Author Topic: Starboard Astro deluxe maximum pressure?  (Read 6215 times)

Area 10

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 4057
    • View Profile
Starboard Astro deluxe maximum pressure?
« on: April 10, 2015, 04:13:00 AM »
I've recently bought a Starboard Astro Tandem 16ftx32". It's hilarious paddling with two people, and when the paddlers co-ordinate their strokes it is surprisingly fast. After just a couple of hours' practice yesterday, my friends and I were able to go faster on the tandem than we could on our raceboards alone. And there is something very satisfying about working together as a team. I can imagine multi- person SUPs being a growth area for flat water.

Anyway, I've got the board pumped up to the recommended max of 18 PSI. The board is 6" thick. But there is some banana in the rocker with two people on board, even two who are only around 150lbs each. It's not a huge amount of bend, but it would be better with less, obviously.

So I'm wondering what pressures people have tried with their Starboard Astros. I know that with ULI boards, people have pumped their up way higher than the recommended pressures with no ill effects. But I think those were double-skin construction.

So, how high would you dare to go? This board costs about 2000 US dollars in this country so it wouldn't be great if it went "pop".

Green Water Sports

  • Site Sponsor
  • Peahi Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 695
  • https://greenwatersports.com
    • View Profile
    • Green Water Sports - Inflatable SUP boards & stand up paddle boards & more
Re: Starboard Astro deluxe maximum pressure?
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2015, 06:25:56 AM »
I believe the Deluxe versions have been beefed up for 2015 but the recommended psi is still 18. What year is your board?
Julian
https://greenwatersports.com
Green Water Sports LLC - Inflatable SUP boards & stand up paddle boards & more. Call us on 1-888-252-4983
Red Paddle Co, Starboard, SIC Maui, Tahe, Naish, Fanatic, Accent Paddles, Onyx, FCS, Vamo

SharkSUP

  • Shark SUPs
  • Waikiki Status
  • *
  • Posts: 21
  • High Quality Inflatable SUP Manufacturer
    • MSN Messenger - service@sharksups.com
    • AOL Instant Messenger - Shark+SUPs
    • View Profile
    • Shark SUPs
    • Email
Re: Starboard Astro deluxe maximum pressure?
« Reply #2 on: April 10, 2015, 07:27:08 AM »
Should be fine for up to 25 PSI.
Our Shark SUP Max using PSI is 25 PSI, but testing pressure is 30 PSI.
www.sharksups.com
Shark SUPs
Professional Inflatable SUP Manufacturer
www.sharksups.com

Area 10

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 4057
    • View Profile
Re: Starboard Astro deluxe maximum pressure?
« Reply #3 on: April 10, 2015, 07:33:59 AM »
I believe the Deluxe versions have been beefed up for 2015 but the recommended psi is still 18. What year is your board?
It's a 2014 I think. It's the one with a 5-piece pad (plus tail pad) rather than a 3-piece which I think is the 2015.

Green Water Sports

  • Site Sponsor
  • Peahi Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 695
  • https://greenwatersports.com
    • View Profile
    • Green Water Sports - Inflatable SUP boards & stand up paddle boards & more
Re: Starboard Astro deluxe maximum pressure?
« Reply #4 on: April 10, 2015, 07:57:26 AM »
Julian
https://greenwatersports.com
Green Water Sports LLC - Inflatable SUP boards & stand up paddle boards & more. Call us on 1-888-252-4983
Red Paddle Co, Starboard, SIC Maui, Tahe, Naish, Fanatic, Accent Paddles, Onyx, FCS, Vamo

Argosi

  • Peahi Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 776
    • View Profile
Re: Starboard Astro deluxe maximum pressure?
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2015, 09:02:18 PM »
I was thinking of buying that board. Let us know how it goes as you continue to use it. Any pics or videos would be great as well. Not many pics or videos on the web so far.

How stable is it with 2x150lb paddlers on it? Under what types of conditions do you think it would still be fun to paddle tandem on the board?

Area 10

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 4057
    • View Profile
Re: Starboard Astro deluxe maximum pressure?
« Reply #6 on: April 11, 2015, 07:02:59 AM »
I was thinking of buying that board. Let us know how it goes as you continue to use it. Any pics or videos would be great as well. Not many pics or videos on the web so far.

How stable is it with 2x150lb paddlers on it? Under what types of conditions do you think it would still be fun to paddle tandem on the board?
I'll try to get some video the next time we are on it. It's an absolute hoot paddling it. But there's a definite art to tandem, especially on a iSUP. You have to co-ordinate everything you do perfectly, and communicate with each other at all times, especially on e.g. paddle changes. Its' early days for me at tandeming. The first time I tried it, it was like going back to the first days of SUP: me and my friends spent more time in the water in the first 30 mins than one the board! I was laughing so much at one point that I just couldn't stand any more! I can't remember that last time I laughed that much, I thought I was going to have a hernia. But we did start off in choppy seas with strong rips everywhere so perhaps in retrospect this was a bit ambitious.

The main issue is that every time someone takes a stroke the board shoots forward. Normally when on your own, you have the paddle to hold onto which stops you going backwards. But if you haven't got your paddle planted when your partner takes a stoke, then the board moves forward but you don't, potentially resulting in a comedy fall backwards - which will probably take you both off. So you have to co-ordinate your strokes perfectly, and never miss one, no matter what is happening. But the improvement is startlingly rapid if you are a reasonable experience paddler. After the first half-hour a falls we got a system of communication sorted and managed a mile or so without a fall. And yesterday, a different friend and I paddled tandem for 5 miles in the sea in mixed conditions on the Astro with no falls at all. We both weigh about 175 lbs, so there was 350lbs on board. This was his forst time on a tandem so he paddled for 5 miles in the sea without even getting wet on his forst tandem outing. So that tells you how stable it is. In perfectly flat water, unless you make a mistake in co-ordinating paddle efforts, it is really very stable indeed.

