Got my new Starboard Touring 12´6" x 30 in Brushed Carbon a few days ago from sup.no.
First impression: beautiful board, lightweight (11 kg), stable, nice finish, glides like a dolphin 
I've tracked down every scrap of info regarding the 12'6" touring and your pics are the best. I had a Wood version on order but gave up after 3 months of waiting (!@!^%). Please give us a full review sometime soon. Enjoy!
Thanks, boofy and baddog:)
Here?s me on my Touring board at N?klevann, a quiet lake in Oslo, Norway.
More pics here: http://picasaweb.com/knutoslo
Photo by Edith
Hi baddog
Could you please let me know where in the USA you are exactly so that I can get in touch with the guys looking after STARBOARD & locate & ship out to you a Starboard 12'6 TOURING Wood Version SUP asap..
The TOURING range is one that this season will generate a lot of interest & also a lot of followers as they look amazing, they offer great stability & are also competitive.
I have attached a couple of pics of the 14x30 TOURING in the Wood finish which were taken recently whilst I was enjoying paddling some of the rivers here in Australia.
Cheers Pete
**disclosure; Ive taken on a role in addition to my current position on the STARBOARD R&D team for the surf sup program along side Scotty McKercher to now offer assistance where ever possible to paddlers so that they can be standing on the boards best suited to them with correct information & the best possible service in locating their nearest outlet .. Cheers Pete
Hi Baddog
Have you had any luck revisiting that 12'6 wood touring you had placed on order?
Be great to hear from you to see what you have managed to do & im really hoping you have managed to have one under your feet by now & enjoying it loads..
that's a fantastic Picasa album Knut. frolicking around in dry suits! you guys are tough!
pete
I paddled this board at training this morning and while not used to paddling a 30' wide board it still felt nice. At 70kg I felt I had to stand along way forward to bury the nose which inturn lifted the tail meaning it didn't track so well. But when it came to turning buoys it was incredibly stable and allowed for quick power out of the turn.
I would reccomend this board to anyone who is 80kg+ and looking at getting a 12'6 for cruising or the occasional race.
A lot of threads recommend lighter paddlers to get forward on race boards to engage the nose for optimum glide. I find this not to be true on my Fanatic and I think it is more of a myth then fact. I weight 71-72 kilos and on my 254 lt Fanatic I stand dead center or maybe an inch back in small chop for the best glide. I want the least amount of nose in with clean release off the tail. The Starboard seems to have more of a planning piercing nose, so I would guess that centered just like SUPerOslo is standing would be correct for lighter paddlers. I get the feeling that even though a heavier paddler will engage the nose, it does not apply to lighter paddlers on the same board. Spec the board down in volume to match the weight of the lighter rider then maybe the nose in theory might apply, but I still say no. In a lot of race board videos, there seem to be a lot of noses flying high. Of course I have never even seen the Touring. We only have M&Ms (piercing nose boards) around here and they all look to me like they are riding nose out. FYI, My Fanatic paddles straight as an arrow, in a light cross I'm bummed 'cause I have to paddle on one side for a mile.
Hey SupBali,
The 2013 Starboard line has been uncovered and my interest in getting a Touring has been revitalized by the "New Model" 12'6"s. The 12'6" x 29 and 230 liters is exactly what I was looking for to start with. So the question is, what's new with the "New Model" besides the three widths in 32", 30" and 29"? The tail width on the 30" has increased from 10.6" to 14.8", although the listed vol. at 276 remains the same. Of course the 2012 14' shows the same 10.6" width and the 2013 14' shows 8.9", so there must be misinformation somewhere. So is there something more? Maybe a cutting bow added to the piercing nose design? What say you, SupBali?
I almost forgot, inflatable Tourings! Wow, love to try one of those.
