They have been very busy at the foil department of Starboard for the past year. In addition to the wingfoil range, the complete windfoil range will also be overhauled. The collaboration with Martin Fischer is now also clearly visible in the wind foil range. With the new range of wind foils, Starboard is taking another big step. Read in this article what is going to change.
The changes of the Starboard Windfoil range in outline
- The SuperCruiser has complete new front wing and a modified set up
- The SuperFlyer also has a completely new front wing
- The Freeride 1100 also has a new front wing and a new 900 front wing
- The SLR Race and Slalom foils are equipped with the 2nd generation SLR wings
- The EVO MKII fuselages have been updated and are a lot stiffer and have been given a vertical ‘fin’
- The mounting system of all back wings has been adapted for the new EVO MKII Jumbo fuselages
- All foils are now supplied with a foil bag
Collaboration Starboard foils with Martin Fischer
Martin Fischer is responsible for the designs of a number of American Cup team boats. In the Formula 1 of sailing, a lot of time goes into the development of the best foils. They have also developed software that can develop new shapes of foils much faster and more effectively than is usual in windsurfing. The first series of wings developed through this collaboration are the extreme high aspect race wings for the new X-15 one design wing foil class. This experience and the new design philosophy has been translated to all the different front and back wings this year. The result:
- Greater effectiveness which allows for earlier flying, and also better control at high speed
- Better glide and faster wings
- Wider deployment range of the wings
- The glide (hydrodynamics) just got better
Starboard SuperCruiser MKII
The Supercruiser has been a very popular wind foil for many years. Due to its large surface area, it is an ideal foil to learn how to wind foil and to get on the foil quickly. There are now several foils that are a lot more dynamic and faster than the SuperCruiser. The SuperCruiser also left something to be desired in terms of stability.
The SuperCruiser MKII has been given a new shape front wing with a larger wingspan. The surface is still 1700 cm2. The old 330 cm2 back wing has been replaced by a 500 cm2 back wing (same shape as Freeride) and comes with the new Jumbo fuselage with a length of 99 cm. As a result, the front wing is further forward compared to the previous generation of SuperCruisers. The 85 cm aluminium mast has remained unchanged.
We expect the new SuperCruiser MKII to be a lot more stable. It will also build up lift even faster and therefore get into the air faster. We do think the tweaked set-up will make it feel less playful, though. As a result, the foil will become even more of an ‘entry-level foil’ than before to learn how to wind foil and/or foil with nice small sails.
Starboard SuperFlyer
2 years ago, the SuperFlyer came between the Freeride and SuperCruiser. We found the Superflyer to be more stable and easier to learn how to wind foil with than the SuperCruiser. Due to the adjusted set-up, the SuperFlyer moves a little more towards the Freeride wind foil.
The SuperFlyer also gets a new design front wing (still 1300 cm2) and retains the same 330 cm2 back wing. The SuperFlyer also gets the new Jumbo fuselage of 99 cm. Also with the SuperFlyer the front wing is further forward compared to the old SuperFlyer. The 85 cm aluminium mast has remained unchanged.
In terms of performance and foiling, the Superflyer 2 moves a little further towards the freeride and is expected to be slightly more challenging, playful and faster than the new Supercruiser.
A nice next step for many wind foilers and/or for the lighter wind foilers.
Starboard Freeride & Freeride S
Since the introduction of the Freeride in 2019, the shape of the front and back wing has never been adjusted. And after all these years, the Freeride is still a very nice and forgiving wind foil. As developments continued, it was time to update the Freeride wind foil as well. There will be 2 versions of the Freeride;
The standard version: This variant gets a front wing of 1100 cm2 (also new shape) with the old familiar back wing of 500 cm2 on a relatively short fuselage of 89 cm and with the well-known aluminum mast of 85 cm.
Then a new variant will be added, which is called Freeride S. This foil should close the gap between the regular freeride and the extreme slalom foils. The front wing will have a surface area of 900 cm2 with a back wing of 330 cm2. The Freeride S gets a 99 cm long fuselage and comes standard with a 95 cm long aluminum mast.
We think that the S in particular will be a very nice upgrade for the wind foilers who now have a freeride and are looking for a slightly faster and more challenging wind foil.
SLR 2 Race and Slalom foils
Let’s take a big step from the Freeride and then we come to the last 2 high end performance foils, the SLR 2 Race and SLR 2 Slalom foil. Both foils feature the new generation SLR wings and both foils come with the C400 or C600 95 cm long carbon masts.
The SLR 2 Race is equipped with an 880 cm2 SLR 2 front wing with an SLR 180 H.A.R. back wing. The MKII EVO Jumbo fuselage has a length of 109 cm.
The SLR 2 Slalom is equipped with a 560 cm2 SLR 2 front wing and is combined with the SLR 180 back wing. The MKII EVO Jumbo fuselage has a length of 99 cm.
For slalom foiling, 3 other SLR 2 front wings are available;
The number of different back wings in the SLR series is therefore limited to 2 pieces. The standard SLR 2 180 cm2 back wing for slalom foiling and the SLR 2 180 H.A.R. (High Aspect Ratio) for coarse racing. For coarse racing, there are no wings available other than the SLR 2 880.
Want to try out a Starboard wind foil yourself?
Would you like to test one of the new Starboard wind foils yourself? We have most types of Starboard Windfoils available for you to test out. Send us an email and we will be happy to schedule a test appointment with you.