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first Kiteboard for my girlfriend (Length advice)

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WaD4n
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first Kiteboard for my girlfriend (Length advice)

Postby WaD4n » Fri Nov 30, 2018 11:01 am

Hey folks,

My girlfriend and I started kiteboarding this year and i want to give her a Board for christmas :D

We are both still beginners but we can go updwind and do transitions and so on. I know she loves the looks of the Cabrinha Spectrum (2017/2018) and after a bit of research I found out that it should be a capable beginner Free-ride board for her.

Now to my biggest concern, what length should I pick for her (she is 165cm/5,4ft tall and weighs 55kg/121pounds). The two most relevant options are 136x41 or 140x42 and I´m not sure whats to pick as for her first Board.
And is there a noticeable difference between the 2017 and 2018 models?

We are mainly kiting at an inland lake in the middle of Europe (Podersdorf in Austria) 15-25 knts and sometimes it can be a bit gusty.


I hope you guys can help me out!

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Re: first Kiteboard for my girlfriend (Length advice)

Postby maffhieu » Fri Nov 30, 2018 1:19 pm

It seems a little big to me.
My girlfriend is around the same height and weight and she rides a 130x39 ;)

WaD4n
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Re: first Kiteboard for my girlfriend (Length advice)

Postby WaD4n » Fri Nov 30, 2018 1:24 pm

yes I know but on the other hand I guess its a little bit easier for Beginners to have a bigger Board (I don´t wanna go "Door big") but mybe a board that´s a little bigger might be helpful.

On the other hand when she is even more improving the bigger board could become kind of a hindrance. Thats why I´m so uncertain... Maybe I´m overthinking this whole thing a little bit :P

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Re: first Kiteboard for my girlfriend (Length advice)

Postby matth » Fri Nov 30, 2018 2:14 pm

Monkette, great board in chop that most like have, and has great flex for the ladies...

https://www.shinnworld.com/monkette-gumbubble

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Re: first Kiteboard for my girlfriend (Length advice)

Postby FLandOBX » Fri Nov 30, 2018 2:25 pm

Hey, WaD4n. For a beginner your friend's size on an inland lake (presumably with typically gusty lake winds), the Cabrinha Spectrum 136 would be my recommendation. Width of the board is more important than length in reaching a plane in light/gusty conditions, and the 136 and 140 are only 1 cm different in width. The shorter board will be easier to manage and more nimble through transitions and tricks for a person the size of your partner. The Spectrum is a good all-around board for a beginner-intermediate rider, and I think she'd be happy with your choice. Merry Christmas! :thumb:

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Re: first Kiteboard for my girlfriend (Length advice)

Postby grigorib » Fri Nov 30, 2018 3:04 pm

I think for her weight and your wind light/gusty conditions a 144x46cm Flysurfer Radical would be awesome lightwind weapon of choice for her. Not a door but has wide wingtips and should be awesome for gusty.

If you go to a place where it blows 20+ of steady and smooth winds she’d be fine with 132-134 x40cm hoard just fine.

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Re: first Kiteboard for my girlfriend (Length advice)

Postby iriejohn » Fri Nov 30, 2018 4:46 pm

FLandOBX wrote:
Fri Nov 30, 2018 2:25 pm
Hey, WaD4n. For a beginner your friend's size on an inland lake (presumably with typically gusty lake winds), the Cabrinha Spectrum 136 would be my recommendation. Width of the board is more important than length in reaching a plane in light/gusty conditions, and the 136 and 140 are only 1 cm different in width. The shorter board will be easier to manage and more nimble through transitions and tricks for a person the size of your partner. The Spectrum is a good all-around board for a beginner-intermediate rider, and I think she'd be happy with your choice. Merry Christmas! :thumb:
Agree, @55kg 136x41 would be just right.

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Re: first Kiteboard for my girlfriend (Length advice)

Postby edt » Fri Nov 30, 2018 5:00 pm

The first kiteboard you use doesn't matter too much. After riding for a year she will develop her own style and then decide what kind of board you want to ride. I'm 195 pounds (88 kilos) and ride a 135cm Jaime, L is 130 pounds (59 kilos) and also rides a 135cm so go figure. But you can't go wrong with a 135cm Jaime, so good.

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Re: first Kiteboard for my girlfriend (Length advice)

Postby sergei Scotland » Sun Dec 02, 2018 12:08 pm

What I think is missing in this discussion is kite sizes those recommendations are made for. This is probably why some people suggest much bigger boards and some much smaller.
The board size and kite size both have linear effect on board lift so in my humble opinion having 20 percent smaller kite requires 20 percent bigger board (for example 44 wide against 40 wide only gives you 10% difference!). This is probably why those recommendations are so different.
Note that I am a beginner myself though....

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Re: first Kiteboard for my girlfriend (Length advice)

Postby kitexpert » Sun Dec 02, 2018 5:13 pm

It depends how she rides and where she is going to go with kiteboarding. Usually ladies use ridiculously big boards compared to their size, but of course if riding is "lawn mowing" big board is good and easy. I know 240lbs strong men who use same sized boards as 110lbs girls - no wonder the latter start bouncing in the chop, get scared and quit when wind picks up. With small boards they could be jumping out there... Difference is even bigger than just related to person size because women are weaker, they can't hold the edge as well as men.


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