Purchased a Starboard iSonic 107 recently I think its a 2012 and have had some rather unnerving experiences. I bought the board as my off the wind higher wind board (I'm 100 Kgs) and wanted to run a 7.8/7m on it. I've had some experience with other small slalom boards but am by no means an expert.

Board is fantastically early to plane and goes up wind well however when i turn off the wind the following happens:

Suddenly my heels catch (feels like front and back) I get a face full of water (from my heels) and the board slows down and bears off the wind which is of course a horrible combination (I think its possessed). I've tried it with a couple of fins and different sails. Is this a case of moving the straps forward/inboard or is it something in different about these boards when they run off the wind? I've not had this happen on any other board before kinda at a loss to explain it.

Appreciate any advise, anyone know a good exorcist?

Sounds like a sad case of "bigfoot" syndrome... No known cure.

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ikw777 said...
Sounds like a sad case of "bigfoot" syndrome... No known cure.

dang!

Board trim on slaloms is more important/noticeable than other boards because the straps are basically on the rail for max leverage. I'm no expert but I reckon the key things are:
max commitment to harness taking so you are not "standing on the board"
front foot toes are curled up and you are lifting the rail up
back foot toes are applying pressure down so, again, lifting the rail or at least keeping it flat.

If you look at some pros, particularly on wide lightwind slaloms, the windward rail is slightly higher. It's even more noticeable on Formula boards.

BUT - you need a fin that will give you the lift to do this. I'm guessing at you weight a "lifty" fin of 40-42cms?

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paddymac said..

Board trim on slaloms is more important/noticeable than other boards because the straps are basically on the rail for max leverage. I'm no expert but I reckon the key things are:
max commitment to harness taking so you are not "standing on the board"
front foot toes are curled up and you are lifting the rail up
back foot toes are applying pressure down so, again, lifting the rail or at least keeping it flat.

If you look at some pros, particularly on wide lightwind slaloms, the windward rail is slightly higher. It's even more noticeable on Formula boards.

BUT - you need a fin that will give you the lift to do this. I'm guessing at you weight a "lifty" fin of 40-42cms?

Ah right that's probably part of the problem, i must have been under finned the last couple of times, i think yesterday I tried a 36 with the 7.8 and the but had also tried a 38 a couple of times with the same result. I have a 41 so Ill try that, I use that fin most of the time on my iSonic 121 but its a heck of a lot wider

Thanks paddymac

Curtis,
For me anyway you really have to be forceful with the iSonics and trim the board efficiently - as mentioned above make sure the windward rail is level or fractionally higher than the leeward rail with the front leg locked in straight and the back slightly bent (also a straight leading arm with harness lines and front hand position back so rig is in a more upright i.e. powerful position) . Having a look at your avatar photo this is what not to do - as you can see the windward rail is digging in thereby causing heel strike.

Also as Paddymac said a 40cm fin could help with board lift. Of course you can go smaller when really powered up but smaller doesn't always mean faster if underpowered.

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sausage said..

Curtis,
For me anyway you really have to be forceful with the iSonics and trim the board efficiently - as mentioned above make sure the windward rail is level or fractionally higher than the leeward rail with the front leg locked in straight and the back slightly bent (also a straight leading arm with harness lines and front hand position back so rig is in a more upright i.e. powerful position) . Having a look at your avatar photo this is what not to do - as you can see the windward rail is digging in thereby causing heel strike.

Also as Paddymac said a 40cm fin could help with board lift. Of course you can go smaller when really powered up but smaller doesn't always mean faster if underpowered.

Cheers mate Ill give it a go, yeah the avatar photo is about 3 meters from shore and I'm decelerating but i get your point. Normally I'm fairly comfortable off the wind but this board seems to have really caught me out upwind/across is fine just the moment I go broad ...bang!

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tilldark said..

yeah the avatar photo is about 3 meters from shore and I'm decelerating but i get your point.

That's the problem !!! Isonics are not fast enough.... I have to decelerate 20 metres from shore !!!

Just kidding I know sh!t about isonics a part they look nice !!!

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seanhogan said...

tilldark said..

yeah the avatar photo is about 3 meters from shore and I'm decelerating but i get your point.

That's the problem !!! Isonics are not fast enough.... I have to decelerate 20 metres from shore !!!

Just kidding I know sh!t about isonics a part they look nice !!!

ha yeah might have been a bit more than 3 metres when I think about it