VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

I've seen a couple of pics of the Starboard Serenity prototypes. Wondering if anyone on this forum is interested in them? Will they tempt some kiters to windsurf when the wind is less than 10 knots? Could be out there right now having fun.

Starboard, always happy to reinvent things to expand their market, is developing a displacement board exclusively for less than 10 knots. There aren't any displacement longboards (like Lechners and Div II) produced any more - but they were apparently joys to sail in light air. As is the Serenity, apparently. Starboard finally woke up to the fact that less than 10 knots is the permanent state of affairs in much of the world, and they had nothing in their line that were high-performance in the light stuff. Yes you can pump a Formula board onto a plane in maybe 7 or 8 knots if you are good, but apparently it isn't much fun, and neither are 20 m + kites from what I hear. Slogging a rec board like a Start is no fun at all once you are past the raw beginner stage. Plus, you can't kite safely if it is really shifty and puffy, etc. The new board is almost 5 m long and quite narrow, kinda shaped like a canoe. http://www.star-board.com/news/view_news.asp?Number=95 They don't need a lot of sail area to work efficiently, so probably 7 or 8 m will be big enough. Haven't heard anything about rigs - probably very high aspect ratio and ability to flatten in 2 or 3 knot winds to keep the air sticking to the foil, then belly out for max power in 4-5 knots or more.

Any kiters out there who would be tempted to look at these just to get some quality TOW during times like now or the summer bubble? Out of curiosity I've added a poll for your short answer.

I have an old mistral superlight than I occasionally sail in the summer on those beautiful days when it's just nice to be on the water. It's very pleasant; well, fun, actually, but not very "high performance". Buzzing the kayakers or taking in the scenery can add to the entertainment but the adrenalin fix is remarkably mild. I actually use it more to go standup paddle-boarding with my extra long paddle (it's a great fitness/balance exercise that builds your core muscles, according to Laird Hamilton).
I don't think I'd buy one as I have become accustomed to flying my Prism stunt-kites in winds less than 10 mph, which is the perfect wind for "Sportkiting". Face it, wind surfing requires wind. Less than it used to, but still... Maybe it's good to do something else when it's not windy enough.

Can`t beat the original Windsurfer One Design for light wind fun. Great (the best)for freestyle , takes skill to handle the long boom , polyethelyne hull -can`t break it , if you have more than one out you can hit each other. Cheap- you can pick up a used one for under $200. There`s lots of them around- we sold hundreds of them a year back in the late 70`s.I still use mine in the summer .

Id love to try stand-up paddleboarding. Used to stand-up pole my W. one-design in a big shallow lake in the Yukon, did a little standup paddling with a kayak paddle, it was great fun, coulda been ahead of the fad (by about 25 years!). I stopped doing it when I moved to the coast because I didn't want to fall in - didn't have a steamer at the time, and it was frowned upon by other boaters "Never stand up in a boat....." I haven't seen a OD for sale for a long time. THe Serenity would be a whole order of magnitude better performance under sail, and I bet it would make a perfect stand-up paddle board too. Maybe if I win a lottery I could afford one!

& the one design makes a great tandem surfboard in mush !!!

jjjim wrote:Face it, wind surfing requires wind. Less than it used to, but still... Maybe it's good to do something else when it's not windy enough.

Couldn't have said it better, get that mountainbike or kayak out, MF4dood!