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Stand Up Paddle => SUP General => Topic started by: eastbound on November 17, 2019, 06:48:17 AM

Title: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: eastbound on November 17, 2019, 06:48:17 AM
this is my first board rag--but this pos deserves mention

you may recall i mentioned having dinged the rails of this board when i slipped on the rocks exiting PJ by the main parking lot--i repaired these dings, one of which extended slightly under the pad--this required peeling back the pad a bit to make a good repair--what i found under the pad was shocking--paper thin, super flexxy, totally unfinished (no paint), barely sanded, glass/epoxy--bizarre to me that the standing area under the pad was literally soft compared the the painted surfaces of the boardtop that were not under the pad--wtf--any decent sup shaper knows to reinforce the stand/paddle are at least, if not the whole underpad area-i was shocked and concerned, but made my repair solid and tight

weight gain after repair following a multi-week dryout in heat etc was .4 lbs--acceptable

been surfing board as goto til 10 days ago when i noticed water sponging from under the seam of replaced pad from my repair--sheeeit--i peel back the pad to inspect my repair---found it rock solid tight dry---so i went to peel away from the repair---what i found were many creases" in the shitty paperthin boardtop--when i applied pressure near the creases, it became obvious that they had cracked thru the boardtop--the more i peel in the stand/paddle area the more cracked creases i find--what a complete joke!!!

and the creases are in the underfoot area--nothing to do with the rail ding

they extend to where is stand paddling around positioning, and where my front foot pumps on the wave--on and im 6'2 185lbs, so cant blame MY weight

net, the boardtop, under the billion$$ cool starboard graphic pad, LEAKS LIKE A EFFING SIEVE

and the board has gained another pound of water!!

hopefully i can post a vid a pics which illustrate--but WITH STARBOARD, at least with this POS board--YOU PAY A LOT, AND YOU GET SHIT

i will keep peeling til i see no more cracked creases, and then dry the POS out best i can, put down a couple of layers of glass, reapply and hope--of course the billion$$ starby will end up weighing as much as a craigslist waterlog--

NO MORE STARBOARD FOR THIS FREQUENT, NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLICLY-COMPLAINING-ABOUT-A-BOARD, BUYER OF BOARDS

i couldnt not heads people up re this garbage

surfing? all happy---forced me to bring my creek 8'7" to OB SF last week---wanted the starby as it had been goto, and is a bit floatier for positioning--and i was wary re OB, cuz it can get big mean, and i wanted badly to check the OB box--well, it was pretty big, at least, one day, and the creek at 115 liters was fine---goto!

and the effing creek top is appropriately solid, doesnt leak like a sieve, and costs half of what the starby does!! and, repaired, my starby will weigh significantly more that the creek

you dont get what you pay for--wont be paying for a starby again..........


Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: eastbound on November 17, 2019, 06:52:11 AM
here is a pic--the video shpows better what i write of--"too bigg"--gotta try to size it down
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: eastbound on November 17, 2019, 07:04:02 AM
anyone able to help me shrink down an mov file so i can post here? you can see creases i cut out and one i left alone, which when i put light finger pressure on it, shows to be a crack clean thru the paperthin shittop---what a joke!! on ME!! an expensive joke!!

nuther point: my barra is bare-bones white epoxy, no paint, lightest board ive owned--it has dented slightly in the usual spots, but the thing, despite it's 14 lb weight is ROCK-SOLID WATERTIGHT!!

i had too many boars to no realized this starby is an exceptional POS

and for the record ive not even communicated with starboard--i can imagine some BS routine where they claim the rails dings caused all the sieve-like leaky pressure crack/creases in underfoot areas

