The mystery of the Starboard AtomIQ 110 SOLVED!!!

[adywind]

Yeah, someone on the Starboard forum /where I posted a shorter version of this post / also suggested a WOOD underside and it explains the weight and the boards behavior somewhat. The conseqwences are obvious: reduced cost; increased durability ; softer ride in chop but decreased performance espatially in the lower end.
The rest of the questions remain though: the different paint /it's solid like in the top picture but lighter/, why being silent about it; did the British magazines review a full carbon version; do different markets get different construction???

[adywind]

Great, I got a response from Tiesda on the Starboard forum who confirmed that the bottom is wood indeed and suggested that I email them pictures so they can look into it. Looks like the mystery starts to unravel
Where they got the idea of my board having a black bottom is not clear though Here is his response:
"Can you send over photos of your board, the serial number and the weight without footstraps or fins fitted?

Send it to 'info@star-board.com' and I'll be able to look into it.

The AtomIQs are indeed carbon deck and wood bottom, as are most of our carbon boards. Carbon works great in tension, but not so much in compression. Wood works great in compression. Considering the forces acting on a board travelling at full speed, that's why one of our most efficient constructions uses carbon on the deck and wood on the bottom. It's a unique way to combine the properties of two contrasting materials.

Furthermore, because the AtomIQs are extra thin, their surface area is greater than the classic board of the same volume. So they appear on paper to be heavier than usual. A good way to check if the weight is good, is to compare it to a classic Freeride board 10 liters larger, then deduct what 10 liters id EPS foam would weigh (I.e. 150g).

Having said all that, the bottom should be a light-finished paint over wood. You'd normally even see the wood texture through the paint. So to have the bottom black under the paint seems strange."
A bad quality picture I made in the dark of my garage. The color is solid grey and no textures are visible wood or otherwise. Maybe whoever painted it aplied a lot more paint than they were supposed to ?!?
Also the weights appear to be preliminary estimates /the small text in the printed catalogue pic.2/ that never got updated on the webpage and I'm assuming the British magazines used the estimates unlike the German Surf who used a real figure.
Will see...I need a better quality pictures and weight measurement without the straps first.

[adywind]

Ok I was able to take few pictures outside and to weigh the board without the footstraps. I emailed Starboard and now I'm awaiting their reply wich may or may not place the final peace of the puzzle -why is the colour different.

[swchandler]

What happened to the deck part of the nose?

[adywind]

[sav1]

LOL. The weight is probably due to water in the nose encapsulated by aquaseal

[adywind]

[adywind]

I don't know about you guys but the hull in this picture out of Boards mag looks exactly like the deck and suspiciously carbonish Unlike mine No?!?
Somebody cheating here ?!?

[antonputman]

Here are some pictures of a 2014 100L model, same as yours. You can actually see the wood.
http://shop.otc-windsurf.com/product/boards/2014-starboard-atomiq-100-carbon/

My local dealer in Italy, did NOT describe his 2014 100L model like this though..
I can't find a picture of a bottom with the carbon washed look right now.

[antonputman]

btw.. the picture you see in your Boards Mag screenshot does not have a center strap and looks like it's got 2 holes for the finbox.
I saw this also in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46B6gbNFzKU
Maybe this board was < 2014 model?