Production versus custom boards - 2009 Prices

Epenrose · Joined: 05 Nov 1997 Posts: 402

I would be very interested to hear others opinions and experiences with production boards especially those coming out of the Cobra factory.

I pulled a 2 year old 95 liter JP out of its bag Sat and already starting to de-laminate. Board has been under my house or in a storeroom with vent plug out and at a temperature range of 48F to 65F. This is now the 4th or 5th board out of the Cobra factory that this has happened.

Hearing that new boards will be $1700 to $2200 range for 09 is insane in my view, especially with a one year warranty, forget that.

What really irritates me is that the only board that held up and I never had an issue with is an old ASD Endurro made in Slovakia that I bought in 2000 and I gave away in 2006.

I had a long talk with a fellow windsurfer who had all the same issues, decks going soft, plugs ripping out, cracks, de-lamination. However none of these seem to occur in custom boards and the price is basically the same now. Seems like the quality control and product of Cobra lacks to say the least.

I bought the JP on close out for $1K and even that seems stupidly expensive as it lasted two years, maybe used for 40 sessions. That is $25 per session. Get a $1800 custom that last 5 years and 150 sessions and that's $12 per session. Less than half the price.

What's up with the industry, they really don't think they'll get the prices with a one year warranty do they?

Anyone have the same experiences and going custom?

gerritt · Joined: 06 May 1998 Posts: 632 Location: Redwood City, CA

Not sure its a Cobra problem so much as a JP problem. I have seen a lot of guys break their JP's. I have had excellent luck with Naish (built by Mistral). I still have a 2000 8-5 that won't die. I also have 3 RRD's that are going strong. The oldest is a 2005.

I just bought a JP Young Gun for my kid this fall and it has been on the water 3 times. I just noticed a weird crack running vertically down the nose about five inches, both on the top and bottom of the board, as if it were made of porcelain. I'm not happy about it to say the least.

Epenrose · Joined: 05 Nov 1997 Posts: 402

3 sessions has got to be a record, that sucks.

I had the same issues with F2 & RRD. The RRD started to de-laminate and of course they had no interest in looking at.

LeeD · Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 1175

Lengthwise nose cracks usually mean impact from boom hits.
Naish's are made by Cobra, not Mistral. Mistrals are made by Cobra.
Pre '01 Mistrals were made in Germany, but they have seams and are heavy, sluggish, and STILL leak in the seams.
JP's happen to be the lightest, highest performing layups of all the Cobra boards, so stands to reason they'd be the weakest against most adversity.
Percentage of durable customs is not all that different from Cobra boards, but if you order SLabs, you're well above the rest.
You who fall on your jibes or are learning new freestyle moves are NOT the judge of durabiility because you're constantly smashing your board with booms, masts, elbows, and water....and you want the lightest boards, which ANY experienced rider will tell you should be reserved for only those who can take care of it, not abuse it (falling is abuse, it's an accident, isn't it ??), or who know it's just disposable income spent in a good way.
Since Cobra has been on strike lately, you should appreciate the good thing you currently have...it might not last forever.
We might be back to Algerian, Taiwanese, Swiss, and Slovak boards before you know it..... or not.

mikecole · Joined: 21 Sep 2000 Posts: 164

My cobra built starboards (Evo's and an S-Type) have been durable. I also have a couple of Sean O's boards built in the Sumitomo factory in China and they have been durable. I should note that I fall quite a lot and am I often find myself in bad places at bad times. In this photo I thought I could pinch upwind and get over this one. I ended up abandoning ship to leward Smile

Mike

LeeD · Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 1175

Nice pic...
Obviously, you should have made your decision and reacted earlier on waves shoulder to head high.....
But just because your board survived a few major looking impacts doesn't mean that generally Starboards hold up better or worse than other companies.
If you keep track of the posts in Starboard, you'll find they regularly censor out any posts regarding construction or warrantee problems. The posts are there for the first day or two, then censored out by Ian. That's from maybe 5 years of observation.
Until 4 years ago, I worked full time in windsurfing shops in the SF Bay area. We'd sell easily 150 boards a year, and run into warrantee problems from not only ours, but plenty of boards that were bought elsewhere.
Believe me, the ratio of unhappy to happy customers is not more than 1/4.
Should we make boards stronger and heavier ? Well, Tiga tried and failed, both counts.
Once again, buy your shiny new state of the art sailboard, but bear in mind it's a toy and fully disposable with a limited shelflife.

mikecole · Joined: 21 Sep 2000 Posts: 164

Lee,

For sure you are correct on all counts. It was not my intention to imply SB is any better than any other brand. I wanted to poke a little fun at myself by posting that pic. and on that note, I'm sorry the thing is so big! Forgot to reduce the dimensions. Thanks go to Jalama Paul for taking the photo.

Mike

P.S. Yes, I am still working on the fine art of chicken-jibe timing!

MalibuGuru · Joined: 11 Nov 1993 Posts: 9300

Guys, I have both Star-board and exocete boards. They are incredibly well built. I leave the plug in and carry them both on my roof all summer. Big jumps, big surf and a big sailor. Both great boards.

LeeD · Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 1175

Once again.... NICE PIC!
We enjoy/appreciate you who take the time to post cool pics, especially since winds have been lacking lately.
But maybe the coast has been getting some action, and the swell is cooperating right now.
But it's sure cold.

soheilzahedi5 · Joined: 05 Apr 2002 Posts: 70

Have to 2nd LeeD's comment regarding SLabs being really well built. Haven't had any issues with any of my Mikeslab boards. People routinely report 10+ years on their well cared for slabs... Plus, if you ever break your Slab, Mike is local and will fix the thing like brand new for a VERY reasonable price. I've seen some horrendous looking damaged boards go into Mike's shop (board almost cut in half by formula fin, board with the bottom completely peeled off by a Maui reef, etc.) and they come out the other side looking like a brand new board.

Look him up:

http://www.mikeslab.com