Postby volatile » Fri Dec 30, 2011 12:41 am
There really isn't a dual purpose kiteboard I can recommend, but there are some "dual purpose" wakeboards out there that work. I have been kiting with the 2011 Waston Hybrid 143cm with bindings (I'm 180lbs) here in Miami. It's a good wakeboard for kiting. I haven't been to the cable park in a while, but I took the Hybrid there for a session when I first got it. It's a solid board for the cable park also.
While it is a good wakeboard for kiting, it is still a wakeboard. The rails aren't sharp, it still has more rocker and it has almost nonexistent slider fins. What that translates to is having to work a little harder to get back up wind, especially in the chop. In addition to popping off the wake or flicking at the cable park, wakeboards are built for obstacles and made to slide so they don't grip the water the same way a flatter, sharper kiteboard with 2.5 inch fins can. To be fair, the channels on this board work and it tracks well considering how small the fins are.
There is a trade-off to consider... If you are working on going blind or passing the handle, you might be better off on a more forgiving wakeboard. If you under rotate a lit blind judge with the kite low, the wakeboard might allow you to spin around and ride it out. The sticky kiteboard might not be so forgiving.
I might experiment with bigger fins for the Hybrid to see if that will help it track better and not slide as much up wind, that is if I can find bigger fins with the same shape and hole pattern. At the end of the day I can use a single board at the cable park or for kiting in Miami Beach and it's half the price of a kiteboard, and almost as light.