Starboard Ultrasonic 2012

Starboard's ultra-lightwind recreational slalom board

The UltraSonic is the lightwind specialist among Starboard's iSonic family. It is designed to bring high levels of lightwind performance to the masses. It's easy, it's fast and it's really fun.

Our earliest planing board together with the Formula. Incredibly efficient, it transforms the idea of what is possible in light winds.

The UltraSonic is unique in the Starboard range. The best way to describe it is as the largest and widest of iSonics. With ISAF and PWA limits set at 85cm in width, the UltraSonic is actually over the limit and therefore illegal in official racing. Knowing that racers will not use it in competitions allowed Starboard designers to increase the UltraSonic’s user-friendliness and comfort aspects of the board by tuning down the rail shape’s power and moving straps slightly further inboard. Technically speaking, these virtues also make the UltraSonic the easiest slalom board in the world.

The UltraSonic is also often compared to the Formula. Like the Formula, the board is in the ultra wide category. Both also excel in lightwind performance, with incredible early planing abilities. However, the Formula is designed for the best possible upwind and downwind performance, which translates into too much power for sustained reaching angles. Maintaining a Formula board on long reaches will to burning back thighs. The UltraSonic however, is designed for reaching in and out, as most windsurfers prefer to do. It is much more comfortable and maneuverable than a Formula board. Most importantly, it is also faster on a reach than a Formula board.

The 2012 ultrasonic comes with a choice of two constructions, Wood and Carbon. Both constructions include Starboards "ProtectFilm" - UV protection for wood. All constructions are shown in the main pictures above.

Wood Construction
Developed by Jean Louis Colmas in 1984, Wood Technology became Starboard's trademark construction in 1995. Starboard's production Wood boards then set the lead in lightweight sandwich technology, weighing in at a kilo under the competition, yet with higher impact resistance. A sheet of 0.6 mm Australian plantation pine wood forms the full outer shell of the board. Wood's unique properties are its natural rigidity, superior resistance to compression and higher energy absorption compared to carbon. It is the construction with the highest dynamic shape stability.

Advantages: lighter weight, highest dynamic shape stability, rigid flex, quicker response.

Carbon
Pure carbon construction both deck and bottom: Carbon Technology is selected on the light wind racing models where the key criteria are acceleration efficiency and maximum hull stiffness. Like WoodCarbon, Carbon Technology uses an ultra light carbon fibre that is flat-weaved for total mechanical efficiency at half the specific weight of regular carbon weaves.

Advantages: lightest weight, stiffest flex for lightwind racing.