New starboard freeride first impressions

Total novice looking for a all-round board more biased toward flat water cruising than surfing.

I,m 100 kg and have very little idea about technique, i,m a windsurfer who is useless at surfing.

My first board - 10,6 fanatic fly, indeed a good starter and had some good fun in waves but felt that i was either really unfit or this board was too much effort to paddle around my local.(probably both)

So i looked at upgrading and was hesitant to compromise the all round ability/stability of the fly for a race type board.

After my very helpful local dealer let me loose on various boards, inc the naish nalu/mana, both of which i found to be quite similar to the fly in terms of there ability to paddle easily (for a beginner ).

So previously mentioned helpful dealer offers to bring down a new starboard product to try being the freeride 12'2.

Obviously very different from anything i had tried but the more i looked at the shape/lines the more it seemed to be exactly what i was looking for.

Very light, 13 kg,s so for its size was still very easy to carry and lift onto/of the car.

Perfect day, not full glass but around 3-5 knots and a very small 1 foot wave breaking across the sand bar.

Instantly i could feel the pace of the board without much effort and unlike anything i had used before the transition of the paddle from one side to the other did not effect my stability, i assume because the board was moving quicker through the water.
Also i didn't have to change the paddle from side to side that often because it seemed to track very straight.
A little bit of foot pressure on the rail was all it needed to correct its course.

Caught some little rollers on the way in and had some real fun, effortless to catch and the nose appears to be a very good compromise between surf and race design.
Obviously its never going to carve up a wave but in a straight line felt very stable and once i starting paddling on these little waves i was really moving.

So I've had it for just over month now and it does everything i wanted in my new board and the construction and finish is as good as any I've seen.

So check out these photos and if this type of paddling is your thing i would recommend a test.

More information at http://star-board-sup.com/2014/products/boards/allround--12-2-x30-freeride