Starboard ISonic Board Test Review 2006

Boards Magazine - March 2006

Described as a pure slalom board and – as we’ve come to expect from Starboard – featuring an unusual design. The Starboard Isonic is short and wide, but less extreme than its famous predecessor the Hypersonic.

The Isonic feels very stable in the water, and is superbly easy to get planing on. It’s extremely quick to release and accelerates effortlessly, with excellent glide through the lulls. It has a solid feel underfoot, offering plenty to push against when you need to power upwind. It is incredibly stable from side to side, but more noticeably nose to tail – the nose seems pinned to the water and the board just flys.

All in all, the Isonic is a blisteringly quick and very controllable board, making its very high top speeds easy and fun to reach.

The slight downside is in the gybing. While the Starboard Isonic's quite possible and not even too difficult (on flat water) to exit with buckets of speed, it’s not the most rewarding board to gybe, requiring a lot of foot pressure to drive the rail into the water.

Fittings: The Isonics come with two high quality G10 fins, in this case a 34 and 40 cm Tuttle, which give the board an awesome range and make it very good value for money. The straps and deck pads are also very good, and just in case you’re wondering, we didn’t leave it out in the sun too long – the graphics are Ipod inspired!

Boards tested the Full Wood version, but it’s also available in DRAM at £799

Overall: The Isonic is a full thoroughbred slalom board with undoubted race winning potential -for slalom racing it is unquestionably the board we’d all choose from this test.

Recommended high speed blaster

iSonic 115 Wood - Wind magazine, France - December 2006

A surprise from the World No.1 who no longer produces the Hypersonic with the deep double concaves that impressed everyone since its original launch. They move on to other things like this sumptuous iSonic, with sharp and fluid lines... and a very flat bottom! Their aim: to gain in acceleration and top end speed for higher levels of performance in theory and also on the racing course. So let’s say this right away, this latest development by Starboard was not useless as the iSonic 115 we tested has precisely answered any doubts, by showing some performances of the very highest order. Light and very direct underfoot, it feels alive and takes off at the slightest gust thanks to its low rockerline and good volume under the straps. This little board with a truncated nose boosts right away (the truncated nose removes any unnecessary length) and the low nose scoop swallows everything ahead of it, even heavy water chop that it skims over with a margin of a few cm.

Untouchable upwind or on the reach, it goes well downwind where you will need some good legs as the thickness may be a little thick for lightweights.

Impeccably finished and equipped, the iSonic presents also a subtle and elegant design like the white on white sticker concept producing beautiful results.

Finally, jibing is easier and less technical than on the Hypersonic with more speed out of the exit. This is a new series that stands out on more than one account.

Specifications

Model Volume Length Width Tail WOOD
Weight
+-6% DRAM
Weight
+-6% Fin box Fin size Sail size(m²)

iSonic 105 105 litres 233 cm. 63 cm. 42.9 cm. TBA TBA Tuttle Drake Slalom Pro 340 (recommended for sails under 7.6)+
Drake Slalom 400 (recommended for sails over 6.9) 5.5-8.5

iSonic 115 115 litres 233 cm. 68 cm. 47.4 cm. 6.75 kg. 7.2 kg. Tuttle Drake Slalom Pro 340 (recommended for sails under 7.6)+
Drake Slalom 420 (recommended for sails over 7.2) 5.8-9.0

iSonic 125 125 litres 230 cm. 75 cm. 50.7 cm. TBA TBA Tuttle Drake Slalom Pro 360 (recommended for sails under 7.8)+
Drake Slalom 440 (recommended for sails over 7.5) 6.0-9.5

iSonic 135 135 litres 228 cm. 80 cm. 54.8 cm. TBA TBA Tuttle Drake Slalom Pro 380 (recommended for sails under 8.1)+
Drake Slalom 440 (recommended for sails over 7.8) 6.5-10.0