Hi!!! I hope Marcos Gribbi can advise, please you are someone who helps us with your analisys and objective opinion. You are wellcomed.

In the past two year we have found Starboard PRO sup going into the surf sup further.
Smaller boards and light weight.Starboard won the Supmagazine innovation prize. Starboard sup pro avoided the channels in the boards, added small length and a new valvue to reduce weight.
New innovation and agressive differentiation we found.
I believe Starboard succeed.
However, after two years improving and innovating, Starboard seems to come into 2023 wirh a change in the Pro sup lijke going from 7,7 to 7,10 for 104liter, 8,0 to 8,2 for 120 litres, and also no open valves...but Starbord brings a new Spicy board.more estable and accesible!!
The point here is that I am lost. and there is no explanation.
No sales in 2022? Were 2021 or 2022 pro designs so surf designed and maybe difficult to access? However, what happen with Starboard awarded innovation prize? If so, why have decided Stardoard to change a succesfull and awarded sup board?

I believe buyers deserve an explanation.. How do you expect us to sell our second hand 2021 and 2022 boards( 2.500 eur purchase prize in best cases) if Starboard changes design dramatically?
Any opinion is welcommed!!!

Hi Antone,

Great questions indeed and I see how this could be confusing for sure!
Let me help to share a breakdown


Usually Starboard Pro models go through a 2 year model cycle so the models (regardless how good they are) get changed up. Race boards on the other hand usually go for a single year cycle and all round boards usually go around 5 years or so with maybe minor upgrades.


PRO
As the PRO is designed for Team riders/competition primarily, it's important to have their feedback on the new boards.
Team Riders wanted the pro to be longer and faster, better in large waves and tuned for performance in hollow waves and critical turns. The 2022 PRO was designed as a great competition board for every condition whereas the 2023 model is more focused as a performance competition board especially in medium and larger surf, steeper turns, more critical sup surfing. 2023 Pro comes with Thruster fins.


SPICE
Spice range is the mid range between Wedge and the PRO. The Spice has great performance in all wave conditions and has a wider outline, more stable width and plenty of volume. It's designed for medium waves, clean conditions, choppy conditions and can handle larger surf. It is not as fast as the PRO or as critical but is more stable and has a different feel with great performance. Comes as a Quad set up.


WEDGE
Wedge is the intermediate range that replaced the Wide Point range a few years ago. Wide, stable and easy riding. Great range for progressing in SUP Surfing.



Pro vs Spice vs Wedge:

All production boards are a compromise in many ways. And all brands change this compromise based on what they perceive of their market. And the SUP market has evolved quite a bit in different ways: riders technique has progressed, less people starting, lots of people moved to foiling, in full or in part, or returned to prone surfing...

For instance, Gong, which is arguably one of the most innovative SUP brand, had to reduce its line of boards a lot (at some point it has 4 different models in the less-than 7' but more than 100 liters range, 6 different models of longboard SUPs, ...) because the market numbers were not there anymore for too many lines. Some models ended up selling less than 3 boards / year.

So what you are seeing is basically all brands having now fewer SUP models, based around well-established "ecological niches":

For shortboard SUPs:
- the contest board, the "pro", pulled-in nose and tail, slow rocker for vertical surfing, for powerful waves and/or high level riding
- the "Tomo": wide and short for slow and/or small waves, ultra stable.
- the compromise, do-it-all, wider tips and faster rocker (= glide) than the "pro". The one to have if you have only one board. The backbone of a SUP line. For Infinity, this is the B-Line, for Gong the Karmen, etc... all brands have them. Starboard now has the Spice.

Also, due to the higher price of boards, and the customers having less money (crisis, inflation, other toys such as Wingfoiling), less people can afford SUP quivers and are looking more for compromise/hybrid shapes

PS: brands that change forcibly their line every year (even just cosmetically) must convince buyers that the 2023 model is much better than the 2022. That's their business model, otherwise they would go bankrupt because they think their customers expect different 2023 models than 2022. This implies a higher list price (stock issues, and some margins to offer rebates on end-of-season sales), and mechanically a reduced resale value for previous years models. That's the rule of their game, the game that was played by the Windsurfing industry (where Starboard has its roots). I knew a French Windsurfing brand that planned 5 generations of boards in advance, adding and removing features each year for the sake of novelty, basically acting like fashion brands.

