AIR IN THE BOARD – WIND IN THE SAIL
The innovative inflatable windsurfing board, capable of full planing and real carve jibing.
With the new Woven Technology, the 2020 AirPlanes are 1.8kg lighter and stiffer than ever. It’s a new level of inflatable board performance.
THE AIRPLANE AT A GLANCE
Double-layer, low-extension woven drop-stitch Fusion welded technology adds stiffness, improves durability with a higher resistance to puncture, improves shape stability over time and reduces weight. New improved efficency and reduced drag ensure easier planing. Enclosing the AirPlane’s rear fin box permanently in the board streamlines the bottom shape, which improves early planing and top end speed. The new box is glued in place and no longer removable, which also makes the board easier to set up.
THE AIRPLANE IN DETAIL
Look inside your closet and compare your knitted clothes against the woven ones. You will find that the woven fabrics are significantly less stretchy.
Our inflatable boards used to be made with knitted dropstitch, but in 2015 we started experimenting with woven reinforcement layers.
However woven fabrics are complex to coat and laminate, so the coating process would leave pinholes, which resulted in leaks, and the lamination was not spreading evenly on the fabric resulting in wrinkles, which caused twisting issues. It took years to fine tune the woven top and bottom fabrics and we also started to play with different values for weft and warp yarns in order to optimize weight / stiffness ratio of the final product. We decided to use the thicker yarns on the warp axis and to optimize weight with thinner yarns in the weft axis.
The result: the stiffest and lightest tech - Woven drop stitch.
WELDING TECHNOLOGY
HEATED AND BONDED FOR LIFE
MECHANICAL BOND = STRENGHT + DURABILITY
Glue is never forever.
Starboards’ welding technique turns two into one – using heat to bond two separate pieces of PVC into a single solid unit. Heat-welded PVC creates a mechanical bond that’s stronger, lasts longer – and is better for the environment.
FULL POWER PLANING
The Starboard invention that created the planing inflatable windsurfing board segment. A proprietary 3D elastomer compound rail edge runs along the rails of the board, creating a hard edge that allows for a clean water release and higher speed, yet fold and roll up. We’ve improved the Rail Edge to improve grip while carve jibing.
MAST TRACK
To make the mast insert system extra safe and strong, we insert it from underneath the board. A deck plate distributes the top load over a large area for added stiffness.
FOOTSTRAP SYSTEM
Starboard’s exclusive footstrap insert system uses 7mm thin insert plates that are glued to the board’s surface. The footstraps bolt into the embedded brass plate and two male pins connect through the footstrap for a twist-free fitting.
REMOVABLE CENTER FIN
All models have a removable center fin box. Remove the box for an improved paddling experience without the added weight or drag. Attach the box and supplied Drake Shallow center fin to prevent the board from drifting sideways when windsurfing.
ROLLER-WHEELED BAG
All of our SUP WINDSURFING Inflatables are supplied with our new roller-wheeled bag that packs everything away tidily and conveniently. Made of a RPET 450D outer fabric layer made from recycled plastic bottles, in partnership with Waste2Wear. The bottles are chopped into flakes, washed, melted and extruded into yarns and then spun into a fabric. Between 30 to 50 bottles are used per bag. Bottles that now re-enters the market again, without risk of polluting the environment. Ripstop weaving technology improves wear and tear resistance.
