Sonni to Starboard

[Eagle]

SIC has def tried to make racing inroads with their FX and X14.  And the Bullet 17.4 and 14 always have been exceptional for DW.  But losing 3 well known competitive racers to other brands is not optimal from their marketing perspective.

It seems they have taken a long time sorting out the FAST since its introduction.  Have they given you any updated timeline when you can expect your 17.4?

[PonoBill]

It's tough for a relatively small player like SIC to fully support the needs of athletes wanting to compete on a world stage. Their strength is in downwind, and that's limiting. There are so few venues for that.

I know Sonni was very upset at the PPG when she didn't feel they had a board that would let her compete effectively. I'm a huge fan of SIC, but I'm not surprised Sonni went to a manufacturer capable of more fully supporting her efforts. She is a smart and talented woman.  She can't screw around waiting for a team to get their act together.

Sonni's art is well suited for board design. Should be very cool. I'm tired of the Starboard tiki.

[Area 10]

At the 2016 Pacific Paddle Games pro technical race, 8 of the top 10 men were aged 25 or under. For the women's race, only 3/10 were 25 or under.

Since balance and flexibility change faster with ageing than strength and endurance, and also that men and women have different physical characteristics, it's interesting to wonder whether maybe the top women pro racers might do better with different board designs from the men rather than (often) just shorter versions.

[Muskoka SUP]

SIC has def tried to make racing inroads with their FX and X14.  And the Bullet 17.4 and 14 always have been exceptional for DW.  But losing 3 well known competitive racers to other brands is not optimal from their marketing perspective.

It seems they have taken a long time sorting out the FAST since its introduction.  Have they given you any updated timeline when you can expect your 17.4?

It will be here in the spring... April/May.  Which is fine by me as there's not much need for it where I live this time of year.. And good timing. We're going to Australia for most of March.. 

[burchas]

I know Sonni was very upset at the PPG when she didn't feel they had a board that would let her compete effectively. I'm a huge fan of SIC, but I'm not surprised Sonni went...

Riding their FX shape since before it was introduced to the market, I can understand why,
I always felt volume distribution was off and volume in general was too high. Don't get
me wrong, I still think this shape is very exciting but with some minor modification it will
be a killer shape.

To make things worse, for some time, the brand (Flow Sports) insisted team riders will only
use production boards, only in the last PPG I saw they started going with custom boards.
I guess it was too little too late.

That said, I still think the guys in Maui (not to be mistaken with he global brand) are
awesome at what they do and I'm pretty sure my next ocean board will be an SIC Custom
with F.A.S.T. A mutation of the FX.

[yugi]

Most racers are on production boards, aren't they? Makes traveling logistics easier.

[PonoBill]

At the 2016 Pacific Paddle Games pro technical race, 8 of the top 10 men were aged 25 or under. For the women's race, only 3/10 were 25 or under.

Since balance and flexibility change faster with ageing than strength and endurance, and also that men and women have different physical characteristics, it's interesting to wonder whether maybe the top women pro racers might do better with different board designs from the men rather than (often) just shorter versions.

I don't have any doubt that there is a board most suited for a particular athlete and particular conditions. The difference between good and optimal is probably more than 5 percent total performance, and that's the difference between first and tenth all other things being equal.

[burchas]

Most racers are on production boards, aren't they? Makes traveling logistics easier.

Most racers probably are, Looking at top tier women (Annabel and Candice) pretty
sure they're on custom for the most part. For PPG both Sonni and Georges were on
custom FX as far as I could see. Infinity riders are also on custom boards.

[yugi]

Aren't all Infinity's basically custom?

[PonoBill]

Nope, they sell a lot of production boards--both Surftech and Asian, but they make a lot of customs as well.

I don't think there are many top-tier paddlers on production equipment unless the sponsoring company has boards ideally suited to them. I think a paddler like Annabel Anderson could win with a 5 percent disadvantage, but why would she? At the top level of any sport, the best performance comes from having all the parts in place. SUP racing is a small and immature sport, but that doesn't change the benefits of having a top athlete, supported logistically by a top team, with the best equipment for the conditions. Leaving to chance things like having the right equipment at a race, with spare everything, and a rested and confident athlete, will not support consistently high results. Even a blind pig sometimes finds an acorn, but it's nothing to count on. And nothing that the smarter pros will tolerate long.

[Eagle]

The AS12'6 is most popular with this group of riders -> then the AS14x23.  Many keep both - plus others like the Sprint and Ace etc.  Some may be custom boards like Connor's - and maybe some other top riders.  SB def supports a lot of riders though.

http://star-board-sup.com/2017/dream-team/

14x23 - 11
14x25 - 5
12'6 - 21

[connector14]

I would love to see a board test where the top paddlers were given a set of boards (all disguised to the extent,  possible...same color, no graphics or handles or anything that would give them away) ...same water conditions...use the paddle of your choice,  just jump on the board and go and then after a few minutes of warm up,  run a controlled coarse and see what the results are. Would a top paddler really have a significant performance difference? (assuming equal length and similar volume and width) ??

[PonoBill]

The manufacturers learned back in the windsurfing era what a bad thing that could be for them.  Certainly Starboard and Naish know better.

[kayadogg]

Aren't all Infinity's basically custom?

Infinity's contract with Surftech ended in 2015. The production boards made by Surftech were typical of most production boards back in the day... wider, heavier and not necessarily tailored to the "advanced" paddler. Infinity started their own production run that they manage themselves with a new factory. These new "LTD" production boards hit the market over the summer and they are impressive. I have one of the 14'x24" Blackfish production boards from the first run and it feels lighter than a couple of their customs that I have. The attention to detail in all aspects is really awesome. They didn't cut any corners with these.

Candice's boards are all custom but not just custom width, she is very particular with the shapes and knows exactly what she wants and what works best for her. Toby Cracknell, recent addition to the Infinity team last year, paddled a couple of the production boards in competition and did very well. Wouldn't be surprised to see more of the team moving to some of the production shapes.

[Luc Benac]

Infinity's contract with Surftech ended in 2015. The production boards made by Surftech were typical of most production boards back in the day... wider, heavier and not necessarily tailored to the "advanced" paddler. Infinity started their own production run that they manage themselves with a new factory. These new "LTD" production boards hit the market over the summer and they are impressive. I have one of the 14'x24" Blackfish production boards from the first run and it feels lighter than a couple of their customs that I have. The attention to detail in all aspects is really awesome. They didn't cut any corners with these.

So the carbon melt BF are made in USA but the LTD are made overseas or is that a different factory still in the USA?
And the LTD are supposed to be lighter than the carbon melt even if the carbon melt is a custom shape/volume, correct?

Edit: I do not see the LTD anymore in the 2017 catalogue only the carbon melt and the 2017 models show the chevron instead of the stripes like the LTD.