Has anybody gotten their hands on these new Starboard Overdrive paddles?
http://star-board-sup.com/2015/paddles/overdrive/

I have been using the High aspect blade for a season now and quite like it.
I would like to have a little stronger catch thought. But still a paddle that is not over demanding in long distances.
My paddles are tiki tech versions but i have tried the carbon version as well. Carbon version has stronger catch.

"The combination with the engineered blade flex is what makes the Overdrive the paddle of choice."

Hmmm...sounds like marketing-speak to me.

Surely blade flex is a source of slippage? ...each to his own but I had a paddle with a flexy blade once and hated it, sold it after a couple of weeks to buy a paddle with a stiff blade and some flex in the shaft.

HumanCartoon said..
Surely blade flex is a source of slippage? ...each to his own but I had a paddle with a flexy blade once and hated it, sold it after a couple of weeks to buy a paddle with a stiff blade and some flex in the shaft.

Gong had a batch of flexible blades (no volume blade) with very stiff carbon shafts: a mistake at the factory, the normal shaft were to be glass ones.
I was quite interesting, it combined lightness of the carbon with a softer touch, pleasant on the joints. I guess the blade slightly "folded" vertically around the central ridge, giving a natural dihedral shape under stress, reducing flutter.
Girls/women tended to like them a lot.
Gong did not pursue the idea, and uses more the size/shape of the blade and the shaft flex for its "joint-friendly" paddles now.

So I would not rule out the concept, could be interesting. maybe the Starboard Overdrive only flexes in the middle "sail" but not on the two "masts" (ridges) on the side?

Is this a joke? If not, that's a pretty shocking rip-off of the QB v-drive, and to even give it an almost identical name is unbelievable.

But I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and Starboard are implicitly telling their customers that QB paddles are better than theirs.

It just looks like a poor copy of the v-drive so I guess it will appeal to those who long for a QB but can't afford or source the real deal. Or don't know the difference.

I work in medical science, and in that field if you copied someone else's work like this then you'd never work again - you'd be completely shunned by your colleagues. But I guess when it comes to SUP manufacturing, anything goes to bring in a buck, at least if you are Starboard. It suggests they have run out of ideas.

I wonder what they are going to call their Trifecta clone? The Triblade? Tri-drive?

Even if you made that argument for the paddle design - and the v-drive is a very specific design -then how do you explain using the name "Overdrive"? How can you possibly argue that that is not a total rip-off?

I think Starboard are gonna score an own goal here. The rip-off paddle will probably unfavourably compare with the original which will make them look bad, and there are bound to be some eyes raised in the industry. If they want to present themselves as leaders in SUP design then ripping off another brand's design as if you were a budget fly-by-night outfit is about the last way to do it IMO.

Area10 said..
Even if you made that argument for the paddle design - and the v-drive is a very specific design -then how do you explain using the name "Overdrive"? How can you possibly argue that that is not a total rip-off?
I think Starboard are gonna score an own goal here. The rip-off paddle will probably unfavourably compare with the original which will make them look bad, and there are bound to be some eyes raised in the industry. If they want to present themselves as leaders in SUP design then ripping off another brand's design as if you were a budget fly-by-night outfit is about the last way to do it IMO.

Just to clarify it is not the first time that that shape or a shape very similar to that one has been incorporated into a paddle design and the use of the word
"drive" as a descriptive agent is synonymous with paddle boarding. As I said we arent dealing with something which lends itself to uniqueness in design. Would you say that Gulliver and Minion and JP are copying off one another with respect to the new short board Simmons style sups? Why isnt there criticism being directed with respect to the use of this design? It simply represents another iteration in the evolution of paddle design and in reality ALL the companies look at one anothers designs and seek to improve upon them by making little improvements here and there.

You say:

"The rip-off paddle will probably unfavorably compare with the original which will make them look bad"

How do you know this? Is there are side by side comparison review that you can refer to which would give currency to your comment?

