Starboard Touring Tikhine Deluxe SC 2023

TOURING - PIONEER EVERYWHERE

Let's go exploring on all the beautiful waters, but let's get the right Touring board first. 

The inflatable Touring board is your choice for short or long distance paddles, flat or small choppy conditions and everything in between.
The voluminous but elongated nose helps you pop through chop, carry some gear and increase the boards stability; whilst the squared tail creates a platform for step back turns. 

For better tracking and more glide, the boards have a straight outline and relative narrow midsection so that the paddle can be kept closer to the paddle and increasing stroke efficiency.

All the Touring models have the edge release technology around the tail of the board to reduce drag from creating a laminar flow behind the board. Longer boards make you glide better, whereas the slightly shorter boards are easier to turn. 
For a faster sensation when paddling, try the Touring S model which has a slenderer design of 28" wide, perfect for lighter riders or those with better balance. For a more stable sensation, to carry more gear or for heavier riders, the Touring L at 32" wide is the best one. 

Which Touring board is suitable for me?

11'6" x 29" - This is the board for those that want a more manoeuvrable board, for lighter paddlers or for the first step up from an all-arounder to touring board. The board is light to carry and suited for riders up to 100kg.

12'6" x 28" - The narrow width allows you to accelerate faster and improve your paddling technique as it is easier to change the paddle from side to side. This is a great crossover between race and Touring as the length of 12'6" is still a great manoeuvrable size, and suitable for riders up to 90kg. The 6" thick model provides maximum buoyancy and stiffness.

12'6" x 30" - This model is the perfect balance of speed, stability and manoeuvrability that you can expect from a Touring board. Suitable for riders up to 110kg.

14'0" x 28" - The narrower 28" width allows you to accelerate faster and improve your paddling technique as it is easier to change the paddle from side to side. At 14'0" long, you can paddle this board really fast, making it a great crossover between a race and Touring board.

14'0" x 30" - For riders up to 120kg, or riders with carrying gear for long-distance paddles, this board provides faster glide. Equipped with bungees to hold all of your equipment, this Touring machine will get you places faster and in a very controlled and stable fashion.

14'0" x 32" - Touring L is for larger paddlers up to 135kg and if you want to carry bulky and hevay gear on your exploration. The gained stability and volume from wide outline do not compromise the glide of the board making sure it remains your favourite choice for exploring. 

This year with Starboard Inflatables, the package comes with the 3 piece Starboard Enduro Tiki Tech small paddle. or Starboard Lima Tufskin medium paddle. 

Another bonus with buying a Starboard paddleboard is that they have a great environmental background and incentive as a Certified B Corporation. When purchasing a board with Starboard, they will plant 3 Mangrove trees (they draw down 3 x 336.5 kg CO2, more than 1 ton, over 25 years and this is more than 10X the board’s total carbon emissions) and they will pick up 1.1kg of ocean plastics! 

New for 2023 - 

Included on the Deluxe boards is the new Drop Fin Box. The new molding of the fin box creates 50% less drag on the board and 10% reduction in weight. 

What does Tikhine mean?

Starboard offer a variety of constructions to their boards. The Tikhine Deluxe range is their performance art board that you can ride. It is the construction of the Deluxe Single Chamber model, but with colourful artwork. It is a slightly thinner thickness model, therefore suitable for slightly lighter riders and ladies due to reduced volume.