Author: Warren Currie

Have had the new Starboard PIN in Sport Tech construction for about a month now, so I figured it was time to write a review of it.

Two words – It’s Awesome!
Really though, it is a fantastic board for flat water paddling. The “boat nose” makes it slice through chop and gives the front end a bit of lift.
The pin tail rear makes it track nice and straight and I am averaging 9 to 12 strokes per side.
The one aspect I really like about the board is the your stance is not ultra critical to maintain speed on the board.
A few other 12’6″ production class race boards I have tried have a very small area on the board that you can stand and still maintain a good speed. �The PIN has a larger area – which allows you to compensate for wind, chop, etc.

All in all it is one of the absolute best flat water boards I have paddled, lakes, rivers, open ocean – it does it all.

The Sport Tech construction is nice and light – and the wood finish looks beautiful. �It also comes in AST Tuff Skin �(black camo) and also in the yellow Classic.

It’s October, and in Edmonton that means the weather can be +30 one week and -6 and snowing the next.
This is exactly what happened this week.
Our “Thursday Night River Paddle” �turned out to be a bit chilly this week. �Myself and John were the only two brave (silly) souls to show up.
We still made it from Emily Murphy Park to the walking bridge and back, going through a whole range of conditions.
Thank you Quiksilver for making good wetsuits.

Thankfully it is supposed to warm up a bit next week – all the way back to +12!

(click on the pictures for full size)

Wanting to prove the versatility of Stand Up Paddle boards, my son and I went SUP Camping on the September long weekend.
A 3 km paddle to an uninhabited island in Lac La Biche was our destination.
The paddle over was beautiful – absolute glass.
Once our camp was set up we went exploring on the island, seeing a Bald Eagle �and two White Tail Deer.
Then it was time for a fire on the beach and a dinner of hot dogs and marsh mellows.

We awoke the next morning to rain and wind.
Packing up quickly and heading for home we ran straight into a 25 knot head wind.
I ended up passing my leash to my son – and towed him back for the worst part.
Our easy paddle of 20 minutes over the day before was now a struggle to make it home and ended up taking over an hour and a half.
The hot chocolate back at the cabin tasted real good!

(click on the pictures to see them in full size)