Starboard has a new foilboard

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aeroegnr
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Starboard has a new foilboard

https://windsurf.star-board.com/windsurfing-boards/foil-race-boards/foil-millennium-race-windsurf-board/

the Millennium 100, a new raceboard with a very wide 100.3 cm OFO (one foot off the tail)

Struggled to figure out of what it reminded me. Sadly, I think I figured it out Lol

The unusual features continue. The tail almost reminds one of the Kona step. I guess the added bit in the back is to add a bit of surface to get off the water? We're used to cutaways on the side but the back extends way beyond the foilbox. What are your thoughts? Bonus points for irreverent
answers.

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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard
webguy wrote:

The unusual features continue. The tail almost reminds one of the Kona step. I guess the added bit in the back is to add a bit of surface to get off the water? We're used to cutaways on the side but the back extends way beyond the foilbox. What are your thoughts? Bonus points for irreverent answers.

Reinforced tail tip/bottle opener for the after-session brew.

I saw that on IG and I have no idea. Is it an board aerodynamics thing? Doesn't seem like it would do much good in the water but I may just not understand.

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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard
aeroegnr wrote:
webguy wrote:

The unusual features continue. The tail almost reminds one of the Kona step. I guess the added bit in the back is to add a bit of surface to get off the water? We're used to cutaways on the side but the back extends way beyond the foilbox. What are your thoughts? Bonus points for irreverent answers.

Reinforced tail tip/bottle opener for the after-session brew.

I saw that on IG and I have no idea. Is it an board aerodynamics thing? Doesn't seem like it would do much good in the water but I may just not understand.

Good thought. but there's already so much dirty air back there from the straps, legs, etc. Perhaps with 35 kts of apparent wind, those things matter over a 2 km upwind leg. Kind of like hiding the cables on a $10k bike.

In cycling, the small stuff - especially aero - does matter at the pointy end. No, I'm not at the pointy end. Even when I was young, I was somewhere around the not quite dull end.

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aeroegnr
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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

Yeah just taking a look at their page:

Starboard wrote:
ADVANCED AERO The new Millennium evolves significantly from its predecessor: Complex drag reduction analysis became essential to increase performance at all points of sail. The new 2cm lower nose rocker and thinner rails at the nose reduce entry drag, whilst massive tail wing extensions significantly clean airflow and reduce exit drag.

Yeah it seems like a bluff back is good for shipping/transport and keeping overall length down but for their flow regime maybe having a fat teardrop does get rid of some drag.

Also, totally speculating, but on some points of sail I do end up with the sail touching the center of the board on the 95cm wide iqfoil. If there is an aero benefit to "closing the gap" then that would extend it even further. Kind of gives it an extra foot or so of an airfoil fence on the sail when hauling upwind. It looks like there is even some benefit when less sheeted in on a different point of sail, because of the overhead taper. I have zero understanding of how significant that is (and if that's what they were going for), just wondering.

I do notice also that it's spec'd 7.0-11.0! Can't even imagine foiling with an 11.0. That's why I saw Hyperglide 5 marketing indicating an 11.0 size...

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webguy
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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

I was thinking it might be something more mundane like needing a certain depth to fit the "Tuttle" box into the board.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Langdon
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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

Reminds me of the story many years ago of someone bolting a mast base to a door and wave sailing it.

Bill Herderich

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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

Video of it in action. I don't have an opinion yet

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cq_UKmkIz-4/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

Looks like this is the board? And wow, she's fast.

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webguy
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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

Looks like she's on a teeny sail. Interesting that it has a fairly long boom. I've found small sails with small boom lengths a bit twitchy on a foil and my Choppers, even though they look odd, work pretty well.

Of course, I might not have a clue what I'm talking about. Blush

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aeroegnr
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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard
webguy wrote:

Looks like she's on a teeny sail. Interesting that it has a fairly long boom. I've found small sails with small boom lengths a bit twitchy on a foil and my Choppers, even though they look odd, work pretty well.

Of course, I might not have a clue what I'm talking about. Blush

Well looking at it and where the sail is my theory of "closing the gap for better aero" doesn't seem to be the case during this high speed run...and that's faster than I've ever gone on fin or foil.

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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

I think end plating/closing the gap does help.if you have a suboptimal amount of power. I'd think though in that situation, she has all the power she needs and it's more a matter of keeping it all glued together. Closing the gap should also reduce drag a bit but, again, I think the dominant issue is foil rather than sail drag.

Mad respect for her speed, too.

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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

What about the gap under the board?

Bill Herderich

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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard
windlord wrote:

What about the gap under the board?

In terms of? Not sure I understand the question.

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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

I just don't think you get much end plate effect riding a foil board. The air just flows underneath the board.

Bill Herderich

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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard
windlord wrote:

I just don't think you get much end plate effect riding a foil board. The air just flows underneath the board.

I don't think it's significant (because of all the other factors mentioned above) but those boards are from 71-91 cm wide and that forms a bit fence at the bottom of the sail. Even on a narrower high wind board, that's still a 35cm (about a foot) wide fence a the bottom of the sail. I'd think that's enough to have some effect on the induced drag at the foot at those speeds. Starboard mentions closing the gap in promo literature but I think we are all a bit skeptical of marketing blurbs.

"RECESSED MAST TRACK

Deck concave and recessed mast track for a more vertical sailing position while closing the gap between the sail and the deck of the board."

Would you mind if I posed this question to a wider audience containing much better foilers (seabreeze)?

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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

Feel free to post.

Bill Herderich

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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

Question posted. In the meantime, realized that the AC75s are much further off the water and end plating their main and jibs are pretty big deals.

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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

Unsubstantiated wonders:

Is this board optimized for bigger sails with mast track further forward/taller rider? That may explain open gap
I wonder how bad the drag is just on the board, flat back vs. quick taper at the tail. This is a 100cm wide board made for 7-11m2 sails
I would like to see the CFD of sail/board interaction there, or just telltales or smoke or something showing what happens on a flat back vs. that taper. I bet they had a proto board with a removable tail or something to actually see..

When you look at the race winning slalom boards, like the future fly, they are narrower, faster, and don't have that teardrop tail.

But 30 something knots seems like there could be a lot of drag if the trailing edge isn't optimized.

Also, look at the Iris R line up. 71cm DOES have a slight point at the back. So does the 100. But the ones in between not quite. But they do have some tail rounding then a flat.

I will freely admit I'm not sure what's going on here.

https://www.phantom-foiling.com/wind-iris-r-dd#board

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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

The tail of her board doesn't look wide enough to be a 1000. I think it's a smaller pre-production or proto. But, yes, to your point, I think she's using something smaller than what the board is designed for. I wouldn't read too much on the back ends of the other boards, as I think that's more about shaping the rear for release, etc. From an aero view, I don't think there's really any difference.

As far as fairing the tail, I don't think a extended tail is saving that much. First, there's a ton of turbulence off the foot straps and rider's legs. Second, you can get most of those savings with a Kamm tail without extending so far. But, it's racing so 0.5% still counts. They are going similar speeds to cyclists who worry about what kind of socks they wear (yes, it makes a difference at the pointy end).

As far as Bill's question about being off the water, as mentioned above, AC75s do focus closing the gap even though they, too, are off the water. They spend a ton of $ on CFD so I'd think they have a reason for doing it. Closing the gap has a significant effect on reducing the drag of the sail.

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aeroegnr
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Re: Starboard has a new foilboard

Ahh you know what that is NOT the millenium. It's the X-15 75 with a 4.6 overdrive per her IG.

So I guess they are putting that tail on a lot of their boards.

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webguy