Taking my next big step down in board size.

[anonsurfer]

If it's water tight and not delaminated I would not worry about it.  The only time I see the cloth weave appear are on areas of impact on my rails (i.e.  from paddle strikes).   Glad you are stoked on the board. 

[JP4]

Congrats on the L41. I also have an ST in very similar construction with the carbon rails. Over the last two years I've really beaten the crap out of it and it's been on a plane to Mexico and Hawaii. Really welll made board. It's still holding up great and is water tight. I have RSPro tape on mine, but I don't know if that was necessary as those rails are as hard as concrete, though I'm not a rail banger. Mines an 8'4"x31", which at 170lbs is on the big side for performance, but it's my go to board when it's windy because it's easy to stand on.
I actually went up in length this year to a Starboard Pro 9x29 and that's allowed me to catch more waves and is actually much turnier than the L41. It's a little harder to stand up on though. Catches waves a lot easier than the L41 but lower top speed. That L41 hauls ass!

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[Paddle On]

JP did you get the 2017 9.0 pro? if so what are your impressions?

[JP4]

JP did you get the 2017 9.0 pro? if so what are your impressions?

Yes, I got the 2017 in starlite construction. Its a really fun board that surfs smaller than it really is.  I wanted something that would catch waves a little easier and turn a little quicker than my L41 and this checked both those boxes. It's actually about 2 litres smaller than my L41. It's quite a bit tougher to stand on and paddle in the chop though, and ultimately a little slower in top speed, but then everything I've ridden is slower than the L41. I was getting a little frustrated in bigger surf with the really wide tail and high speed of the L41 . I need to be into the critical section of the wave to take off on it consistently, but then it requires a big step to the rail and a lot of weight to get it to stay high on the wave. The Starboard makes all that really easy and I don't have to move my back foot when changing directions.
Under shoulder high the L41 is great because it's so fast that it makes it easy to make sections that are hard to connect on slower boards.
I did have an issue with the Starboard leaking. From day one it would drip from the middle of the back pad, about halfway between the handle and the tail, always in the same spot..I got a warranty replacement and the new one doesn't leak. When they pealed the pad on the old one, they found a hole take had been clearly drilled into the board and plugged with some sort of resin. This board has no vent, so of course that wasn't going to work. Whether this was a manufacturing error or part of the production process I don't know, but I'm hoping my new one doesn't have a similar hole in it.
Overall though, I'm really happy with the Starboard. It's pretty light and super versatile for not a lot of money. It'll surf the knee high stuff but is very composed in overhead waves too.
JP

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