You cannot have your cake and eat it. If you want good resale value, stick to brands that do not force changes to their line every year. For instance, for OZ brands SMiK, Sunova, Revolution (and others, One? ECS? LSD?) boards have the same look year after year if the shape stays the same. Same with Infinity, Jimmy Lewis, ... and many others.

PS #2: Industry "awards" often reward marketing innovations (how to make people buy the product) rather than technical advances

Thank to you both for your information and comments. Much appreciated.
The key point here is that I have a PRO 2020 7,10x 29' c 104 litres. And this is the best wave board I have had ever. Light, Speed surfing, stable and very manoeuvrable..
I do not see any thing new now in 2023 to change as Starboard has come back to 2020 design.. with similar format. but this can be taken as good news..

Thank to you both for your information and comments. Much appreciated.
The key point here is that I have a PRO 2020 7,10x 29' c 104 litres. And this is the best wave board I have had ever. Light, Speed surfing, stable and very manoeuvrable..
I do not see any thing new now in 2023 to change as Starboard has come back to 2020 design.. with similar format. but this can be taken as good news..

I would add that there is not a "best" board, each board is a compromise, that can fit better some people and some conditions.

So, for some people, some older models may be better than newer ones. It depends.

For instance in my quiver I will have 4 times the same model, the Gong Alley but slightly different:
- a 2019 8'1" 120L ultralight (5.8kg with pad), fast rocker: for mellow waves without chop.
- a 2022 8'1" 120:, less light (7.2kg with pad), lots of rocker, main width a bit forward: for bigger and hollower waves, even with chop, as the extra weight helps there.
- a 2019 7'8" 105L, ultralight (5.2kg) with pad), fast rocker: when I want a technical challenge for my 100kg
- (soon) a custom 7'10" 114L based on the 2022 shape, but ultralight with lots of rocker: It may end up being my favorite board.

Hi Antone,

Thank you very much for asking an opinion on the Starboard Pro. The reason I have not made my usual comparison this year is that I was not able to order the new 8'2 Pro because it was not ready for production when we placed our orders. So sadly for me I will have to wait another year until I can receive the new model.

As has been commented on above, boards do change and sometimes direction / design briefs may seem to go around in circles but this is in according to feedback from team riders, retailers and ultimately the consumer. In my last assessment of the 2021 8'0 Pro I felt that it was possibly the best surfing SUP / Pro that Starboard has released but at the compromise of stability, glide and speed in larger waves.

My feedback to Starboard was that I would prefer a board that was a little longer as in my local conditions I need the glide for early entry onto my typical waves. Also as I sometimes travel to a wave with heavier / larger conditions, the longer rail length always helps with speed on faster moving waves. I also thought that the stability need to be addressed through reducing the rail thickness and flattening the deck with a view to bring volumes back down and more reflective of the stability of the board.

Looks like Starboard has taken some of this feedback on board in creating the latest version of the Pro. Unfortunately I cannot comment on actual performance and what the changes mean in real world conditions, but I like the direction the board has gone for me personally.

This may reflect as a departure from the last version but hopefully the same surfing characteristics can be maintained and some areas where improvements are made. That is always the fun in a new board, working around the changes, making adjustments to how you surf and always progressing in understanding how boards work. I don't see this as a negative and that my last board is a loss, just that I get to work through a new learning curve. Yes sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, everybody has a different feel for what they like in a board and that's the beauty in surfing.

SPICE
With regards to the Spice, this was a board I felt was missing from the Starboard range and a model that we had been asking Starboard for for sometime. The design brief was for a model to sit between the Wedge and Pro and targeting the progressive intermediate rider looking for a performance shape in a stable platform. Having just received the Spice it looks great and exactly what we where chasing, that gives Starboard a model that is very competitive to what some other brands have released.

So far the interest has been great and feedback is that the Spice has very good entry onto the wave by releasing quickly and generating very good speed via the quad fins. The Spice also seems to very manoeuvrable and turns of the tail very well for a wider board. The volume is reduced over the Wedge and the rails have been refined to be thinner at the top line through to the apex. The other main area to be addressed was that the rail profile was to be a bit straighter with the wide point further back towards the standing area, this allows for better / later drops and being less affected by the wind in the turn and when going out through the break.

All in all I think the Spice hits the nail on the head for what we wanted, just hope I can get onto the water soon and try it out for myself.



I hope all this helps some


Cheers,
Marco