2015 Starboard Pro 8-0 x 28"

[raf]

Had my Pro out this morning for the 1st time.  Conditions were chest to slightly OH sets every 5 minutes.  Very clean waves, nothing scary.  First 30 minutes I was worried the board felt corky and maybe too big, which didn't make sense since I could barely stand on it (I'm 170lbs).  Switch to half surf stance fixed the balance issue.  The next hour was filled with some of the most fun SUP-surfing I have experienced.  Board felt just like a short surfboard.  I have it finned out with stock fins; 4.5" sides, 5.5" center.  I am curious to try it as a proper thruster. 
I had the 2013 pro in same dimensions, and this one feels much better to me.  Easier to get into waves.  I always seemed to get my foot over the handle on the 2013 model.  Wasn't an issue with this model.  I believe the 2015 28" Pro has about 5 more liters volume than the 2013.  Great board.

[RATbeachrider]

Congrats! It's indeed a super fun board.  You struck on a pretty interesting issue ... and that is the placement of the front foot in front of the handle when paddling into wave.  I've to do the same but with all Pro models (8'5x29, 8'0x28 and 7'7x27) to drop into the wave.  I contributed this to the over-all "fuller" rails thus needing pressure on the nose to push the board down the face of the wave (I'm a lighrweight being 142lbs or 145lbs soaking wet).

I'm a die-hard thruster fan.  However, I found that for SUS'ing, quad with a center knubster works best for me.  It gives me the looseness but with the addition of the drive of a thruster.

[JohnnyMaya]

Hi Raf,

Congrats on your new board! I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun on it.
The 2015 version has actually 9 more liters that the 2013 and 2014 boards (the shape didn't change from one year to the other).

I arrived from a trip to the Maldives last week and had a lot of fun surfing epic Chickens on my backhand on the 8'0 Pro.

The fin setup i like the most for that board is the stock side fins which are really good paired um with a FCS PC-5 Longboard centre:
http://www.surffcs.com/shop/surf-longboard/fcs-pc-5-longboard-centre

I use it all the way to the tail end of the fin box (not exactly the end because the metal plate would fall off the fin box. If you try it you'll know what i mean).

Johnny

[surfercook]

Nice board, but it might work better if you angle it a bit clockwise!   

[Sup44]

Right on! I had the 2014 version of this model and absolutely couldn't stand it. I love the construction but ultimately felt the shape didn't make sense. Single concave down the entire board - funny rails - made for some very low maneuverability. Rail to rail was awful. Did surprisingly well it crappy conditions though - came to the conclusion it was the equivalent of a groveler in the surf world.

If I had the money I would have hung on to it for crappy days but need 1 good all around board.

I've heard that they updated the 2015 a lot to fix previous problems that i've mentioned. Heard now from a few people they love this one. (I complained on a lot of the interwebs...maybe they listened??)

Enjoy!

[soepkip]

Please correct me if I am wrong but the 2015 model still is continuous single concave  and it has 9 liters more than the 2014 8'0"

They didn't listen to you...

I think the 2015 is more suitable  for people over 85 kg and the 2014 is still fine up to that weight.

Both of them will be groveler boards if you ride an 78l 7'4"

[raf]

I'm pretty sure the 2015 is single to double concave.  definitely quite a bit more volume forward of the handle than the 2013 model.  I'm 77 kgs, and its not a cakewalk for me to paddle.

[Sup44]

Please correct me if I am wrong but the 2015 model still is continuous single concave  and it has 9 liters more than the 2014 8'0"

They didn't listen to you...

I think the 2015 is more suitable  for people over 85 kg and the 2014 is still fine up to that weight.

Both of them will be groveler boards if you ride an 78l 7'4"

Groveler doesn't necesarily have to do with size or liters. I was speaking to the shape of the board.