Cheers Ozzie

would you buy a board made by Quickblade?

imo the right amount rebounding flex is where its at with paddles.



and yeah I remember everyone giving it to qb in here LESS THAN A YEAR AGO- now its like they invented it

for the record I brought a v drive but found I fatigued with it in heavy training sessions where as my preferred paddle is lighter, better flex and I can keep on keeping on.


but I will checkout these new starby paddles.



ps paddles are such a personal choice so get what feels good for you not what brand you should have


cheers

laceys lane said..
imo the right amount rebounding flex is where its at with paddles.



and yeah I remember everyone giving it to qb in here LESS THAN A YEAR AGO- now its like they invented it

for the record I brought a v drive but found I fatigued with it in heavy training sessions where as my preferred paddle is lighter, better flex and I can keep on keeping on.


but I will checkout these new starby paddles.



ps paddles are such a personal choice so get what feels good for you not what brand you should have


cheers

You've got to talk them up Lacey.

As long as the people who are criticising Starboard for copying an innovative* design were just as vocal when Starboard's dug out board innovation was copied by a number of other companies (and not all fly-by-nighters, but also major brands who saw a good idea and decided to work with it), then I see no hypocrisy here. Perhaps an even better comparison would be Starboard's High Aspect paddle. Just as the V-Drive was not necessarily the first paddle to utilise this concave shape, the High Aspect also took an idea from elsewhere that had never caught on, improved on it dramatically, and then most other paddle brands released a high aspect style into their range the following season.

If Jim Terrell has a problem with what Starboard is doing, I'm sure he will take it up with Svein. For everyone else, I'd suggest calming down and allowing all this faux outrage to find a better home.

And yes, I'm always going to defend Starboard, of course. But I also don't dispute that Quick Blade are far and away the industry leaders when it comes to paddles. I own one, it has never touched the water, it sits against the wall in my office as a family heirloom. But good luck to all those who can afford to buy the best. I'm okay with second best at a much cheaper price. And given that a lot of my paddling these days is done in the river, in rapids and white water, I wouldn't dream of using a Quick Blade. I'm perfectly happy with my Starboard paddles.

My point was that it's one thing to copy the design of the paddle. But to copy the name as well is really pushing your luck IMO, and suggests a lack of creativity.

It may be that in time this style of paddle will be come to be known as a "Drive" paddle and copied by all paddle makers. In which case the fact that it was Starboard who were first to copy will probably be lost.

Certainly there have been paddles in the past that used some features of the Kalama/Terrell design, so it could be argued that it was Dave and Jim who put it all together rather than invented it outright. But this does not detract from the fact that right now Starboard have taken full advantage, and that to my mind this feels of a piece with the liberal use of airbrushing in the Starboard promotional literature.

I feel sorry for you guys who have an interest in defending Starboard because this one is pretty hard to defend - it's about copying the name as well as the design, I think. They haven't left you much wriggle-room. It might be better just to come clean and say "our pro riders liked Quickblade's design, so we produced our own version and intend to compete with QB on price". That at least has more integrity IMO that saying "hey, everyone rips everyone off all the time, and we are no different". That's like justifying robbing someone on the street by saying "it happens all the time".

I do not understand all the excitement , unless the V drive design is a patented intellectual property of Dave Kalama or Qblade.

I think you all should just get out on the water and enjoy.Who gives a flying ? the brand name unless you own the business.If its a got paddle buy it,use it and enjoy.

Area10 said..
I guess you need to be someone who has invented something and then had someone rip it off to appreciate what intellectual property is.

Only big corporations can defend patents and the like - for average guys the lawyers' costs make them virtually impossible to defend.

Just because you can get away with something doesn't make it morally right.

Deano72 said..
It's been done before....a few years ago.
Didn't seem to catch on....pardon the pun.
Maybe with some good marketing and promotion they'll sell??



This was quoted from the Quick Blade Drive thread I was referring to earlier. The guys posting pointing out that QB didn't invent the V Drive, it's been around for sometime and various manufacturers have experimented with it. The Starboard blade looks quite different in terms of concave to the QB - so it will be very interesting to try it out.

But will you be able to play tennis with it!!..........certainly all these paddle designs are revolutionising our sport (in the same way the concave kayak paddles did of kayaking).

","

When Dave Chun from Kialoa paddles was told that his famous Shaka Pu'u SUP paddle was being copied he took it as a complement..

SomeGuy said..

Sometimes there is a fine line between what we used to call "Taking Reference" when I was a designer and straight out copying.

I think Starboard have crossed the line.

Based on the name or based on your thorough examination of the two paddles side-by-side?