THE ISONIC
Is the Isonic the benchmark of slalom boards? I prefer that people from outside of Starboard answer that question! But for sure I am fighting to have the best board. This is my goal. Albeau was our first champion on it and it was the first time he won the PWA world title. He won because of the Isonic! After that he stayed world champion until last year. Bjorn Dunkerbeck also won the title on the Isonic in 2011 and Matteo Iachino last year of course. I hope Matteo will stay champion for many years. The board has evolved a lot from the days when Albeau won on it. The boards from 2008 compared to today are massively different. The boards are shorter, wider and the rocker lines have totally changed. The bottom outline has changed and so have the rails. Improving the Isonic each year is hard work and a time consuming process. The key for me each year is when I go home to Martinique and I windsurf for a whole month like crazy! I am an addict to windsurfing so I will go every day in the water. I sail for many hours and also lend out my boards to many friends. In Martinique we are approximately a group of twenty people so I let them try all the boards and take feedback from their opinions. We discuss a lot about the boards and share our feedback. This in general gives me the foundation to develop three strong ideas from this month. Then I can start to make the new prototypes in Thailand. Then I test with some of the team riders to find out if we have gone in a positive direction. It is a very long and meticulous process but it is important to be thorough. The more feedback I have, the happier I am. This minimizes the possibility to go in the wrong direction.
