Took the brand new Starboard All Star Downwind special out for the first time today. Solid 20-30 knots with a few gusts in the mid 30s... ideal test conditions for a DW board. Unfortunately no video to show (unless DJ got a few shots on his helmet mounted GoPro) as I didn't want my maiden voyage tainted by camera mounts. I will endeavour to get some video next time.
Anyhow, the board performed extremely well. It is certainly a sweet throwback in many ways to the Coast Runner / Ocean Race heritage. It gets onto a glide quite easily and holds speed well, and it is super stable. I felt very comfortable on the board, stayed dry the whole run, and didn't ever have to hold back. It's an interesting exercise in working out the trim. As we were discussing afterwards, it probably depends a lot on your height, weight and style, but I found the method I normally use of walking the board was not necessarily optimum for holding the glides and linking bumps - I had to widen my surf stance and distribute weight from front foot to back foot. A different skill set to work on but it's always good to have a new challenge.
Anyhow, all good fun and a highly recommended option for anyone looking for a dedicated 14' downwind board.
Hmmm yep definitely a good bit of Coast Runner / Ocean Race in the DNA. They were good bumps boards
Eye witness report :
Looked good on the water, lifted and planed very early.
Looked like the hull concaves were doing what they were designed for.
Surfed the bumps very nicely
The above photos were taken at the end of the run where we need to hook inshore to get around the Sandringham Wall of Death (YC sea wall), so the waves aren't as good as most of the run. Earlier in the run would have been better photos, but we were too busy having fun.
Select to expand quotemagillamelb said..
Looks a bit like the love child of an Allstar and big nose Falcon...
I don't know how much traditional All Star is left except for the standing area slight recess. The hull is obviously more like the Sprint.
I think Helmy is right abut the planing and the hull concaves doing what they are designed for and that is probably why I found myself bogging down when I did my Ace derived running up and down the board in short, quick steps. Doing that must break the air / water gap in the concave during the plane. That would be why a more subtle, wide stance seemed to work best as the board stayed up on the plane longer.
Select to expand quotePTWoody said...magillamelb said..
Looks a bit like the love child of an Allstar and big nose Falcon...
I don't know how much traditional All Star is left except for the standing area slight recess. The hull is obviously more like the Sprint.
I think Helmy is right abut the planing and the hull concaves doing what they are designed for and that is probably why I found myself bogging down when I did my Ace derived running up and down the board in short, quick steps. Doing that must break the air / water gap in the concave during the plane. That would be why a more subtle, wide stance seemed to work best as the board stayed up on the plane longer.
How does it compare to the Ace downwind?
Did the board feel big for you (I know you aren't DJ-sized...)?
How does it go quartering wind and swell?
My question is how much diference is in this 28 wide model as above compared to say the 26?
How much more rocker does the 28 wide have compared to the 26?
I've only seen the 28 on a rack in shop on the gc and the 12"6 24 models in a race and on the beach. 24 looks like a rocket in 12"6 length or maybe it was just cause boothy and Matty nottage are rockets on them.
Select to expand quoteArea10 said..PTWoody said...magillamelb said..
Looks a bit like the love child of an Allstar and big nose Falcon...
I don't know how much traditional All Star is left except for the standing area slight recess. The hull is obviously more like the Sprint.
I think Helmy is right abut the planing and the hull concaves doing what they are designed for and that is probably why I found myself bogging down when I did my Ace derived running up and down the board in short, quick steps. Doing that must break the air / water gap in the concave during the plane. That would be why a more subtle, wide stance seemed to work best as the board stayed up on the plane longer.
How does it compare to the Ace downwind?
Did the board feel big for you (I know you aren't DJ-sized...)?
How does it go quartering wind and swell?
I would say it's nowhere near as twitchy as an Ace, and the rails are very forgiving. I suspect it's going to be a difficult board to fall off - you're going to have to get it very wrong. Even when I planted the nose into the wave in front, there was enough compromise between a boofy Ace nose and a piercing nose - it didn't cut through without slowing down like the old All Star but it didn't pearl and throw me over the handlebars like an Ace can. I will say I don't think it will match the Ace for raw speed, especially as Aces are no wider than 25" nowadays so that's fairly obvious. I don't think this one is meant to be a downwind race winner ahead of a bunch of Aces, but anyone who wants to enjoy down winding without having to haul themselves out of the water every few hundred metres might very well want to demo one of these. I got the full carbon red nose which is possibly out of the price range of a few buyers, but the hybrid carbon is very affordable for most and I don't think the extra weight will be that much of a concern.
