STARBOARD ISONIC 105 Boards magazine UK March 06

"it is unquestionably the board we’d all choose from this test."

Described as a pure slalom board and – as we’ve come to expect from Starboard – featuring an unusual design. The Isonic is short and wide, but less extreme than its famous predecessor the Hypersonic (now no longer in the Starboard range), most noticeably in not having the extreme concave underwater shape. It’s also noticeably chunky and has a very short, low and square nose, with very low nose rocker.

The Isonic feels very stable in the water, and is superbly easy to get planing on. It’s extremely quick to release and accelerates effortlessly, with excellent glide through the lulls. It has a solid feel underfoot, offering plenty to push against when you need to power upwind. It is incredibly stable from side to side, but more noticeably nose to tail – the nose seems pinned to the water and the board just flys.
You might think it would be at risk of catching but it absolutely doesn’t seem to be. Even in horrific chop or big rolling swell the board is beautifully controllable and well mannered.Underfoot the deck comfort is good too. The tail is thick and there’s plenty of dome to really wrap your foot around (placed right on the rail – no inboard strap options), so it’s equally at home being driven hard upwind as it is belting downwind (which it loves to do).

All in all, the Isonic is a blisteringly quick and very controllable board, making its very high top speeds easy and fun to reach. The slight downside is in the gybing. While it’s quite possible and not even too difficult (on flat water) to exit with buckets of speed, it’s not the most rewarding board to gybe, requiring a lot of foot pressure to drive the rail into the water. However, it is still a vast improvement on the Hypersonic (notorious for its difficulty in getting going quickly again after the gybe mark), and the performance is certainly adequate.

Guesters’ view: Most guesters said it both appeared to be and felt like the fastest board on test. Even our least advanced riders found it very easy to sail once they had got used to the extreme strap positions; ‘really good upwind’, ‘stable and solid underfoot’ yet ‘smooth over chop’. Opinion was a bit mixed on the gybing but its popularity was universally very high, giving a clear recreational thumbs up to good slalom kit!

Fittings: The Isonics come with two high quality G10 fins, in this case a 34 and 40 cm Tuttle, which give the board an awesome range and make it very good value for money. The straps and deck pads are also very good, and just in case you’re wondering, we didn’t leave it out in the sun too long – the graphics are Ipod inspired!

Overall: The Isonic is a full thoroughbred slalom board with undoubted race winning potential -for slalom racing it is unquestionably the board we’d all choose from this test.Yet it’s also so controllable and offers such a wide wind range (great with sails from 6.5-8.0m) that it would also be a good bet for any advanced recreational sailor who just doesn’t want to be overtaken.

Note: There are very few of these left in Australia and tests like these mean that the boards should sell out fast!

If you are keen get in to your Starboard retailer quickly

are you suggesting the maxim compares to the isonic 105??

if they are selling fast, how many have you sold in WA?

Just curious

Nothing wrong with beating your own drum!

hi snides8

yes i am. out of all the boards on the market today there are only 2 i know of with channel designs. they are the 2 mentioned. there may be others.

believe me there is nothing in it for me. i am not sponsored and i don't get kick backs. i am not bagging starboard i think they are great. all of the positives listed in the review are also the positives others comment on with the maxim and that is why i posted the link.

here is a previous thread
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15297

thanks for the response Gestalt,
had a look at the manta maxim on the web site and found it looks/sounds like a bit of a weapon.i dont think ive seen one here in perth before- also not sure if any of the shops are stocking them? would be all for more local product being available here,but we seem to be stuck with the usual manufacturers.
i must add that i have one of the isonic 105 (havent seen anyone else with one least not the 105) and i believe the boards test report is fairly correct imo.
as a light weight (70kg) this is a pretty big board for me in any thing over 18knots or there abouts so the 'blistering quick' statement for me is relative to getting on the plane early and being fully powered at ~15knts. the comments on gybing are spot on, i found the board to be unsteady underfoot when i first sailed it trying the 'lay down technique' this required some adjustments in terms of using foot stearing the board more through the turns instead of engaging the full rail as in a 'laydown'.
i take it from your comments you believe the isonic also has chanells in the bottom? this is not correct, the bottom shape is pretty much run of the mill- nothing like the hypersonic. the features of the board is probably its cut off nose and its cut away tail .sorry should of added - also not sponsored by starboard- but willing to negotiate!! ;)

Hi Snides8,
pity the boards are not available in perth. not sure why that is? maybe caloundra wind and surf would have a better idea.

sorry to give you the idea that the maxim was as extreme as the hypersonic. that is not the case. the maxim also comes as a flat bottom as well as channel...

the similarity with the isonic is with the entry concave at the nose of the board.
the maxim's entry concave then forms a shallow channel. this is what keeps it planing in lulls.

also the isonic side cut away at the tail is also used on the maxim. but it is called a step. it is more severe on the maxim and raked so that it forms a V where the fin box is. this reduces wetted surface area for the high speeds. and the tail cut away concept is similar to the Manta tail.

the maxim comes in a variety of widths/volumes/hull shapes and i have sailed almost all of them. i am hoping to get a 115lt version myself as soon as i can afford it.

i know what you mean about gybes. the step bottom on the maxim gets around the problem somewhat. i stomp the rail and hang on. i think all wide tail boards require a similar gybing technique.

i was very interested to read the review and see i could apply it to the boards i own. my comparison would be like driving a go-cart. as soon as i saw the isonic shape i wanted to have a go because of my previous experience with similar hull shapes.