Everything that makes you stiff - new technologies for inflatable SUPs

Last year, when Mistral when the first double-chamber SUP was launched, the main focus was on safety. In the event of a fall, an additional chamber should provide enough buoyancy to bob home, or at least hold out on it until help arrives.

In the meantime, this construction method hashas also proven itself as a stiffening measure. The additional, second oval-shaped chamber integrated in the centre of the board requires vertical partitions, which are positioned vertically in the board as stiffening ribs and therefore also increase rigidity. Starboard and - to a lesser extent - Croslake now also rely on this construction method.

Parallel to thisStarboard also works with a "tensioning line" made of virtually stretch-free Kevlar, which runs along the underside of the board and is designed to prevent flexing.

As a third measurethe side walls of the boards are fitted with rigid reinforcing strips. The idea is the same as with the vertical partitions of the double chamber: as with the centre web of a railway track or a double T-beam, vertical stiffening ribs have a much stronger effect than if the same material were simply glued flat to the deck.

First of all, the state of affairs: All Test boards from our SUP magazine 2018 - We have had over 50 boards on the water extensively - they achieve good stiffness values due to their basic construction and a thickness of five to mostly six inches (about 14.5 to 16 centimetres).

Bent bananas from the discounter, which are only 4 inches thick, you don't have to worry here. Nevertheless, there is always room for improvement and Starboard has managed to achieve a noticeably stiffer ride with the double chamber. With the DeLuxe version, Starboard provides a firm base structure with solid edge reinforcements, in combination with the long double chamber directly in the stance area, the board feels noticeably more direct and firmer underfoot when paddling or when deliberately "rocking". A similar effect can also be found on the Croslake, but here the additional chamber is installed behind the stance area, which utilises the stiffening potential less, but is still noticeable compared to the single chamber version. The safety feature remains with both.

The "airline" works quite differentlyfrom Starboard. There is only a slight advantage when "rocking" when stationary and travelling normally compared to the same board with an untensioned line. It gets interesting when chop (wind wave) is added on the lake. Both against the wave and "downwind", with the wind behind you, the board moulds itself much less to the wave, but rather pushes through the wave more like a solid hull. Just like a hardboard would do. The Airline is obviously less able to absorb the high loads when jumping around than the slightly lower forces in wavy conditions.