The funny thing is even though I'm used to 23-25" boards for racing and downwind, I've been far more familiar lately with the SB Astro Stream for white water, which 36" wide, so this board was not so big as a direct comparison. However I was surprised to find the wind was as strong as it was when we checked the readings afterwards as the board was so stable, I just didn't get a sense that it was so blow-y.
Yesterday's wind was blowing a bit offshore whereas the swell was running along the coastline more or less. I found the board was much easier to counter that quartering wind/swell than an Ace. I had the factory fin, but I would like to try something smaller next time as I have come to discover an oversize fin is often the biggest factor in countering quarter wind swell, especially with a chunky nose board.
Select to expand quoteAndyR said..
My question is how much diference is in this 28 wide model as above compared to say the 26?
How much more rocker does the 28 wide have compared to the 26?
I've only seen the 28 on a rack in shop on the gc and the 12"6 24 models in a race and on the beach. 24 looks like a rocket in 12"6 length or maybe it was just cause boothy and Matty nottage are rockets on them.
That's a very good question that I can't answer just yet as we haven't seen any other All Stars yet. New shipment due in very soon so I will compare as soon as it gets here.
Hey PT.. Your new board looks just like mine in the nose.. if you paddled it upsidedown.. 
Looks like I'm paddling a 14' board (at waterline) and yours is only 13'6".. 
You need to change your stance for that board.. IMO.. Too much whitewater paddling.. 
Hey guys, I too was out yesterday trying my first little DWer on my new 2015 JP Ocean Race 12'6" x 27". Put in at Brighton yacht club and finished at Hampton beach near where I live. Fist leg to Green Point was fine (following sea and wind) but found getting into the beach at Hampton required a bit of right arm effort...
Any technique tips for paddling across the wind / waves as the board naturally wants to go down wind?
Select to expand quoteHawaiiheke said..
Now that's interesting.
Yes they really do look like mirror opposites. Which one is being paddles upside down?
Select to expand quoteDavidJohn said..
You need to change your stance for that board.. IMO.. Too much whitewater paddling..
It's funny you should say that - I realise looking at these photos that I am paddling with very bent knees which is the Nikki Gregg style Crouching Tiger stance designed for white water paddling.
Select to expand quotecrustacean said..
Hey guys, I too was out yesterday trying my first little DWer on my new 2015 JP Ocean Race 12'6" x 27". Put in at Brighton yacht club and finished at Hampton beach near where I live. Fist leg to Green Point was fine (following sea and wind) but found getting into the beach at Hampton required a bit of right arm effort...
Any technique tips for paddling across the wind / waves as the board naturally wants to go down wind?
Paddling crosswind is never easy but it can help to stand a little bit closer to the nose than normal.
Select to expand quotecrustacean said..
Hey guys, I too was out yesterday trying my first little DWer on my new 2015 JP Ocean Race 12'6" x 27". Put in at Brighton yacht club and finished at Hampton beach near where I live. Fist leg to Green Point was fine (following sea and wind) but found getting into the beach at Hampton required a bit of right arm effort...
Any technique tips for paddling across the wind / waves as the board naturally wants to go down wind?
Good to see you got out yesterday crustacean.
Hope you had on a real PFD & leg rope. No excuses.
Once around Green Point the breeze goes more offshore, so hug the reef at Green Point and then immediately head inshore to the first groyne. You can then line up for the rest of the run, albeit close to shore and less exciting. If you don't do this then you risk either missing Sandy, or if you're half way in, you risk getting washed up on the Wall of Death - Sandy YC's wave screen. This can happen pretty quickly, as you also start getting backwash from the wall about 500 metres out. With the backwash you'll fall off your board and then get washed towards the wall with the wind, the backwash increases, you'll fall again, get closer to the wall, fall again, suddenly in deep do-do.
You basically need to be close in and follow the line of the groynes into Sandy.
If you find that you have gotten too far out and the Wall is looming, get onto your knees and knee-paddle in. Don't worry, we've all done this at some stage...better to learn from a simple navigational mistake than end up in a concrete washing machine lined with mussel shells...
Beaumaris has the same feature - it goes off shore at Quiet corner, so you need to hug the reefs. Different problem - no sea wall, but if you miss Beauy, next stop will be Mornington...or Tassie...
