Nice New Phantom

Took out the new Starboard Phantom this weekend. Very interesting little (no big) board. At 222 ltrs, this is a strangely agile board. With 80cm to walk round it felt super stable on the water and the 301cm length gave a mass of water line that made the board glide very nicely.


The most unusual and striking part of the board is the transitional shaping of the hull. At the back under the fin the board is as flat as a French pancake. This unusually, slalom like flatness brings a speed and feel of a much small board when the board rail up. At about a third the length of the board, the hull rounds out and finished with a heavy displacement style to it.
This makes the board run beautifully in light puffs. It has a silent roll through the water reminiscent of the Serenity (no surprise there). In 0-3 knots I was able to move around nicely, the high end actually feeling light and powered.

Can't wait to take her out in a little more wind. At 8knts I bet its a blast. With a huge retractable 50cm dagger board its listed to rail at 5-8.

With a total eva deck, this might just be the perfect entry level intermediate board. Something stable enough to learn, long enough for light winds and controllable enough for transitioning to higher winds...