taking my creek to LB!!  nuf raggage

Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: supsean on November 17, 2019, 10:28:30 AM
Ouch. Looks so good too. Just post the video to Vimeo or YouTube and link it.
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: JEG on November 17, 2019, 12:20:08 PM
not good and I hope all goes well for you.
I've been there than that and just to add some poorly design too, also their heavy because of the amount of stuffing they put in or their light because they have no reinforcement and they all look good on the outside but inside is the disaster. 
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: 805StandUp on November 17, 2019, 01:34:48 PM
Yikes!  If the construction is obviously not built to Starboard specs, I imagine they would address it?  I never posted it here since I dealt directly with the retailer that I bought it but I had bought at a $3K Naish Javelin a number of years back and when I went to remove the Made in Thailand sticker, my thumbnail went right into foam... the board wasn't glassed on the tail section.  The dealer contact Naish and they had a new board to me within a week.
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: surfercook on November 17, 2019, 03:53:26 PM
How old is that board? Are you the orig owner?
I had my 1st PSH Ripper delam after acoupla years. Right where my front foot went and the delam took on water and migrated into a fairly large round shape after a while. That was one ugly repair. Had to remove like 90% of the padding. !

Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: TallDude on November 17, 2019, 06:27:47 PM
When you're surfing, you put a lot of pressure right around the handle. The lap onto the handle gets stressed with every drop or punch through the white water. I think this is why so many boards have failure around the handle. That general area takes more beating than any other area. Glasser's need to realize the importance of that specific area and put extra glass there. The other damage that is actually always happening is the board wants to buckle right there at the handle. The bottom is in tension (getting stretched) the top is in compression. Fiberglass has a lot of strength stretching, but not much compressing. Now add your foot pressure and that just promotes buckling even more. So your Piece of Starby has been getting worked for a while. It finally gave and failed. Very light stringerless boards are just begging to buckle. That Starby was on it's way to fail right after it was made. A little better reinforcing in that center area would have prolonged the inevitable. Reinforcing the rails in the middle helps too.
Bottom line..... you over paid.. That hurts. 

On to destruction of the Creek. I think you'll get some more service hours out of the Sunova construction.
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: eastbound on November 18, 2019, 05:05:54 AM
this should load

https://youtu.be/t0qdlnlWY-E

you can see the crease/wrinkle is cracked through the clearly soft, inadequate top--wherever i peel, i find these wrinkle cracks---pathetic---not clear wtf they were thinking with the underfoot build
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: supsean on November 18, 2019, 07:27:30 AM
that definitely should not happen with one of the most expensive (the most) board on the market.

They need to address it.

I guess I'll stick to sunova!
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: burchas on November 18, 2019, 07:49:08 AM
That looks really bad easty!

I would not let it slide. def reach out to SB see what they come up with.
I feel your pain, I hate when shit happens to my go to board :( Please report back if you decide to engage SB.
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: SaMoSUP on November 18, 2019, 08:40:09 AM
Looks like your Starboard is made out of Cardboard!

What year and model is that? Is it one of the "eco" boards? My old 2013 Starboard Pro carbon is still bulletproof.
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: eastbound on November 19, 2019, 04:05:39 AM
it's a 2019, bought this year

and it's the top of the line carbon flax blah blah cardboard top starboard pro

total waste of money

the cutout section was a long wrinkle/crack like the one im pushing on in the video--that one's right where my front foot pumps, esp on a soft wave section---cardboard couldnt handle all 185 lbs of me, pumping like a mofo---what a POS

off to surf my creek--nice leftovers

Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: iopsailor on November 19, 2019, 09:52:08 AM
Plus one on giving the retailer and Starboard a chance to make you happy.  You may have voided any warranty by doing your own repairs but let them tell you that. Companies spend tons on advertising and PR that can get neutralized by one unhappy guy on a forum.
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: NorthJerzSurfer on November 19, 2019, 03:01:18 PM
As a Starboard Dealer you might wanna take that back to who you bought it from there maybe a warranty issue.
I have always found Starboard/Trident Fair on warranty claims (which I've had very few SUP & WS boards)

JimK
Extreme Windsurfing

I dropped serious coin on a carbon starboard years back. Was a big deal for me.  Different problems but problems nonetheless.  eventually trident made it right but that was the end of that brand for me.

Back in the day their pure carbon was one of the easiest mass produced carbon boards to get (albeiet pricy)  Now a days tons of other, and less expensive options.

I bought a locally shaped all carbon board used (Fanning surf designs - hes a zoner) and his construction is superior to Starboard and hes as far from mass production as they come.

