Windsurfing Equipment Tests - American Windsurfer

Boards: Star Board @ Aruba

Novice Control Speed Race Explore Balance

Star Board Free 99

The Free 99 is a comfortable, controllable board, best suited to novice to intermediate shortboarders. It planes off quickly and smoothly and doesn’t require the kick in the seat of the pants - that is, a pump and ooch - that the AVS designs need. At the same time, it doesn’t hit the kind of top-end speeds that the more demanding boards hit. Its greatest virtue - and this is really a strong point for anyone wanting to learn how to jibe - is its ability to maintain speed through a jibe. It describes a seemingly predetermined arc every time you jibe it, and tends more than any other board we rode this year to stay on a plane all the way through the maneuver. We liked the range of strap positions available on this board and felt the components and non-skid were good to excellent.

Power Rating 72
Length 9’8”
Width 26.7”
Volume 152 Liters
Weight 18.3 lbs.
Planing 9.0
Reaching 7.5
Upwind 9.0
Tight turns 6.5
Wide turns 9.0
Ding rating 12
Price $1,281
Includes: Straps, Pads, Fin

Recommended sail: Freeride 6.0 to 9.0

Novice Control Speed Race Explore Balance

Star Board Sonic W-75

The Sonic W-75 is a radical board, even for an AVS. It's wide, short and quite thin, especially in the nose (the manufacturer has recently released a 130-liter version of the same board). The deck is concave forward of the mast, which helps put the mast step nearer the water for control in rough water. Interestingly, the standard fin is not set back in the box, a fact that tends to counter the effect of the cutaway tail. Given the board’s flat rocker, it's faster with a set-back fin, particularly downwind. So, is it fast on the whole? We judge it roughly on a par with the North Shore Maui 280 Racing for upwind speed, but slightly easier to get onto a plane. Compared with conventional race boards, it’s faster upwind in light to moderate chop and particularly in light wind. Downwind, it drags a little as the rocker is just a little flat. Turning this board is reasonably easy, though not as effortless as the best of the conventional race boards.

Power Rating 83
Length 8’11”
Width 29.0”
Volume 111 Liters
Weight 16.4 lbs.
Planing 10.0
Reaching 8.0
Upwind 10.0
Tight turns 6.5
Wide turns 8.0
Ding rating 38
Price $1,678
Includes: Straps, Pads, Fin

Recommended sail:
Freeride & Race 7.0 & up

Novice Control Speed Race Explore Balance

Star Board Go

In our first issue of the year (Vol 6, number 1) we introduced the Star Board Go, an innovative new design aimed at a range of windsurfers from
novice big-board sailor to advanced shortboarder. At 32.5 inches wide and just over nine feet long, the Go is the second-widest board available and one of the most stable. It’s not quite as floaty as we originally thought, however, because our volume test (results from which have been freely borrowed by at least one other windsurfing magazine, by the way) showed it to have only 176 liters rather than the 225 originally claimed by the manufacturer. Still, our enthusiasm for the board is in no way diminished. The general concept “a board that combines the stability of a longboard with the simplicity of a shortboard” is a huge step toward making windsurfing easier to learn, and some of the Go’s particular details make further important strides in that direction. We’re thinking here of the EVA foam deck that allows for good traction but prevents novices from scraping arms and shins on a rough non-skid deck. The Go comes with footstraps, but we noticed that the non-skid of the EVA deck is so good, and the ease of planing of the board so great, that footstraps really aren’t needed to sail the Go comfortably on a fast reach. Great! Just one less thing for novices to worry about and trip over.

Power Rating 92
Length 9’3”
Width 32.5”
Volume 176 Liters
Weight 23.3 lbs.
Planing 10.0
Reaching 6.5
Upwind 9.5
Tight turns 4.0
Wide turns 7.0
Ding rating 18
Price $1,105
Includes:

Recommended sail:
Basic & Freeride 1.5 & up

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