Just picked up my new 2015 8ft x 28" Starboard Pro and am pretty stoked on how it presents so far.

Initial Observations

Love the new brighter graphics, the orange is a nice contrast down at the business end of the board!

New Fin System - The FCS 2 Fin box system has really stepped up this year, the fins fit much flusher and feel very sturdy when anchored home, apparently the take another type of FCS Fin system as well that is a load and snap fixing. (where you don’t need to use the grub screws at all)

New ergonomic carry handle, which fits into the fingers snugly

Weight seems about the same as last year, pretty light

I note the literage has slightly increased on the 2015 from 96 l the previous year to 105 l this year, they say this does not alter the performance and was needed with the modifications that where made to the shape.

I will post a review after our boat trip tomorrow.

That looks sick Ian!

Looks real nice. Whats your weight and height?

I am 83kg on a good week and am around 5 10"

took me a bit to get used to the 2014, but now would not go back to anything much bigger, as i want to surf these boards.

i have the 7 7" coming as well which could be a bit of a challenge !

- but that will be for smooth conditions only.

Would you say it feels more stable than the 2014 board?

Windara, i have not ridden it yet,

but seeing as you asked i am going to try in in the pool now for a stability test,

back to you in 15

Felt really nice,

and i did not fall in so that is always a good sign,

i am calling a tad more stable than the 2014, perhaps just 5 - 10% % more stable or so

as you can see it seems to float my 83kg pretty well, with just some water lapping over the deck.

That's making me nervous just looking at the photos
Please don't flick that nice new board into the side of your pool

Nice work! Thanks again for the photos. How bout get a few mates to jump in the pool to get a little wave going? :)

Hey loz, I see you are getting the 7'7 aswell. Would love for you to do a review of this board aswell and give a comparison to the new 8 x 28. And some pictures if possible :)

Thanks in advance and cheers for the great reviews on the 8x28 and the 8x29

Meant to post this question here, not on the 8.0 x 29 thread: How does this board compare to the 2012 8.0 x 28 x 110 version? Thx!

Hey Loz,
How are the new boards going? Have you had the chance to get a few decent surfs on them yet? Would love to get a detailed review of their performance and stability in the surf.

Cheers

Hi Ios, also curious how the boards handle the surf

Hey Roznal,

the 8ft goes well in the surf, with no real surprises.

I did not try the 2014 / 2015 back to back but to me they felt quite similar

I find with the 8ft compared to say the 8 5" it is easier to get the 8ft more vertical on the wave,

and easier to do round house turns with the reduction in length/ volume

this years 8 ft is a bit more stable than last year with the volume going from 97l to 105l, so that is nice when it gets choppy.

Hey loz,
Have u got your 7'7 x 27 yet. And have u surfed it

Yeah brave boy jumping on it the pool , must be confident. Nice looking tail and sweet board , is it just the photo or do those fins have massive toe in.

I surfed the 7 7" the other day and loved it,

the waves where small and it seemed just to fit in to the pocket that much better,

i was surprised how stable it was compared to last years,

the conditions where quite smooth and with my 84 kg it did not buck me off.

Cheers for the feed back. Would love to see a few pictures of it to see the new 2015 shape compared to the 2014 model.

Thanks Ioz - is your 7'7 a carbon or ?
I'm 86kgs and had a go on 2014 7'7 wood few months back - i didn't even think i would be able to stand on it but surpisingly could and even more surprsingly got a few waves !..i loved the size but in the end decided it was too tippy so interested to hear the 2015 is more stable - how much more stable would you say it was and is the stability beacuse of extra volume ?
Cheers and hope ya get lots more good days on it

The 2015 7 7" seems a lot more stable than last year / perhaps 20% or so so though I did not try them back to back so it could b I am just getting more used to smaller boards ??

It looks like the 7 7" is going to be my go to board unless it's choppy as I like that surf board feel on the wave and for me it's all about the wave and not any other.

and if that means prone paddling some times or whatever it takes then so be it !

- yes it is a carbon

if anyone wants to try these boards around Perth or dwn Sth this summer ( Sth west of WA) let me know as i am happy to swap boards for a while during a sesh )

Many thanks Ioz - great feedback to hear and hope you have a great summer

Cheers for the feedback Loz

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Bender said..
That looks sick Ian!

I have an 8ft x 28" Starboard Pro and am Very happy with it. Take it out most mornings on narrabeen lake for a paddle and out on the ocean when it's calm. I'm a beginner when it comes to paddle boarding but I'm improving quickly with lots of time to paddle at the moment. I would recommend this.

I had a go on the 2015 8 x 28 at Merimbula, to me at 68kg it felt way more stable than last years 8 x 28. In fact it made me wish I'd gone for that as my big board instead of the new 8 x 29 which to be honest feels too big for me .

I've got last years 7'7 and think I'll hang onto it, just love the board and the tippy-ness is actually fine once you spend some time on it.

Compared to the 2012 8 x 28 the later boards are in a different league IMO. My 2012 always felt too corky and quite unstable, it was fun and at the time the smallest board I'd had, but now I feel more comfortable on the 2014 7'7. And there is just no comparison with how they surf. Guess it's a matter of getting used to less volume but I think having the board a little more underwater makes it less affected by wind chop on the surface.