My Sunova XXX Tec (sold) and Jimmy Lewis Carbon are  rock solid and ridden 10x as much and as hard as that Starboard was. The Jimmy I'm convinced i could drive my car over.

heck- I had a used Eric Peoples hand shaped epoxy that dealt with more than the Starby.  Frankly whatever they are saving in weight (and they arent spectacularly light) isnt worth the reliability issues.





Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: eastbound on November 20, 2019, 12:44:32 PM
worked yesterday to remove the entire pad section from the front underfoot area

per TD, i pooled googone on the remaining pad and adhesive, covered with saran wrap, returned 5 hours later for the nasty process of scraping adhesive/pad goopy googone toxic mess---done

i plan to cut out the add'l cracks ive found, let the board dry a week or two, applying heat occasionally via a lamp (thk you creek), and see where the weight ends up---hope it loses all or most of the water weight

then i will repair the cutout cracks individually

then i plan to cover the whole area with sheets of glass

i have plenty of 4oz and 6oz glass--ive only used bits and pieces for repairs--any advice on laying down layers to reinforce would be welcomed--i dont plan to make it too perfect, given i am lazy and pissed to be doing this at all, some 2400$ later!!  but nbd because the laydown will be covered by pad

no choice---the board occupies an important spot in my quiver--when it's choppy/sloppy, it is my most floaty paddleable board--loved my 8'7" creek on the wave yesterday but ran outta gas early with the tippiness in the slopchop---so i am stuck slaving to repair straboard's folly........

and, much as id like to start fresh with a new board for this spot in my quiver, im deep $$ into this one--and i wouldnt feel good selling it without disclaimer that would render it pretty valueless

so ima try to fix it and ride it----grrrrr

also---shoutout to sunova that they ship with pad scraps used as add'l packingcushion--that's where the gray pad comes from---and ive plenty left to pad over the repaired underfoot area
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: northshore_slider on November 20, 2019, 02:06:20 PM
I would absolutely reach out to Starboard and document as much as you can. I would also inform them that you're active on a SUP forum and if they don't make it right it would have an impact on sales. Since you bought it new this year I would hope they'd make it right. If you bought it at a shop I'd bring it to them (a) so they're aware and (b) maybe they'd rethink selling Starboards if the customer service from Starby is not good. Sorry for your troubles man. That's awful and I'd be beyond ripped to spend that much for a sponge.
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: Area 10 on November 20, 2019, 02:08:18 PM
In my experience, Starboard presents the worst ratio of price to construction of all the main brands. My Starboard Ace Carbon was mostly held together by paint and filler. It would fall apart just sitting on the rack.

I’m glad to hear that SIC RS boards are being made in the Kinetic factory with Jimmy Lewis and Infinity etc now. JL construction is great.

The Hypr Hawaii boards are also absolutely rock solid and cost less than Starboards. They use a thick wooden stringer reinforced by a special kind of S glass I beam type arrangement, which makes both the deck and bottom super resistant to compression loads.

Put simply, you have every right to expect better. I’ll never buy another Starboard. My friend bought an All Star and within 12 weeks of normal use it leaked around the drain holes and took on 3kgs of water! It was basically a write-off. The retailer told him that he shouldn’t have raced the board and washed his hands of it. It’s a RACE BOARD!!. It wasn’t dinged, it was a leak where the cheap plastic drain pipe met the fibreglass.

Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: SouthCounty on November 20, 2019, 03:56:40 PM
I defiently would get hold of the the manufacture and raise some stink, totally unacceptable. We pay good money for these hi tech boards and should not have to deal with sloppy craftsmanship like what you are experiencing. Hopefully they make it right, keep us posted.
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: NorthJerzSurfer on November 20, 2019, 04:41:53 PM
worked yesterday to remove the entire pad section from the front underfoot area

per TD, i pooled googone on the remaining pad and adhesive, covered with saran wrap, returned 5 hours later for the nasty process of scraping adhesive/pad goopy googone toxic mess---done

i plan to cut out the add'l cracks ive found, let the board dry a week or two, applying heat occasionally via a lamp (thk you creek), and see where the weight ends up---hope it loses all or most of the water weight

then i will repair the cutout cracks individually

then i plan to cover the whole area with sheets of glass

i have plenty of 4oz and 6oz glass--ive only used bits and pieces for repairs--any advice on laying down layers to reinforce would be welcomed--i dont plan to make it too perfect, given i am lazy and pissed to be doing this at all, some 2400$ later!!  but nbd because the laydown will be covered by pad

no choice---the board occupies an important spot in my quiver--when it's choppy/sloppy, it is my most floaty paddleable board--loved my 8'7" creek on the wave yesterday but ran outta gas early with the tippiness in the slopchop---so i am stuck slaving to repair straboard's folly........

