All the photos I have seen online of the Starboard Whopper only show the deck and bottom, does anyone have a photo that shows the rocker profile?

I would say you would find a Whopper in 90% of stores, best way to see the rocker...

had one for a while....its a nice stable board ideal for a learner.....but also dependable and trustworthy in a bit of size also

Do you think it is necessary to buy a board to learn on and then sell it and get something else? Or could a learner buy a board like the Starboard Hero and just keep that?

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slanton said..

Do you think it is necessary to buy a board to learn on and then sell it and get something else? Or could a learner buy a board like the Starboard Hero and just keep that?

Its hard to have one board for all conditions but I think you need to work out what conditions you will be riding in most of the time and try to get a board to suit that. Starboards are great boards, light and strong and if you can resist buying a board for as long as possible and demo, hire, borrow a few different boards then it will save buying and selling and probably losing money. Im riding the 8'2 wide point and for the conditions I mostly ride in, its suits me fine ( for now) . Hope that helps

Great advice...thanks.

I Used to have the whopper and I can definitely reccomend it it is super stable and turns quite easy it really catches waves super easy and let's you into waves you didn't think you were going to catch. It is a great board to learn on but it is a very big board and you will probably end up wanting something smaller. I now have a starboard hero which I use for choppy onshore conditions ( I also have a JP 9'2 surf I use most of the time) I don't really like the hero, I probably haven't given it a fair go but from what I've experienced it is a bit of a pig a bit too wide for its length, it is very easy to turn but a bit slow and doesn't catch waves really well like some other boards. You could learn on this board bit I wouldn't reccomend it and either way you'd probably end up looking for something smaller.
If I were you I'd look for a big board second hand for a good price something with a bit of width if you get a good buy you can always sell it again down the track for a similar price to what you bought it. It's definitely a good idea to learn on an easy board as if you start on something too difficult it can slow your learning curve and lessen your enjoyment.
For background I am 105 kg's 6'4 supping 1.5 years