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805StandUp said..
In case any of you haven't seen the Supboarder review... looks really nice:

Looks very nice because there is a lot of waves with nobody on them, do you know where this is?I assume its -5degrees

Looks like Cornwall or Devon

Polzeath in north Cornwall, usually absolutely rammed!

anyone seen the 2019 8,3 in stores yet?

....anyone comment on the STARLITE construction please? Cant afford the carbon - but the starlite seems about the same construction and weight as JP any way? And (in UK) about ?1200 quid...JP pro is ?1900 and starboard carbon way over ?2k GBP. (I was interested also in the Fanatic but mixed feeling on longevity in the new construction?)
Thanks!

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northy1 said..
....anyone comment on the STARLITE construction please? Cant afford the carbon - but the starlite seems about the same construction and weight as JP any way? And (in UK) about ?1200 quid...JP pro is ?1900 and starboard carbon way over ?2k GBP. (I was interested also in the Fanatic but mixed feeling on longevity in the new construction?)
Thanks!

Hi Northy1,

Just weighed a Starlite 8'3 and it is 8.1kg, that is 1.3kg heavier than my Flax Balsa construction.

The construction of the Starlight boards is pretty solid, the Carbon Innegra rails have made a big difference to quality / durability.

Having ridden the same boards in different constructions back to back my take on it is that the lighter constructions just release from the water earlier which allows you to initiate turns sooner. With the new shape and rail changes the Flax Balsa boards no longer feel as corky and sit lower in the water anyway. This eliminates some of the differences in the past with how either construction felt.

All in all there is not a lot in it but the Flax Balsa is just that bit crisper, worth the extra money??
I don't think it is as much as it used to be

Cheers,
Marco

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marco gribi said..

northy1 said..
....anyone comment on the STARLITE construction please? Cant afford the carbon - but the starlite seems about the same construction and weight as JP any way? And (in UK) about ?1200 quid...JP pro is ?1900 and starboard carbon way over ?2k GBP. (I was interested also in the Fanatic but mixed feeling on longevity in the new construction?)
Thanks!

Hi Northy1,

Just weighed a Starlite 8'3 and it is 8.1kg, that is 1.3kg heavier than my Flax Balsa construction.

The construction of the Starlight boards is pretty solid, the Carbon Innegra rails have made a big difference to quality / durability.

Having ridden the same boards in different constructions back to back my take on it is that the lighter constructions just release from the water earlier which allows you to initiate turns sooner. With the new shape and rail changes the Flax Balsa boards no longer feel as corky and sit lower in the water anyway. This eliminates some of the differences in the past with how either construction felt.

All in all there is not a lot in it but the Flax Balsa is just that bit crisper, worth the extra money??
I don't think it is as much as it used to be

Cheers,
Marco

Hi Marco.

Having recently acquired the 2019 Starboard Longboard in PineTek construction I can vouch for the flax rails after accidentally swinging it into my garage wall.
Survived the impact with barely a mark fortunately.

Beautiful construction these new 2019 boards.

The only question I have is I can't see any vents in the deck so how do they deal with air expansion in the board?

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xurfxup said..

marco gribi said..

northy1 said..
....anyone comment on the STARLITE construction please? Cant afford the carbon - but the starlite seems about the same construction and weight as JP any way? And (in UK) about ?1200 quid...JP pro is ?1900 and starboard carbon way over ?2k GBP. (I was interested also in the Fanatic but mixed feeling on longevity in the new construction?)
Thanks!

Hi Northy1,

Just weighed a Starlite 8'3 and it is 8.1kg, that is 1.3kg heavier than my Flax Balsa construction.

The construction of the Starlight boards is pretty solid, the Carbon Innegra rails have made a big difference to quality / durability.

Having ridden the same boards in different constructions back to back my take on it is that the lighter constructions just release from the water earlier which allows you to initiate turns sooner. With the new shape and rail changes the Flax Balsa boards no longer feel as corky and sit lower in the water anyway. This eliminates some of the differences in the past with how either construction felt.

All in all there is not a lot in it but the Flax Balsa is just that bit crisper, worth the extra money??
I don't think it is as much as it used to be

Cheers,
Marco

Hi Marco.

Having recently acquired the 2019 Starboard Longboard in PineTek construction I can vouch for the flax rails after accidentally swinging it into my garage wall.
Survived the impact with barely a mark fortunately.

Beautiful construction these new 2019 boards.

The only question I have is I can't see any vents in the deck so how do they deal with air expansion in the board?

Hi xurfxup,

Air vents where removed about 4 years ago, they actually caused more problems than they solved. We found that people over used them and quite often forgot to screw them back in causing water ingress. This is possibly the worst damaged that can be done to the long term integrity of the board.

Over these years we have minimal / next to no issues relating to heat caused by not having an air vent. If a problem does occur it will usually be very quick as heat will identify any issues related to poor manufacturing.

I travel a fair bit and leave my boards in some pretty hot places in WA and have never had an issue related to pressure from not having a bung.

Cheers,
Marco

Select to expand quote

marco gribi said..

northy1 said..
....anyone comment on the STARLITE construction please? Cant afford the carbon - but the starlite seems about the same construction and weight as JP any way? And (in UK) about ?1200 quid...JP pro is ?1900 and starboard carbon way over ?2k GBP. (I was interested also in the Fanatic but mixed feeling on longevity in the new construction?)
Thanks!

Hi Northy1,

Just weighed a Starlite 8'3 and it is 8.1kg, that is 1.3kg heavier than my Flax Balsa construction.

The construction of the Starlight boards is pretty solid, the Carbon Innegra rails have made a big difference to quality / durability.

Having ridden the same boards in different constructions back to back my take on it is that the lighter constructions just release from the water earlier which allows you to initiate turns sooner. With the new shape and rail changes the Flax Balsa boards no longer feel as corky and sit lower in the water anyway. This eliminates some of the differences in the past with how either construction felt.

All in all there is not a lot in it but the Flax Balsa is just that bit crisper, worth the extra money??
I don't think it is as much as it used to be

Cheers,
Marco

Thank you Marco - thats very informative!

Few days ago had a chance to try out the 2019 8'3 x 29 in Flax Balsa construction. It was 10 to 15 knot onshore, short wave period, 3-5' (ocean buoy) shorebreak, at least 500m to get out the back and even then the odd ugly big rogue would appear from way way out. Bloody awful and big but I was desperate!
Couldn't believe how stable it felt and how well it punched through white water. I'm 65kg so it's a big board for me. Very easy to catch the waves even with chopped up lumpy faces and felt super controllable, smooth and fast in those conditions.
I've paddled the 8'5 from last year and it always felt way too big for me, didn't ever really click. Need to try the 8'3 in better conditions but was blown away by how nice it felt in super crappy stuff, not at all what I expected from a performance shape. Now I really want to try the 7'10 x 28....