and, much as id like to start fresh with a new board for this spot in my quiver, im deep $$ into this one--and i wouldnt feel good selling it without disclaimer that would render it pretty valueless

so ima try to fix it and ride it----grrrrr

also---shoutout to sunova that they ship with pad scraps used as add'l packingcushion--that's where the gray pad comes from---and ive plenty left to pad over the repaired underfoot area

 
Eastie-  I'd spend a tad more and get a yard of Volan Vectornet to do the standing area.  I used it on a standing area reinforcement on and old Riviera and it really made a difference. vs regular 4x4 or 6.  Wont add anymore (noticable) weight than the water !

Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: BrownSugah on November 20, 2019, 06:24:10 PM
ive had the same experience with starboard since 2012 .....there is always going to be someone who says "you pay for what you get" but ive had multiple starboards break and for the most part they were easily replaced after talking to a rep or shop. At one point i had what sounds like what you are dealing with happen 2 times in a row and they replaced so I would give it a shot.

def will never pay for a starboard full price upfront.
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: eastbound on December 09, 2019, 11:28:16 AM
full disclosure:

star-board spontaneously reached out to me to try to remedy my situation---seems reasonable--might be my assessment of the situation was unfair and wrong--i will post updates

Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: burchas on December 09, 2019, 08:10:32 PM
full disclosure:

star-board spontaneously reached out to me to try to remedy my situation---seems reasonable--might be my assessment of the situation was unfair and wrong--i will post updates

Good to know. Last I heard they asked to cut the board in two and show them proof and they would send a replacement. I guess in your case you board was already in such a bad shape they might even skip that ;D
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: JimK on December 11, 2019, 07:07:32 AM
Good to know. Last I heard they asked to cut the board in two and show them proof and they would send a replacement. I guess in your case you board was already in such a bad shape they might even skip that

GOING THROUGH A DEALER SHOULD NEGATE THIS. They will accept cutting after you receive replacement.
Trident are good people!

JimK
Extreme Windsurfing
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: JEG on December 11, 2019, 12:23:23 PM
hope you get a new board out of it?!
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: NorthJerzSurfer on December 11, 2019, 04:08:55 PM
most importantly EB- did you score today? LB looked great on the cams!
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: eastbound on December 12, 2019, 05:59:12 AM
cams at LB and Rock looked great--

scored huge at a rocky NE right point yesterday--enchanting

paddled out around 1030--it was snowing hard for the first hour, but nice glassy chest high sets--then the sun started to burn through, snow still sparkling---last hour was full sun--fun

4 or 5 surfers in at first---once the sun hit maybe 10 or 15 were spread around--no sups other than me--embarrassment of riches---trying to attach before and after paddleout pics

Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: eastbound on December 12, 2019, 10:58:32 AM
funny:  my friend is visiting nor cal, surfing today---so i checked the pleasure point cam--all foggy, it looks similar to yesterday in RI!
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: JEG on December 12, 2019, 12:04:13 PM
that looks cold eastbound  :o
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: justsomeguy on December 12, 2019, 07:13:35 PM
Whoa !! … that's some serious hard-core s@#t there eastbound, brrrr !
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: TallDude on December 12, 2019, 08:21:57 PM
That looks clean Eastie. 5/4?
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: eastbound on December 13, 2019, 06:01:15 AM
5.5/4   psycho tech  - 3mm gloves - 5mm boots - air was 30, water 48

i was very comfortable, but for stripping down to change in the parking lot in a blower stormstorm!

funny to have snow pile up on the board in the lineup--reminds me of chairlifts at alta--inches on the knees at the top!

td, you were a skater when i was--check senselessskaters9 on instagram, if you do insta -- more about street than pools pipes, but this shit has gotten so evolved--very cool

Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: eastbound on December 13, 2019, 06:57:46 AM
I’d like to put this thread to rest. I don’t want to damage the Starby brand, and I should clarify my POV. In fact ive owned two Starboard boards that I was very happy with.

