warranty claim

I've submitted a warranty claim a month ago through starboard web site form. Nobody has contacted me via email or phone for a month already. I have a 2012 starboard phantom race 320. The centerboard is really stiff and it is hard to retract even with both hands. I asked for a solution - possibly a softer gasket or something else. Please let me know how to contact the warranty service.

[Roger]

Warranty claims can be handled much more expeditiosly if you take your board back to the Starboard dealer where you purchased it.
Have them take photos of any problems and the dealer can work with the distributor in your country.
The progression is dealer....distributor...Starboard HQ.

As far as freeing up your centerboard, have you tried rubbing the centerboard itself with soap (regular
bath bar soap).
Also rub the soap inside between the lips of the gasket.
Also you may want to remove the pull the entire cassette out and have a look at the side plates.
They need to be snug to hold the correct orientation when the centerboard is deployed.
Give this a try and if it's still too difficult to rotate the centerboard up and down, there may be some
other things that can be suggested.
Hope this helps,
Roger

Thanks for the reply. I've talked with the dealer via email. They suggest stupid solutions like removing the entire gasket permanently, which will decrease the performance. The dealer installed the centerboard when the board was brand new so it is not an installation issue. I could not fix the problem with a soap. Also I already have opened the cassette and made pictures. There are some scratches suggesting friction between the cassette walls and the centerboard, but the main problem is the friction between the gasket and the centerboard. The problem is widespread, because there is a forum thread with many people reporting same issue: search "Phantom 320 Daggerboard Stiff ".
I sent today an email to the dealer with a request to help me contact the warranty service. I live in California and I think trident sport are the distributor for USA. I just checked their web site and they have also a warranty claim form for starboard products. I have a bad feeling about starboard support. They do not provide any phone numbers or emails on their web site. The web form tthey provide is well hidden into the menus and they did not respond to the submitted request. The "special" "ask your team" forum does not accept new registration (administrator disabled it). The forum welcomes the latest new user Antoine Lefebvre, who has not been active since October 2012. That means that the forum has been closed at least for the last 4 months. I expected better for a product that cost me more than $1500.

[Remi]

Hi Unregistered

I will forward your message to the waranty service but something very important for all our Phantom Race, you have a sticker on the deck who highly recommend to use silicone or Teflon spray to keep the dagger board gliding easy, so please use this and let me know if you still have the problem.

All the best

Thank you for the advice.
I placed an order in amazon for "Pyroil Silicone Lubricant Spray". It is advertised as:
-Excellent on doors door hinges, rubber gaskets and weather stripping exercise equipment
-Lubricates and waterproofs
Where should I spray: on the gasket, on the centerboard blade, on the cassette walls?
There is something else that is puzzling me about the centerboard. The installation guide and a small brochure that came with the board say that the centerboard can be installed without tools and without removing the cassette. It seems to me the pictures show a different cassette that what came with the board. Installing/uninstalling the centerboard on my 2012 board requires removing several bolts and the cassette. Another user in the startboard forum noticed the same discrepancy. I wonder if there is a more advanced version of the centerboard cassette in existence.

[Phill104]

The latest ones I have seen have the screws. The club where I sail has some older ones with no screws.

What we have found is they are very tight to start with but give. A bit of use and silicone spray they loosen up. However you need to move them all the way in one move. Trying to go nearly closed then finish it off later is a bit of a no no, same when opening.

I have a 2012 Phantom 320 and love the board. I had read about the problems with the sticking dagger and was initially concerned. I used one of the suggestions on the forum and applied carnauba car wax to the dagger and have had no difficulty with the dagger. I have not had to reapply the wax, but have used a spray lubricant in between sessions.

Hope this helps. This board has increased my sailing significantly and use it in my most common winds of 5-15 knots. Will switch to a short board for winds consistently greater.

[Remi]

Hi Unregistered

The guide you receive I the wrong one, this one is for the Rio

Spray on the dagger board, inside and outside lips and dagger board will be easy to use and you will get the fast performances on a board with stiff lips in planning condition, soft lips destroy all the performances

Have fun

All the best

[Farlo]

Interesting... This reminds me of an old discussion about rough or polished fins. There was not clear conclusion, except that it would not affect performance significantly. However waxing hull or fin was not reported as a good thing. Apart from easier handling, is there any incidence of putting grease/wax on a daggerboard?