The newest and one of the most revolutionary shapes on the market has hit the UK; Starboard’s Black Box, developed by Dany Bruch, has the aim of taking the lighter, flatter wavesailing days to a new level.
Our Boards Clones have already tried and tested the board, and loved it as you can see in the Winter edition of our print magazine, but how is it getting on in UK conditions?
Surely the Black Box will be perfectly suited to many UK locations that don’t always provide great down the line conditions? Boards catches up with Sam Ross to find out about his experience with the board so far and where YOU can take one out for a spin.
“So far, the board has been used in Bigbury, Mothecombe, Worthing, Hove, Shoreham, my home spot and a few more places too. Before I stepped on it last week I had seen pictures and read a lot about the board, but hadn’t used one.
“Before using the Black Box, I expected it to be a good onshore waveboard, but I thought it would only really work in really marginal conditions, i.e. when you’re not really powered up or struggling to plane. I also expected it to be super loose!
“When I first used it, it definitely wasn’t ideal conditions; I was just about hanging on to my 4.0m! Absolutely stacked! This is obviously much, much smaller than the recommended sail size (4.7-5.7m is the perfect range), so not ideal. There were a few crumbly waves around, that I hadn’t really managed to get many turns on. I wasn’t really expecting anything and it was fantastic! It turned my local beach into a fantastic spot and a great day to play in the waves. It’s very much a wind blown wave, short period in between and maybe one section you can hit, plus a lot of white water. Being on the Black Box meant I could make it out of turns that I couldn’t usually, I could make it around the sections I wanted to avoid and I managed to keep so much speed whilst comfortably sailing down the line, clew first to find the section I did want to hit.
There were no more one hit wonders! I could get the tail out, whip round a top turn and then keep going; I loved it.
“I think there is a massive appeal for this board. For myself now, my ideal quiver would consist of: 82 Starboard Quad (what I have at the moment), a Black Box (for any cross-on conditions, pretty much my south coast board) and a Kode 103 (for bump and jump). If I had to drop a board from this and only have two, I definitely wouldn’t drop the Black Box! I’m not sure which one I would, but it wouldn’t be the Black Box.
“This is the only one in the UK at the moment, but there’s more coming! This board will remain on tour, going around the country for all to use, then by about the 20th of May there will be more boards in the UK. The first batch of boards will be dedicated demo boards, so they will go to team riders and a select few shops around the country (exact locations TBC).
How many of you have been lucky enough to step on the Black Box so far? And what are your thoughts on the board? Share your comments below or join the discussion on the Boards forum http://forums.boards.co.uk/showthread.php/65296-Starboard-black-Box
