Light wind: Bigger kite or surfboard?

[coleman]

The Shinnster/BRM Paipo and VG are going to plane up much better than the Nugget. For strictly flat water and ankle snappers I'd go with the Paipo. If you're going out in any sort of surf bigger than knee high the VG is going to be a better choice.

i've ridden them both back to back on a light wind day. pretty similar in terms of planing.

[14ToeSide]

Both if u want to Max your chances. At 240 Pies I need all the Options!!

14

[coleman]

Well I had the shinnster and nugget out back to back again and boy was I wrong on my initial assessment. The shinnster destroys the nugget in upwind, early planing and board speed. It really isn't even close actually.

I am liking the shinnster far more than the nugget. It's just more fun.

[Séb]

Well I had the shinnster and nugget out back to back again and boy was I wrong on my initial assessment. The shinnster destroys the nugget in upwind, early planing and board speed. It really isn't even close actually.

I am liking the shinnster far more than the nugget. It's just more fun.

I have a Shinnster since May and a Nugget 5' 2012 and I have a very high amount of riding time on both of them in LW and this is absolutely the opposite! I can't understand how you could get a better early planning or a higher upwind angle on a Shinnster versus a Nugget??? I get a much better upwind angle with my Nugget and the difference is huge. And when I am not anymore able to ride the Shinnster because the wind is too light, I take my Nugget and ride! And this is the same conclusion with all my friends who have tried both. Very surprised to read your comments. And I sell Shinn boards and not the North boards so I am not trying to promote one more then the other. I like both very much, different and fun.

[tautologies]

Seb,
I have the Paipo and I find the upwind to be as good as any surfboard. I think it really has a lot to do with the riding style to what extent you find one better than the other.

I get an absolute insane upwind performance on that board...I must say it took me a bit of time. Though I do find it a bit hard to actually estimate to what extent it slightly better, I do not think there is a huge difference to a big wide surfboard, but so far the Paipo has given me good sessions in super light wind when the other guys are bringing out their lightwind boards.

[GregK]

Go to the best local spots on light wind days, scope out the parking lot and target the guy who arrives with a van full of boards and kites, offer the dude lots of beer and snacks. Most kiters are super friendly and will talk endlessly about their gear ( only AFTER a kite session, not before, when most kiters just want to rig and get out ). When he's OK with you borrowing his gear ( never hurts to ask, nicely, in my experience ; usually the board or kite recently acquired is the current fav, don't ask for that one, just all the other less-recent ones at the bottom of the pile in the van ), try as many different boards and kites as you can, and then you will know what kind of board and big kite you like.

Alternately maybe a local kite shop that has some LW gear for demo ?

There is a lot of great LW kites and boards around, personal preferences vary widely, & the chance of someone on the forum telling you what you're going to like are slim.

[pmaggie]

I'm 75 kgs.,in light wind I ride my Core XR2 LW 15 and my Nobile Flying Carpet. Maybe it is not the most exciting kit, but here on the lake it is a good choice, I can easily ride upwind in about 10 (steady) knots. When it is really subten, the only option are the big FS. Surfboards are not very popular in my home spot since there are no waves!

[Séb]

Seb,
I have the Paipo and I find the upwind to be as good as any surfboard. I think it really has a lot to do with the riding style to what extent you find one better than the other. .

A Nugget is quite different then any surfboard. It goes upwind much better then most. I did a lot of comparisons with two friends. One on a Shinnster, the other on a Nugget and everytime the Nugget rip upwind much higher then the Shinnster, independent of who ride the board. I still love my Shinnster but no way it is as good in LW and upwind angle then a Nugget. Very easy to see on a very long tack if you compare with someone else like doing a race. If you ride alone and try one board after the other of course it is much more difficult to notice.

Anyway, back to the subject I think that the first step is to get a better LW board before the kite. It is a much cheaper way to improve your LW and I recommend to go with a directional because it is simply better then most LW TT and a new challenge.

[jumarcil]

Guys;
I have the shinnster, A King Gee 150 X 50, FOne LW fish 5"4 (I just sold it though) + a sector 54. Even though I really love the Shinnster, I would say that the shinnster is pretty much on par with the King Gee 150 X 50 and that is if you have a bit of experience with it. I also tried the Nugget back to back with the shinnster and the nugget plane earlier and track a lot better upwind. I replaced my 5 cm shinnster fins with the 8cm and it improved the upwind performance but still my friends nugget has better upwind/LW performance. Maybe I need more training on the shinnster, this is possible but there was a big difference though.

And as for the post question: go with a bigger/better LW board. By the way surfboard aren't LW board except if you go with a Nugget, Axon WTF, Space pickle etc... these are boards made to perform in LW but a regular surfboard has too much rocker and even though they are long they don't perform as good in LW. So any freerace board, or LW dedicated surfboard will be a better upgrade than just going with a bigger kite.

In order I would say;
sector
Nugget
Fone Fish
King Gee
Shinnster

ps: maybe with a better technique the shinnster could beat the KG .

[coleman]

interesting to get everybodys feedback on the two boards. here is what i noticed and maybe this will shed some light on why i came away feeling the shinnster bested the nugget.

the wind was variable 8-18 with the usual hole in the wind as we are on an inland lake. when i first went out on the nugget i got downwinded and walked back and grabbed the shinnster. proceeded to head out and after reaching the middle of the lake where the wind was stronger i made significant ground up wind. perhaps i was on the shinnster when the wind was cycling up but i dont think so as i stayed upwind on down cycles.

here is my take, the shinnster is clearly quicker across the water. in comparision, the fin drag with nugget is easily noticed and it results is less apparent wind. with the insane chop we had due to boat traffic the shinnster was far better in terms of slicing through it and maintaining speed while the nugget wasnt tracking as well and felt bouncy. again better apparent wind.

the better chop handling and speed to generate apparent wind to get me through the holes was likely what made my results so obvious. it was really quite clear and not even a close contest for me on that day in those conditions. i have no doubt that seb has come to different conclusions and i bet its owing to the very different conditions he was riding in.