geoITA said..
My old Cobra built boards ('97 - '00 RRD) showed super light weight and very good strength. Today I would not buy anything from Cobra.
Same thing is happening with masts. Once we had 60% carbon mast around 2.0 kg and they didn' break that easily. Today we have 100% masts at the same weight, and they break.

Yes! Bring back the wood construction Starboard! Lovely smooth to ride and sooooo durable!

I have living proof of it. I have a 'Wood' IS87 from around 2008 that has had a very hard life for the past 10 years. It's my most used board. Took knocks very well. Only one crack ever developed last year in the middle of the deck just on front of the back footsteps. Easily fixed and didn't take water. Sure, the wood discoloured a bit and all the powdery 'paint' on the bottom oxidised and was mostly sanded off, but the board still has the original rocker and within a 100 gms of the new weight. I like it so much I recently bought another identical one in hardly used condition. I have done a number of GPS PB's on that board. It does not loose much at all, all round, on current designs, although I am sure the new ones do better in some areas, with the notable exception of longevity. I would rather have a sound board that lasts and is 500cm to 1KG heaver. 200gm weight savings are all in the sailors head and are dry glass voids in the hull.

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