We found that a smooth gentle paddle style is pretty much essential. If both paddlers co-ordinate stokes, and pull hard at the catch, the board starts to bounce rhythmically quite noticeably, and this robs the board of speed totally. You have to keep the board flat in the water and use light quick smooth strokes with a more upright posture than you'd normally use, keeping your weight centered. In other words, like Dave Kalama calls the "Tahitian stroke". This bouncing imposes a severe limit on the upper speed of the board, and is no doubt particularly bad because it is an iSUP. But if you keep the board smooth and steady, two people can cruise along fairly comfortably at what is almost race pace for someone on a 14 hard board. Less is more. I'm guessing that if you have a background in e.g. OC-6 then you'd know all this stuff anyway and it would be second nature to you. But we had to work it out for ourselves.

I've noticed that Starboard are now concentrating the marketing for this board on it being a UL Tourer rather than emphasising Tandem. This actually seems reasonable - it is perfectly comfortable to paddle on your own, although you'll be much better off if you were over 200lbs and fairly strong. You can even surf the thing in small stuff: it is hilarious, you have 12ft of board in front of you wobbling around like a jelly. It would make a really great touring board for a super-sized paddler. It's very stable, and with one averagely competent paddler on board can happily cruise along at around 5 mph in flat water. There's a cargo net, and masses of room on board for loads. The deck pad is very long and comfortable to stand on. Despite being 6" thick it doesn't feel at all "corky" in the water, even with just one person on board. Even at my size, I find it quite nice to paddle, and I'd happily take it for a long tour.

The SB Astro 16x32 is quite light for its size, and no heavier than many 14ft hard boards I've had (I think its about 14kg). It is noticeably lighter than say a Naish Glide GS 14x30. I have no trouble carrying it on my own. But presumably this has been achieved by it being a single-skin, and this means that at 16ft long you do get a bit of bend in the middle with two on board, at the maximum recommended pressure. And as I say, if you surf it, you have to get the front 12ft of it out of the water and you can see this section wobbling around comically in front of you. It could almost do with a 2x4 stuck to its deck along the length, to give it rigidity. Or maybe the sort of stiffening battens that Red Paddle uses might be of help. But for causal use it is perfectly rigid enough.

When the sea warms up a bit I'm going to stick one or two deck chairs on it and paddle my wife and kids around. She can sit and read a book, and the kids can fish off it, and I can get my exercise. Perfect!

I have no connection to Starboard and paid full price for the board (well, I got it in a sale, but you know what I mean). I'm also a little bit skeptical about iSUPs. But the advantage of an iSUP increase as the size of the board increases, I think. A hard board that is 16ft x 32" and 6" thick would be a handful to look after, transport and store. But this is a breeze. It's a really great family board IMO, and it even packs down into a rucksack that isn't much bigger than the standard ones seen everywhere.

We have only tried downwinding it in 6"-1ft ripples so far. But we all agree that it could be really great in a decent blow. It is really easy if you both kneel, and it goes like a shot. It's got so much momentum with 350lbs on board, and there's plenty of rocker. If the front goes under the board bucks a bit but then the nose pops up again. Downwinding with both people standing is however a major balance challenge. It is incredible training - after just a few minutes your legs are burning. But maybe we just need more practice.

So, I'm pretty sold on it as an all-round sociable fun/family board, tandem, or big-guy tourer. After using it, a normal 14ft seems a bit boring and restrictive. It is very,very versatile, and I think Starboard are really on to something here. They just need to find a way to make the board a bit stiffer longitudinally. But this shouldn't be enough to put you off unless you are intending to use it for e.g the Molokai or something haha! I've only had it a few weeks and I feel I've already got my money's worth in terms of laughs and what I have learned using it.

Hope this helps. It is what I would like to have been able to read before I spent my own money on it, but I couldn't find much about it on the web either, so I just had to take a chance. I'm glad I did though.

Area 10

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 4057
    • View Profile
Re: Starboard Astro deluxe maximum pressure?
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2015, 05:56:18 AM »
Should be fine for up to 25 PSI.
Our Shark SUP Max using PSI is 25 PSI, but testing pressure is 30 PSI.
www.sharksups.com
Thanks for this. Are the Shark SUP boards made in the same factory and/or the same way as the Starboard Astros? Do you use for instance the same valves, overlaps, density of internal fibres etc?

What is the pressure you recommend your boards to be pumped to, routinely?

Argosi

  • Peahi Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 776
    • View Profile
Re: Starboard Astro deluxe maximum pressure?
« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2015, 09:07:18 AM »
Area10, thanks for the detailed review! I missed your reply a few months ago. I ended up buying a Starboard Sprint this year instead of the 16' Astro. After reading your comments, I'm convinced that it's a better watercraft for our family than the double kayak we've got now. Just have to convince my wife. I have an idea on how to turn it into a tandem kayak as well.

capobeachboy

  • Peahi Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 898
    • View Profile
Re: Starboard Astro deluxe maximum pressure?
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2015, 01:54:46 PM »
That 16' does go great as a tandem and I think two paddlers spread out keeps the rocker in a better shape as it won't bow in the middle.  A couple of my friends paddled a 100 mile downriver race on one back in May.  Here's the writeup: http://distressedmullet.com/2015/06/03/hut-ho-100-miles-on-a-tandem-sup/
West Coast Distributor
Dolphin Surfcraft
DEEP Ocean Boards
Ambassador/team rider/rep
KeNalu Paddles

 


SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal