Starboard 7'10"x30" Air Born review and question

[adamrod]

Been riding the new air born in brushed carbon. sick, sick board. The low volume (97L) really makes the board lively and fun. A few notes:

1. A lot more stable than my 8'0" pro. I'm around 175 lbs in a wetsuit, and I have plenty, if not tons of stability. I almost wish it was 29" wide, but the extra stability is nice for choppy water and making it over whitewash.

2. it paddles faster, catches waves easier than my 8'0" pro. I think it's got a bit less rocker, either way, it's trivial for catching waves. which is surprising given that it's wider and shorter

3. it feels rock solid down the line. I actually think it has too much fin, which gets me to my question...

I'm coming from my 8'0" pro, which I converted to a true thruster, to this, which is a quad, and this feels really, really tough to get a tight turn in on.  

Am I better off converting this to a thruster or should I get a smaller quad set? Looking for a bit looser feel, it's hard to get a good sharp turn in with the current setup. It tracks great, but want something a bit easier to slide the fins out on, and something I can get a bit more vertical after a bottom turn.

thoughts?

[Scotty Mac]

I have tested this board a lot and I think because of the wide tail, it has way more drive off the bottom as a quad. I only set up as a thruster in small stuff only.

[adamrod]

hmm, OK, I think you're probably right. All in all, an insane board. I have a feeling it's the way of the future in SUP design. Really surprised at how easy it is for catching waves.

any thoughts on what I could do within the quad-realm to loosen it up a bit? should I just get a smaller quad set? shorten the rears?

[Scotty Mac]

try keeping the 4.7 fronts and put fcs G-XQ rears.

[supstoked]

I rode this same board for three days a couple of weeks ago.  I got the same impression that the fins were too large, but maybe in bigger waves than I had?

[adamrod]

I got the G-XQs, have yet to try them out.

I think since the board has a wider tail, it requires a bit more force to turn than the pro boards...on bigger waves, i think the fins are probably right though, but when I was on it, it was like 2-3 ft.

I'll respond back on this topic once I've tried out the G-XQs. I think they should be perfect for small mush and weaker stuff.

[RomaniaSUP]

Put in an order for a 7'10"x30" Airborn today! Super stoked. I'm 160 LBS so should be plenty of float for me. Thanks for the review and feel free to post some in action pics if you got any 

[Scotty Mac]

Great board hey. I do muck around on smaller days with smaller rears but I think the GXQ are really the right fins, still loose but give the board drive. Looking forward to hear how you find them adam.

[Scotty Mac]

only one, didn't make this one but had fun trying!

[adamrod]

Yes! I had a go with the G-XQ rears. Perfect. Loosens it up a bit...still haven't really been out in anything with size, but it's a super fun board in the small stuff so far.  Here's a shot in some tiny waves.

Tons of fun. I'd say, this is the board for folks who don't want to deal with the tippiness of the 28" and less SUPs, but still want to toss it around. It paddles surprisingly fast given the 30" and the short length. The low volume really helps in punching thru whitewash.