January 2010 - SUP Sports

We just received a new batch of the colored QuickBlade SUP paddles…

We have a paddle to match just about any color of board…

Here are some other paddle and board color combos…

Heaps of folks in the shop the last couple of days checking out the new 2010 Starboard SUP’s…

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE 2010 STARBOARD SUP CATALOG

The extremely popular black camos get a graphics update…designed by Tahitian pro surfer, Teiva Joyeux…and the new Blue StarTouch is an eye popper…comes with a clear integrated paddle guard…

The 8’5″ x 29.5″ Pro shown here…

The new Seven Eleven, 9′ x 33″ Hero, and 8’5″ x 29.5″ Pro shown here…
A bunch more of the new 2010 Starboard SUP’s will be out on our showroom floor today…as well as the most stunning SUP’s on the market…the new Terje Haakonsen Edition (TAC) SUP models…

California dreamin’ on a cold Winter day…Santa Barbara looking very Norway like…

Here’s a recent customer testimonial sent in from Patti Song about her new TAC…

1/19/09
Subject: I LOVE my TAC!

Hey Wardog! Happy New Year!
Been meaning to tell you how many compliments I get when I have my TAC Drive out to play!

Compliments on and off the water. Other cars coming up alongside me as I drive to sneak several peeks at this “FPG/Floating Piece of Gorgeous”!

Thank you to, you, Guy and Adam for the aloha received when purchasing both my Naish Mana & my TAC drive & the ‘how to’ tips for rooftop transport.

I need to remember to keep the advert materials you passed to me ,in my car, so I can hand them to everyone who asks where I got my TAC. One man said, “Now, you’re leaving that with me, right?”. I said, “Nooooooooooooo, but I’ll tell ya where to get one!”

With Appreciation,

Patti Song
Haircolorist – Cloutier Agency – Los Angeles, Ca

The Starboard SUP fins get an upgrade this year…added value…

We introduce the new Starboard composite Hexel fins in cool tinted black finish as standard for all SUP boards other than the SUPer’s. Our plan was to also have composite side fins integrated into the program. However after testing of various side fin set ups and further the stiffness’s in the thruster fins , it was found that the side fins with more flex were actually better suited to our boards.

A smoother initiation into a turn and arc all the way around was very clear. The larger volumes and thicker rails of the SUP boards obviously react differently to that of traditional short boards , which most surfboard fins are designed for. Going back and forth with testing it was found that the flexi fins were simply better. Throughout the range varying sizes of center fins and thrusters are used. Differences in length width and volume obviously requiring varying fin surface area.

For the smaller sizes, (7’11/8.0/8.5) a thruster with M’5 fins up front in combination with a Drake cool Hexel 19cm centre fin is the perfect blend between drive, traction and acceleration while still being loose. The larger sized boards from 9’0 up gradually increase to counter the extra size and volume required.

The exception being with Whopper, and Hero who’s immense width actually suited having smaller centre fins with larger side fins. The selected injection molded side fins are made from the stiffness derived from PA+GF30%…

Starboard SUP, stand up paddle board equipment for paddling, surfing and windsurfing. Leading innovators with the world’s most comprehensive range of shapes and technology options.

A couple of our big wave, outer reef charging, clients from the Cali Central Coast, came down today to pick up their custom North Pacific 10’6″ stinger guns…mainland rockers for Cali style swells…

We customized them out with the high end microdot pads…Lopez Futures quad set…and, smoke gray stomp pads…

Big Will is STOKED!!!

Kenny loading up his Silver Surfer Sprinter…

More shots in this GALLERY…

The North Pacific has been sending some love this Winter…we enjoyed the swell last week down in the Baja and returned to a new swell throwing out some double overhead sets…and, even a triple overhead macking wave that I was able to connect with on my new 10’6″ North Pacific stinger gun quad (+1)…designed with a fast mainland rocker…

We just got another batch of these “Made in the USA” homegrown SUP’s in and have one left…

More shots of the latest batch in this GALLERY…

The 10’2″ North Pacific Mullet has arrived…business up front…party out the back…;-)
Part nose rider…part high performance short board…
Rob has been ripping on it…he’s STOKED!!!

Here’s a new 9’3′ x 31″ diamond tail winger…and, a new Wahine “Flower” model…
Several other new models coming soon…it doesn’t stop there…we’ll help you design a custom SUP that’s just right for you…

If you can dream it…we can build it…

Here’s a hat that Johnny Cash would where if he was still with us…he’s always on the music mix in our shop…and, you can catch him at our online jukebox…

Just got a fresh batch of embroidered black on black FlexFit logo caps and they are going fast…

Lost a few to part of the Starboard SUP team that was in town for a photo shoot…Margareta Engstrom who does all of the gorgeous Starboard SUP catalogs…by far, the best in the SUP industry…also, an awesome photographer…and, the Schweitzer kids…Zane and Matt…grand kids of one of the inventors of windsurfing…
Zane won the open stock division at the Battle of the Paddle…

Check out the new 7’9″ x 33″ x 4.25″ Naish…

Heaps more boards coming…should have new 2010 Starboard SUP’s and Imagine SUP’s by the weekend…we’ll also be seeing the new RRD and Jimmy Lewis SUP lines, soon…

Here’s a little story that also rings true…kinda captures the essence of the little fishing villages and the pescadores that we like to hang out at, and with…

An American consultant was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “Only a little while.”

The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

The American then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, senor.”

The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard graduate and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But senor, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15-20 years.”

“But what then, senor?”

The American laughed and said, That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”

“Millions, senor? Then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

It’s the truth most of the time…;-)

Life is full of common sense rules to live by…

Red sky in the morning…sailors take warning…red sky at night…sailor’s delight…etc…

In the Baja, it helps to have a heapin’ helping of common sense…and, luck…

Just south of here is a place that was originally named Bahia de los Muertos (Bay of the Dead)…some gringos moved in and renamed it to Bahia de los Suenos ( Bay of the Lucky)…sometimes the line gets pretty fine between the two…

We met a Canadian guy at dinner last night who had a story to tell…
Brian was there “celebrating” the one year anniversary of a terrible kiteboarding accident that occurred here last year…without going into all of the gory details (of which there were many), he ended up losing his right leg above the knee…seems that there is always interplay between luck and death…it’s called the dance of life…