Starboard equpment for freestyle old-school

[pierrec45]

Howdy yo,

I'm looking for a model of Starboard that would accommodate my old-style freestyle. Here are my specs:

- 10-20 knots range exactly

- single board for that range. If old Windsurfers do it, so must modern boards.

- good for tricks on flat board: helicopters, lotsa back-to-front and back-to-back, etc. That should be a no-brainer.

- railrides: at least half of my freestyle (see details below)

- planing not an issue (not interested with this board - anything can plane anyways)

- must have a daggerboard of sorts (for some of the rails, etc.). Preferably must stick out for some of the counter-railrides.

- Bonaire: yes I've seen, I have a few of those moves, etc., but the old-style freestyle requirement, esp. with Everoles, etc., is more restricting.

I would strongly considering Kona, which basically has all of the above, with really great clips on the Tube to prove it. But the local 2nd-hand SB market is much cheaper here in North America, and I've sailed a few SB models already. But there are sooooo many types of SB, hard to find the best one and don't wanna buy 10 boards before I find the right one.

About railing: this is the baseline to me of an old-school freestyle board. Just about anything can be railed - all SBs I've tried so far, Kona, old boards, anything that floats, including a closet-door once, a 110liter Exocet, etc.

But that's not the point: I want a board that can take more difficult ones: leeward railrides (railing the wrong way - needs some spacing in the U-joint), Everoles (board upside-down - lotsa pressure on mast step, the top deck must be very sturdy).

My post here is a question about boards only, the rig is another question and don't need help - thanks. Also, not into those oval-shaped boards. Tried them, easy moves are too easy, and difficult moves are... well you guess. Basic rails on them work, the more difficult don't. Finally, I don't like the direction those monster boards take when they're not flat on the water.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.

[scottmckercher]

this is without doubt the 12,6 sup.
I was out in pattya the other day with one of severne's new light weight rig, and flashed back to the old one deign days getting into exactly what you're talking about.
was an improvement on the old one design due to extra float when on rain and rounder rails.
less carving up of shins.
Only thing there wasn't the daggerboard to leverage a back to sail rail ride with.
that's my call though
you won;t be disappointed
scoty mck

[pierrec45]

Thanks mate, appreciate.

I'd greatly hesitate though. Longer than the original windsurfer, which I find too long already. And all I ever see about the SUPs are plowing in low winds. 20 knots of doing railride is not easy sailing... Perhaps they're not well represented with those clips?

Finally, do need a centerboard for putting the board upside down.

Say, with your experience, what less-than-11 feet board might you recommend?

Thanks again,
PC.

[PG]

The KONA One (Ex. Style) really seems to be the board you are looking for. But why not check out the RRD Longrider and Tabou Windstyler as well? And Mistral just launched a recreational longboard as well (but that is probably not available anywhere for many months to come).

The only Starboard I imagine that could somehow work for you was the Phantom from 2007 (?) that was 300 cm long and 80 cm wide. Softdeck and daggerboard.

[pierrec45]

Yes you're right the Kona One is quite present on the Web with that kind of freestyle. But expensive, hard to get here, no 2nd-hand market. Am a bit reluctant to get them's a long board - too late to plane, but will look up the Phantom, sounds interesting.

In any event, thanks, your respective advices are well appreciated here.

[pierrec45]

As a post-mortem: finally got a 12'6" SUP with daggerboard, under special circumstances say.
Damn late in the season (nights are near-freezing here) to start freestyling this thing. Perhaps I'm getting whimpy with age...

Had only one outing so far, in flaky winds at that, here`s a quick pic.

http://www.zapiks.com/freestyle-windsurfing-railri-2.html

First impressions are: absolutely impeccable finish, actually unreal. Dagger is space-age looking, looks sturdy too, comfy deck. Damn big though.

Sailing straight: handles great on reaches, gybes super-easy in both low and higher winds, more difficult on the upwind though, as expected. I unscrewed the dagger knob for more comfortable sailing (watch out - this thing must sink !!!!!). Must be great for teaching newbies, probably as good or better than Go's.

More importantly, freestyle-wise (very first impression still): great for flatwater sail moves. Stability buys time to try stuff. Handles super-good in back-to-front (sailing facing the wind) and other weird situations. This is probably due to the stability of the reach course, and the soft deck - not sure.

Rails: rail rides are comfortable to pull, both normal and stern-first (backwards), but dagger cannot be used for pulling, as way too far astern. That's OK for me, but might make it difficult to learn for new guys - not sure here. Rail is broad enough that it`s comfortable on the shin, but extremely very slippery, due to the excellence of the make. This is less good - I will have to silicone the rails. There is the humourous situation when you're on the rail and slowly sliding towards the rear whilst sailing great on a beam reach. It takes 15-20 seconds to slowly slide, and very difficult to avoid, but it's funny though to fall off the back.

The rail behaves well once up, but didn`t have the courage to put it upside-down yet, for fear of exploding the mast foot and damaging the surface. In time I'll gain confidence in the equipment, I suppose.