My  Starboard WP 9’5” bought at Matunuck Surf Shop (RIP) some 10 years ago,  was my first sup surf board. First wave and I ditched the LB I’d been stumbling to my feet on since my hip went bad. That board remains my guest wave board. Takes a beating and keeps smiles coming.

My Starboard WP Airborn Blue Carbon 8’10” was excellent. Great board for my progression, was my goto for  2+ years. Cant say much more than that.  Super light, super durable.

My 8’10” Starboard Pro has been a great board in the water. It surfs great. The 29” width makes it hold on steeper waves, and the 130 ltrs make it stable enough for me to last a few hours in the choppy conditions that prevail here by Bklyn—often in a winter suit.  Board has serious rocker, esp up front—begs to be pumped, and delivers with speed. And the cutaway nose works—where I think the nose is going to hook, it slides through the turn. 

Unfortunately the board has bad deck problems.

Admittedly these Starboards are costly. But I now get the Starboard model. They reached out, conceded that I may well have gotten a board with a defective deck, and are in process of replacing the board (same board, but light and durable—yay that).

So, the case can be made I have, in fact, “gotten what I paid for”—seems I am getting excellent service and remedy from Starboard. Didn’t know about Starboard service bc never needed it before. I just used and enjoyed the boards.

So I need to correct the record here.  In fact Starboard reached out to me and is taking good care of my situation. If anything I mishandled by taking my beef here, before working closely with Starboard.
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: JimK on December 13, 2019, 08:38:05 AM
Eastbound,

Glad you got it worked out with SB I knew they were good folks!

Have fun on your new (replaced) board

JimK
Extreme Windsurfing
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: 805StandUp on December 13, 2019, 09:03:37 AM
Glad Trident/Starboard got it sorted out!  My 7'4 Carbon Hypernut 2-in-1 was expensive too but it was by far the most durable board I have had... and light at 15.4 lbs.
Title: Re: STARBOARD
Post by: Bean on December 13, 2019, 11:36:40 AM
Nice resolution EB!

Reminds me of a time way back in 2012 when I purchased a shiny new board only to find out a couple of days later that the handle had a leak.  The dealer asked me to bring it back, which I did.  Little did I know or expect that I would be walking out of his shop that day with a brand new replacement board. 

Well, that's just the kind of over the top service you get when you deal with Jim K!

 
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: supsean on December 13, 2019, 12:06:52 PM
Glad to hear it resolved, and am looking forward to seeing you out at the Rock surfing on the new board.  I think SB gets some good press to make a customer happy in the end!!
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: Ichabod Spoonbill on December 13, 2019, 12:13:53 PM
I wish other brands were that responsive. That is excellent service.
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: FRP on December 14, 2019, 10:28:19 AM
I wish other brands were that responsive. That is excellent service.

Eastbound

Great to hear that a large company like Starboard is providing a remedy to your situation. Ichabod I think there are likely many brands that provide excellent after market service for their boards but we just don't hear about it. We usually only hear about the problems. My personal experience with a smaller company (Sunova) where a new board was damage in transit was exceptional.

Bob
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: 1tuberider on December 15, 2019, 05:57:48 AM
I had two high end carbon surf sup delivered with leaks. Both were
replaced with new stock even though I did not pay even close to full
retail.
All it took was working with my local surf shop. Starboard came
thru with class.
Glad it worked out for you EB.
Title: Re: MY BILLION$$ STARBOARD IS A POS
Post by: JimK on December 16, 2019, 08:14:50 AM
Bean,

Thanks for the PROPS!
As a small dealer I can only deal with companies that stand behind their products.
And
I REALLY appreciate the great folks who support us.
Looking forward to a GREAT 2020

JimK
Extreme Windsurfing
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