Hey guys, just took out the Ace 14 X 25 today from sunshine to peregian, according to seabreeze it was 20 knots. unfortuantly I didnt get any pics. I fell off quite a few times but it went really fast and caught the runners really well, especially when I caught them at an angle. Great downwind board, I havent tried the coast runner yet in a downwind but am sure it would be good as well. The Ace 27 would have been great in todays winds.
Trev

Hi guys,

I've been thinking about getting a 14ft ocean race board.
The usage will be some distance racing both in open waters and downwind.
My weight changes a bit during the year, but always in the heavy weight range (1,92m and 95-105 kg).

I live in Portugal and I'm one of the Starboard national team riders, but the race scene hasn't kicked off here (yet) and it's kind of hard to try different boards.

I'm wondering if the 27" 14ft Ace would be a good board to someone as heavy as me. I've also seen the images of the new 27.5" 14ft All Star and I'm also keeping an eye on it, but the volume is a lot lower.
I think the all star will be a more versatile shape, allowing racing, downwinding and bop stile races.

I don't think balance is a problem since at 105kg, I've been surfing the 8'5 Pro (123 liters) with no problem in the last 4 or 5 months.

Can anyone in my weight range give me some insight?

Thanks,
Johnny

Hey Jonny

The 27 ace sounds perfect for you! the 25 is best for flat but the 27 is alot more stable and better in downwinding. I have a friend who took the 25 ace and 27 around Kawana lake, there was only a minute difference over 4.25. I suppose a minute seems like a long time but the 25 did it in 28 minutes and the 27 did it in 29. I am pretty sure the 27 ace is still faster than the coast runner and open ocean, but I have not raced them.
Hope this helps!! Trev

IMO you should be fine at your weight on a 27" wide dug-out (Ace) but you should try and demo one first and see how you like being locked into that parallel stance and needing to hop to move forward or back.. The new All Star is looking like it might be better if you like to move around the board more and get that surfing stance happening.

DJ

Thanks for your replies boys!

I think this may be a really interesting option for me.
The pin tails scares me a bit, since i will be using the board in open ocean, but I think that both the volume and the nose shape are really good for that matter.

As for the All Star, I like several things:
- New model, with an up to date shape
- Wide tail (stability, bop races)
- flat deck (no water bogging)
- you can move your feet as you want to

On the other hand, when I check 2013's Starboard line up and I still see the ACE next to the ALL STAR and the SPRINT models, I'm sure that it proves that the Ace board is still a fast shape, and it seems to me that they may have done some changes on the board to make it surf better. Starboard claims it's an updated shape and it surfs and turns better. They sell it as an all conditions board.

A mix between the former ace and the coast runner for 2013???

The 2013 Ace shape will apparently have a flatter deck so the footwells are less pronounced, less of a ridge in the middle. But even with the 2012, I don't "hop" in mine, that's a choice that others make in the way they trim the board. It's just as easy to walk naturally although you just can't cross step as you might do on a longboard. The 25" is definitely faster than the 27" but if you are often in choppy conditions, you have to factor the time of extra falls. The 27" is super stable in all but the most challenging conditions. I think the All Star will definitely be a slower board than the Ace but it will be more stable standing at the back when you are riding a big wave face and want to avoid pearling. The Ace in those conditions is almost uncontrollable if you are standing at the back in the pin tail. As for water in the recessed deck, the drainage is so good on the 2012+ models that you don't even notice it. But if you want to do any BOP style racing and you're only getting one board, I'd opt for the All Star as the Ace just doesn't do that well enough and I doubt they can fix that even with the shape update. Having said that, even with your weight, the mid size 26" All Star might be challenging but a good compromise to offer you speed in flatter conditions along with reasonable stability generally, and more responsive surfing, given that you have the skills. As for volume, I just wouldn't compare the Ace volume with the All Star as the design gives the Ace volume reading a false impression of stability. Compare the volume of the All Star with boards from other brands, but not the Ace.

Thanks for your help PT,

The thing is that at ?100kg, I have no idea on what is a decent volume if I want to get some swell.

Here in Peniche, we have some islands which sit at 15 and 22 km from the local harbour. If we're paddling the distance, we'll be getting a lot of ocean swell. Having that in mind, which would be your advice on the width of a 14' All Star?

Here is a video on a downwind (without enough wind) our surf club promoted this year:
http://www.penichemar.tv/desporto9607.html

I was asked to take my boat for event safety purposes, so no paddling for me!

Johnny
I have the Ace 27" AST construction, post about it here:
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/Review/Starboard-14-Ace-27/

It's an awesome board and very stable compared to the 25". Only gripe is the weight lifting on and off car. The All Star looks great, however you'll really only know after a demo.
Just remember that width in choppy conditions assists youto put power down without having balance issues that can wear you out quickly in a race. Good luck.

I rode the Ace 27 in AST at the nationals a little while ago and actually think the added weight helped when rounding the lighthiouse where it was a bit washy. The extra weight meant it wasn't getting pushed around as much, but didn't help carrying it to the beach. The 27 wide also helped as even speaking to Dave K after the race he mentioned there were times were he was waving his paddle around in the air for balance and was joking that the rescue crew didn't think he was in trouble.

I have also DW'ed the 25 Ace here in Perth in the river where there is no confusion from ocean swells and everything lines up quite nicely and absolutely loved it and it more than held it's own in 25+knts.

I'm looking forward to getting my All Star later in the year.

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JohnnyMaya said...

Here's a pic of the new all star:

Thanks for the pic.. Great to see they've put a handle where one should be..

DJ

my take on the 25" ace. flies, no doubt about that. enjoyable, well for me- no. i didn't fall out in the three dw runs i did, but i felt like i was going to most of the time. the fact is that our runs are ocean, so always some cross stuff there.

being locked in didn't thrill me either. coming through surf its a dog of a thing

i think if you like surfing your dw ers or are a hardcore life long surfer this board isn't for you.


as a racing board at present in most conditions it is the' king' in its class

Jonny, do you know what size (length and width) the Allstar in the pic is?

Thx Mark

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Carman said...

Jonny, do you know what size (length and width) the Allstar in the pic is?

Thx Mark

I'm pretty sure Annabel was using the 12'6 x 25" All Star for that race.