs from Go boards right through to the smallest Evo, the modern resurgence of the global windsurfing industry. And make no mistake about it - Windsurfing is growing big time!

The inference that magazine reviews are influnced by advertising spend is an easy one to make on a forum but has little relation to reality - with many smaller players also releasing fantastic products that recieve solid reviews. This is excellent and good for product development,consumers and the industry as a whole.

Here at Auswind we also help sponsor and organise many of the state and national events that help define windsurfing in Australia.

Even more importantly we are committed to getting as many windsurfing schools as possible teaching on modern, super easy to use, windsurfing gear - for the future growth of the sport and the industry including all brands that share our continued longterm participation in and optimism for the excellent sport that is windsurfing in Australia.

As long as you state your affiliation I have no objection. If I know your posts are advertising I can read them as such.

Guys,

Thank you for your feedback. We will keep posts factual and do our best to provide an entertaining and useful information resource to seabreeze readers on this open forum.

All the best

Matt H and the team.
Auswind

Reviews that are posted are magazine reviews that are conducted as objectively as possible and in comparison with other brands and models. Usually using a panel of riders who are riding all the boards or sails comparitively.

Any affiliations are USUALLY ironed out by having a panel of riders from varying backgrounds at varying skill levels.

In Europe the magazine reviews ( especially German surf mag, the french mags and the UK mags) can make or break sales of a particular model.

As such when a magazine review says "this board compared to the others on test this board has outstanding speed" you can take that as a good indication that it does relative to the other boards on test.

It also pays to look at competition results and to check if that was done on production or custom gear. As an example - Antoine Albeau's recent run of wins on the has been done on production Isonics and Formulas. Pro Team riders often ride gear painted up as production - often from different shapers.

The next step is to try and get a demo on the particular board you have heard great things about. If it rides as well or better than your expectations then you know you are on to a winner.

In our experience personal reviews CAN be misleading as they are often done in a "vacuum" with little relativity to a baseline of performance. 1 voice saying my board gybes brilliantly gives you little idea of how that board compares to everything else.

Where a characteristic of a sail or board really stands out we may give a personal comment (such as outstanding competition performance ) - but in the pursuit of objectivity this will be rare.

We will endeavour to give as much feedback on gear as we can!

Thanks you for your suggestions!

look very hard at both the boards after you've told the pesky salesman to go and leave you alone.
check the lines, the shape, the finish, and work out which one of these toys you would like to own!
i love new boards, but you have to "want" to ride that board for the next season.
boards of similar design, volume, criteria, are....similar between brands.
of interest, check out which brand has good resale in your local area.
or see it in your garage in 20 years time.