I got up early this morning to take a long paddle and found Portland socked in with fog. At our house it was clear and bright, but a hundred feet below my windowsill it was a flat white blanket all the way to the coast range. I goofed around and worked on my computer until 9:00, then said “screw it” and headed for the water. The fog was just burning off, and the river was smooth like oil. In fact when a boat went by and kicked a wake at me, it looked like rolling waves in mercury–so smooth that it was hard to look at, and left me gently nauseated.
Above is a couple of pictures I took.
I also spent some time trying to analyze why the Starboard 12’6″ coasts so well. I think it’s the way the tail rocker works. When the board is free floating the tail is out of the water enough to see the top inch of fin. When you’re standing on the board it’s not, the tail is flat in the water. Here’s a shot showing what I mean:
And a movie showing how long it coasts–sort of.
Bill,
Yes I have the starboard 12 ’6 and got it for long distance paddles. This I think is the real strength of this board. THe glide is excellent.
Surfling, I like it in 2-3 foot glassy but I was not crazy about the board in bigger surf. I tried side bites and took them off with the stock fin.
I now have a 10 inch fin from my laird board that I like and it surf better with. It is just to long for me and it really requires a heavy back foot to turn 12’6.
Stability is good but not as good as you would think for such a long board. My person thoughts are that the tail is a little too narrow when doing turns in chop in the ocean. Some of this I think come from this b board being a windsurf hybrid.
I have another board now but will keep this board since I think it is excellent for paddling and small days. I am sure that you will find when you get back to maui that going shorter and wider is being done better on the new model stand ups.
I will say that this is the best and strongest surfboard that I have ever hard. MY board took a fall of 10 feet that would have crushed any other board and I surfed it the next day.