Hope this helps you and anyone else that's contemplating similar Bayside runs
Select to expand quoteHelmy said..crustacean said..
Hey guys, I too was out yesterday trying my first little DWer on my new 2015 JP Ocean Race 12'6" x 27". Put in at Brighton yacht club and finished at Hampton beach near where I live. Fist leg to Green Point was fine (following sea and wind) but found getting into the beach at Hampton required a bit of right arm effort...
Any technique tips for paddling across the wind / waves as the board naturally wants to go down wind?
Good to see you got out yesterday crustacean.
Hope you had on a real PFD & leg rope. No excuses.
Once around Green Point the breeze goes more offshore, so hug the reef at Green Point and then immediately head inshore to the first groyne. You can then line up for the rest of the run, albeit close to shore and less exciting. If you don't do this then you risk either missing Sandy, or if you're half way in, you risk getting washed up on the Wall of Death - Sandy YC's wave screen. This can happen pretty quickly, as you also start getting backwash from the wall about 500 metres out. With the backwash you'll fall off your board and then get washed towards the wall with the wind, the backwash increases, you'll fall again, get closer to the wall, fall again, suddenly in deep do-do.
You basically need to be close in and follow the line of the groynes into Sandy.
If you find that you have gotten too far out and the Wall is looming, get onto your knees and knee-paddle in. Don't worry, we've all done this at some stage...better to learn from a simple navigational mistake than end up in a concrete washing machine lined with mussel shells...
Beaumaris has the same feature - it goes off shore at Quiet corner, so you need to hug the reefs. Different problem - no sea wall, but if you miss Beauy, next stop will be Mornington...or Tassie...
Hope this helps you and anyone else that's contemplating similar Bayside runs
Yep, safety first. Had a ground crew keeping an eye on me too...
Many thanks for the advice, much appreciated - I'll certainly remember to keep well clear of the Wall of Death!
I had the right idea and swung in past the tips of the groynes. Just found it a tiring run on the right arm fighting the wind all the time to hold course and then a final push to swing into Hampton beach. Any technique tips for paddling when you want to make headway 90 deg to the wind?
Looking forward to trying this and seeing how my 95kgs works with the new Allstar. I'm not the worlds greatest DWer and hoping it can in some ways aid my pursuit of DW Joy!
Select to expand quoteMaxeeboy said..
New Allstar has the same nose as the Ace.
Are you sure about that.. 
Select to expand quoteDavidJohn said..Maxeeboy said..
New Allstar has the same nose as the Ace.
Are you sure about that..
Who's even looking at the nose.
& it was all yellow, ha ha
All yellow aside, smart move by Starboard, particularly if your not a dug out fan, a mainly flat deck with similar Ace characteristics on the nose.
Select to expand quoteMaxeeboy said...
2016 looking good for the Allstar & Ace
New Allstar has the same nose as the Ace.
New paint scheme on the ace makes it look like the best one yet.. Anyone know of many changes made from 2015 to 2016 ace models ??
ACE 2016 has a slightly flatter rocker and even more cockpit area dug out than 2015 from what I've heard.
As you can see in the photo it is also slightly faster than the Allstar 
Looking forward to mine arriving in November!
^^^^^
Cool so in theory it should provide even further stabilty than 2014 to 2015 models. this is good!!
even more flatter rocker... this board must be getting pretty flat now yeah???. Should improve flat water speed even further making it a true all round race board as most find 2014 and 2015 models pretty quick come flat water races already. but when does less rocker start to make it less of a down wind machine than previous models?? or is it the opposite with the ace shape do we not need much rocker in it to excel in DW conditions?
I really wish I had 5k to drop on one to experiment with over the next 12 months, Though a hybrid all star is a lot more afforable..
Good questions.
Is the ace going too get too flat
Most the ace people loved the 2015
From 14-15 saw quite large changes in the Ace which made it a lot more stable than in previous years and a bit quicker in the flats. 15-16 doesnt see as large a chang, more tweaks than anything. 2015 Aces are a competitive 2-3 year board in my opinion and an absolute bargain compared to 2016, all you need to do is find one. I know where there are 2 brand new ones stashed away......
But back to the All Star. From paddling it in the river and catching boat wakes this board is incredibly stable and rides wakes well. It is a bit flater than the 2015 Ace so tends to stick the nose in a little bit more, but not enough to skew and buck you off as it comes back up easily enough. This is going to be a great board for 90kg+ who are getting into DWing and want something stable and reasonably quick.
