Starboard Ace Air Foil board / SUPboarder review
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- There's always a compromise when it comes to inflatable boards... but Starboard have made that compromise as small as possible with their new Ace Air Foil board! After bringing their popular composite Ace Foil to market earlier this year, the inflatable version has a lot to live up to. These longer and narrower style of foil boards offer the rider a great versatile board that works across many foil disciplines. And it's good to see that the new Ace Air Foil still offers a similar feel on the water.
Whether it's getting up with your wing in the lightest of winds, paddling up on flat water, catching bumps at the beach or downwinding, the Ace Air Foil can still do it all and with ease.
This board is not like other inflatable foil boards of the past, that worked but there was a real compromise from their hard board rivals. This board really can perform well. It may still not be 100% like its Blue Carbon brother but it really isn't that far behind. A board to keep on your foil radar for sure!
Thank you for this very detailed review! This board seems extremely well thought out, but for people like me who don't deflate their boards after every session, the block is a blocker... It's frustrating to see that this very rigid connection with the deck comes at the price of such a drawback... But I have to try one anyway, the positive aspects might make up for it...
Yes have a go on one. We feel the value isn't that bad really. But yes, things could always be cheaper. Thanks Reuben
For a purely flat water and a guy of 80kg with intermediate at Wing foiling. What size of front, mast and board would be recommended?
Are you looking to wing or flat water paddle up? For wing, these boards work really well at your weight with a 16/1700 front wing for getting going in sub 10 knots and that will mean you can use for flat water paddle ups and downwind too. But if you want to use it in higher wind and more speed you can drop down in foil size. Mast I would say go minimum 80cm due to the loss of the depth of the board. For the board size, it depends a lot on how much paddling you have done before and how comfortable you are on smaller SUPs. If you have lots of experience you should be ok on the 100. Hopefully that helps a little?, Will - SUPboarder
Hi there… thanks for the review! Does it fit with axis foil masts (high moduls ultra)?
Yes it does, we used it with one of our Axis foils also. You may need to change bolt lengths? But ours was fine.
clever idea to have the carbon plate on top with the foil bolted to it; one worry with using an inflatable for actual downwinding is what would happen if it deflated when you were several kilometers out at sea.
Same if breaking a mast, foil, screw
Yes this is a concern but the chances are very low of it happening. But there could always be a first.
Thanks for the awesome review!
I am really looking for a DW/Light wind foil board that wouldn't take that much space and could make things easier to travel.
I love the innovation that Starboard wanna bring to their products but sometimes I feel like they need to show more attention on the durability of some components. I have a 14' Starboard DW Air Sup and it was an interesting innovation when they placed the tension line under the hull and the plastic cone on the front to make it stiffer/more rigid. But, the cone didn't last long and it's not easy to find a replacement.
Considering this, that 'sponge' surrounding the mast... I am curious to see how much would it last after getting wet and dry all the time. Do they tell what kind of material they are using for that?
I do also have a certain concern with the contact of the metal of the bolts of the foil mast ending under my feet, specially after a few months of use when the deck pad gets a bit more worn out. I suppose you only tested with their foil and they should fit perfectly. But if I am using another brand, the screws would probably need to be specially prepared to that lenght, right?
Can you feel the bolts while applying pressure in that area during pumping or sailing?
I also missed information regarding the volume and weight of the bigger option. I understand this is a 6'10 with 100 lts and 22" wide, right? What about the bigger one?
Thanks again!
Thanks for your comment - some good questions ! Firstly, on the airline nose cone, several years ago we learnt that Starboard were replacing broken nose cones as it was recognised as a quality issue so it could be worth getting in touch with your dealer. The sponge is referred to by Starboard as the EPP plug - it seems to be a closed cell plastic foam so I think it will be durable with water, however I can see with a lot of use it getting damaged and may be a part that wears out in time and may need replacement if heavily used. On the bolt ends at the feet, I believe that the bolts you use are standard for those used on some foils as we used Armstrong Performance Mast bolts with the board and it was a perfect length - they are 26.4mm M7
They have also provide this board with special nuts that are more rounded to prevent any damage to the feet - you can see what is provided in the package here.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12FVITesIj-QAjP57GLyzZ7AmZtlJjSZXPHhJg9qb4hY/edit#gid=733575576
For those with M8 foil bolts the M6 nuts provided will not be so good, but we did try the board with various M8 nuts and they worked well.
We could not feel the nuts / bolts when using the board for wing foiling and pumping, this was with using Armstrong Nuts / bolts and the provided package nuts and Starboard bolts.
The larger model is 7’8″ x 22″ / 120 L :)
I hope some of that helps, cheers, Will - SUPboarder