Starboard 2021 Sprint Carbon 14 *19.75 review and comparison to 2020 14 * 20.75

 

I have been paddling the 2020 Starboard Sprint 14 *20.75 for about a year now and decided I wanted a new challenge so I was able to purchase the 2021 14 *19.75 Carbon a few weeks ago.

In the last few weeks I have been gaining more confidence on the board and comparing it to my 2020 Sprint. The summary below will be comparing this to my 2020 Sprint and I have a review of that board on this forum already.

Dimensions which really make a difference are as follows:  Internal Standing area is only about a 1CM difference at most. The rails are considerably higher with the 2021 at over 27cm high in the standing area and the 2020 is a little less than 24 cm. The thickness below your feet on the 2021 is 12.5 cm thick and the 2020 is 11cm thick in the standing area. The deck at the front of the dugout  is 33 cm high on the 2021 and the 2020 is 30cm high. The tail on the 2021 is 14cm tall and the 2020 is also 14cm tall. The total rocker, measured at tail with the nose on the ground, on the 2021 is 10.2 cm and the 2020 is 9cm.

Stability: This board has less primary stability than the 2020. It is noticeably harder to stay level and does not instil a lot of confidence if that is what you are used to. The secondary however is much greater. Just today in some 2-3 foot swells I lost balance when getting up after drinking and i was fully expecting to be going in but the board just got to a point of around 30 degrees of lean and stopped. It gave me more than enough time for my 50 year old reactions to put the paddle in and brace. This is the great thing about this increased secondary stability as it provides a lot more time than the 2020 to react.

Pitch: Just like the 2020 this board is very stable not only in rolling but front to back pitch stability. The board seems to just make small 6-9 inch waves disappear with barely moving the board up and down. Larger waves will have the front punching through and then after the first 2 feet of the board move past the wave the board will pitch just enough to keep the wave from filling the cockpit. Most waves split well before coming into the cockpit. I think the increased volume of the 2021 on the top and the new taller nose allows it to be a little more on top of the water and is a little faster in these conditions.

Flatwater Speed: My normal fast pace on the 2020 is around 6.2 mph and the 2021 I can get to about 6.3-6.4mph with the same effort.

Upwinding: Again like the 2020 the 2021 is great at upwind Because of the reduced pitching I find that this board is great when going into the wind and waves. I have had this going into 2-3 foot waves and 20-30kph winds and was still able to keep up a 4.5-5mph average. This is much faster than the 2020 and the increased secondary stability allows for greater power to be applied.
Again pitching was at a minimum and I was easily able to apply power in adverse conditions.

Downwinding: Today I was able to do a good upwinder and downwinder with this board. I had 20-30km winds which provided 2-3 foot waves. This was my easiest downwind to date in these conditions. The board accelerates even faster than the 2020 and the secondary stability kept me from falling in at least twice. It is able to catch every wave with ease. I did find that I did not have to move back as much as the 2020 to prevent a pearl. I did have a fear that when it would pearl the tall nose would catch and steer but this did not happen. I t is actually hard to pearl. t steer side to side.  Overall I would rate this equal to the 2020 at a rating of 10 for downwinding. Again like the 2020 Linking bumps was effortless as I could easily power over any small bumps to get to the next set in front of me.


Sidewinds/sidechop:  Again this is one area that the high sides can have an issue and the 2020 is slightly more affected by wind from the side as it is taller. If the winds are over 15kph and the front is about 25-30 degrees off the wind and waves then the front will have a tendency to wander very quickly downwind. It is a lot of work to keep this under control. If the wind is lower than this then there is almost no issue. Waves easily pass the front of the board and due to the narrow width I have very little roll so if you just have waves and little wind then this is not an issue.

Boat wake: I have many boats on my lake and have had anything from 2-6 foot wakes. Again due to the narrow width and great secondary stability I have not had any issues with this and have not fallen in yet and I am able to keep the speed up.

Pivot turns: I do sprints and pivots every week and have found that the board is very stable for its width. The tail is almost exactly the same width and the only difference seems to be the angle of the hump on the back of the kick pad so when I hit that with my foot I really know I am at the back. The deck design does actually work to keep water out of the cockpit. There is a lot of board in the front but it comes out a little more due to the increased rocker as well as the new construction makes the front slightly lighter.

Sprints: This is still a displacement board but since it has greater secondary stability it is easy to apply power and this has keep me out of the water quite a few times and my overall top speeds are great. It is not much faster faster than the 2020 but this may change with more experience

Stiffness: This board feels as stiff as the 2020 underfoot and again this board feels solid. There is no shudder if I go up a wave and come back down into another one like some others. I have also performed the bounce test ,which has put some of my past boards into a spasm like an inflatable, does not have any effect on this board. Overall the stiffness and solid feeling of this board is only matched by my wood board. I know that if I would hit this board with my paddle I may penetrate the outer layer but this is a 25lb race board so there is only so much thickness and impact strength which should be expected. The difference between 2020 and 2021 is the lack of a full PVC wrap on the 2021. the deck and the bottom still have the PVC sandwich but the top deck and the sides are no longer PVC sandwich. Starboard did increase the density of the Carbon on the single layer areas and the board does not seem to be any different in flex and may be a little more durable with the thicker layer of carbon.

Overall: This is a great board and it is faster than the 2020. I know that SUPboarder did not think that the 2021 is faster but as they say they are not on these narrow boards all the time and that may have affected this rating. If you want a faster board and you have the 2020 then the 2021 will most likely be faster but the trade off is less primary stability. I do think that the 21 inch may regain some of that initial stability and should hopefully have some of the speed increase compared to the 2020 20.75 so that may be a better version for those that are taller and heavier. I am 5'9" and 155lbs.