Ok so I was hoping to be able to test the Starboard All Star in calmer conditions but unfortunately there was a strong South Westerly blowing around 30 MPH, so I decided that I would do a short downwinder on the board in Salcombe Harbour, starting at South Sands Beach and heading down the Harbour and round into the Bag where I found a small amount of shelter from the wind and the tide.
First thing you notice about the All Star is that the tail of board is much bigger and wider than the 2013 version, which allows the board to pick up any small runners and allows the rider to step back a lot easier onto the tail to make buoy turning much easier. There is a slightly lowered standing area which allows the board to narrow and provide good stability for the rider, the volume in the nose has been reduced and refined again this year to allow it to punch through the waves and provide enough buoyancy for the nose to pop back up from under the chop and waves when down winding, it looks very much like the nose from the Ace Pro. This All Star I was using had the darker blue colour finish on it, from what I have read the blue had to be lightened as the dark blue would mark very easily when touched by the paddle.
So I set off from South Sands, there was a small amount of surf breaking onto the beach and the nose of the All Star punched through this with relative easy, although sometimes going over the waves the nose would slap down on the other side but not cause any issues to my balance or the board. Before you can head down the harbour you have the wind and tide side on, coming from my right hand side, normally this is where you get a real idea of a boards stability and to my surprise I didn't fall off once! I found this board more stable than the 25 wide ACE that I'm used to paddling.
I was able to turn and set myself to head on a short down winder down the harbour into Salcombe, the All Star picked up the bumps and waves with relative ease and for the most part I was able to stop
the nose from digging under the waves by shuffling my feet backwards and getting my lower and over the tail, even on the few occasions when the nose did dig under it would eventually pop back up and I could carry, sometimes when the nose digs in you come to a grinding halt and get catapulted off the front or the side of the board but I was quite impressed with the way the All Star kept going.
I got good glides as I went down the harbour and it was quite a lot of fun just messing around and testing the boards limits.
Once I got round into the back there was only a very small stretch of water than was sheltered but there was a buoy at either end so I started doing a few sprints back and forth, the board seemed to have good speed and accelerate quickly, once getting to a buoy I was able to practice buoy turns with relative ease and once you find the sweet spot to stand back on the tail you can get the board to turn round on the spot, on quite a few other boards I have had a go on, I can never quite find the right area to stand on and I either sink the tail and come a cropper or get a very slow turn but because of all the
volume in the All Stars tail I didn't have a problem.
After all this fun and messing around I had to face the reality that I would have to head back upwind back to South Sands, the low profile of the nose and the board allowed me to keep the All Star heading into the wind, although it was one of the longest and slowest paddles I have done, it was good endurance and training, suffice to say as I got back to South Sands I was exhausted and glad to be able to have a rest. This board seems like a great All rounder and a big improvement over the 2013 version, I can't wait to try it again, hopefully when there is less of a wind blowing!
If you have any questions about the board or want to know anything then drop me a line
Dan
