Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

First surfboard

Forum for kitesurfers
Exal
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 666
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2019 10:38 am
Kiting since: 2019
Weight: 85
Local Beach: Still looking
Favorite Beaches: WA & Cape Town
Style: Wave & Oldschool
Gear: all the gear and no idea
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 92 times
Been thanked: 177 times

First surfboard

Postby Exal » Tue Jun 25, 2019 3:45 pm

83ish kg, 185ish cm, want to do downwinders, smack lips and do inverted backrolls over waves :lol: In lightwind I would toy around with some strapless stuff. Am a big fan of duotone stuff.

I have offers for a 5'10 wam, 5'11 pro session, 5'2 whip. All boards can be used with straps and are from 2019. Which one should I go for? I could also buy airush boards but they would probably be a bit more expensive. Kites I have for waveriding are 6, 8, 10 Neos from 2018. Next trip where I will use them is in exmouth wa. Help me out if you have no wind and time on your hands please.

Matteo V
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: First surfboard

Postby Matteo V » Tue Jun 25, 2019 6:07 pm

Exal wrote:
Tue Jun 25, 2019 3:45 pm
83ish kg, 185ish cm, want to do downwinders, smack lips and do inverted backrolls over waves :lol: In lightwind I would toy around with some strapless stuff. Am a big fan of duotone stuff.

I have offers for a 5'10 wam, 5'11 pro session, 5'2 whip. All boards can be used with straps and are from 2019. Which one should I go for? I could also buy airush boards but they would probably be a bit more expensive. Kites I have for waveriding are 6, 8, 10 Neos from 2018. Next trip where I will use them is in exmouth wa. Help me out if you have no wind and time on your hands please.
My favorite board of all time was the old 2012 North (now Duotone) Whip in the 5'-8" size. Back then it was a quad finned board and was, and still is, the most snappiest and poppiest board I have ever ridden. It actually was the board that kept me from giving up kiteboarding and going back to windsurfing. But it had 2 draw backs. The first was it's lack of upwind capability. I think it could have been solved with having a 3-fin config option for when upwind was more important than fun. But being quad only, it did begin my obsession with that fin configuration for kiting.

The other drawback was that it was not durable. With the clear coat on top of the bamboo, you could just watch the water getting into it every spring. And eventually I had deck crushes and fin box repairs. Now it weighs lots more than it did when I bought it new. And I have given that board away to a needy soul.

But no matter, I have moved on to a board that I cannot break and have learned to put up with it's weight and lack of pop and snap.


Personally, if you are strapped and only want to try strapless (definitely try it as soon as you get the strapped jibe down), I would steer you toward a quad finned board in the 5'-4" to 5'-6" (shave a few inches for a squared nose) and ride it in higher winds. That is where the fun is, and waves are best served with some wind. I'd recommend light wind strapless with a bigger board than this size, but this high wind board should be your first.

Thruster boards are more suited to more tame strapless riding. And if you learn to kite a quad first, moving to a thruster is easy later. Going the other way, from thruster to quad, is more difficult.

Da Yoda
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1341
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2005 6:20 pm
Kiting since: 2005
Style: Strapless Freestyle, Wave, Freeride
Gear: Handmade Surfboards
Location: Western USA
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 168 times

Re: First surfboard

Postby Da Yoda » Tue Jun 25, 2019 7:38 pm

Exal wrote:
Tue Jun 25, 2019 3:45 pm
83ish kg, 185ish cm, want to do downwinders, smack lips and do inverted backrolls over waves :lol: In lightwind I would toy around with some strapless stuff. Am a big fan of duotone stuff.

I have offers for a 5'10 wam, 5'11 pro session, 5'2 whip.
For your weight and desired riding. I'd focus on the Whip 5'2 if you're going to be riding smaller and slower waves and/or wanting to perform strapless tricks.
If the waves are big and fast or mixed, I'd focus on the Wam since it's so versatile and is still a fun board for "strapless stuff". I think the 5'8 would be a better size for you in the Wam, but the added volume of the 5'10 won't hinder you.
Avoid the Session as it's their BIG and FAST wave board and is not as versatile as the other two.

If you go the Airush route, the MiniMonster would be the Whip equivalent and I believe the Comp is the Wam equivalent. I'm not familiar with the Airush boards since they're rare around here.

Note: Some will say that going with a bigger board (added surface area) would be the better choice, especially if this is your first board and you're just learning. For the most part I agree, but riding a surfboard with a kite can allow you to go smaller. It may take you a bit more time to master, but you'll be happier in the long run. Don't be afraid to get something that looks like it's for a teenage surfer.
Personally when buying a production board, I focus on the board's liter volume and shape (intended use) verses the board's dimensions. Now length mostly means nothing to me. The board's width I'm more concerned about, but barely.

Knowing what your "liter volume" should be for your weight helps out a lot for board selection, but it's just a shortcut to narrowing it down. The liter volume is not critical since you can kite with a wakeskate or skimboard, but it simplifies things when there are so many options and sizes available. Right now I'm riding a board that's about 4 liters less that my intended liter volume for my weight.

Btw, don't worry about fin-box configuration right now. Fin shapes and sizes will be more important. The board's fin-box configuration has been dialed in for the intended board and once again won't hinder you. Later on you may become more discerning. :thumb:
These users thanked the author Da Yoda for the post:
Exal (Tue Jun 25, 2019 7:50 pm)
Rating: 3.03%

elguapo
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 945
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2019 6:01 pm
Favorite Beaches: pattaya
Gear: ..
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 169 times

Re: First surfboard

Postby elguapo » Tue Jun 25, 2019 8:05 pm

Exal wrote:
Tue Jun 25, 2019 3:45 pm
83ish kg, 185ish cm, want to do downwinders, smack lips and do inverted backrolls over waves :lol: In lightwind I would toy around with some strapless stuff. Am a big fan of duotone stuff.

I have offers for a 5'10 wam, 5'11 pro session, 5'2 whip. All boards can be used with straps and are from 2019. Which one should I go for? I could also buy airush boards but they would probably be a bit more expensive. Kites I have for waveriding are 6, 8, 10 Neos from 2018. Next trip where I will use them is in exmouth wa. Help me out if you have no wind and time on your hands please.
imo, if you want to do some actual surfing attached to a kite...and youre asking this question..
then there is only one answer:
a fish.

Image


you dont need to spend a lot of money on a 1st surfboard

Matteo V
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: First surfboard

Postby Matteo V » Tue Jun 25, 2019 11:36 pm

Lots of good advice here. I think to sum it up, you are going to have two boards eventually anyway, because surfboards are much like twin-tips in that one board can't do it all for you at your stage.

To keep you interested, hold onto your twin-tips and USE THEM in the surf. Twin-tips are fun, and even more so that you can actually turn around on them without having to learn the jibe.

But to me, volume is unnecessary. No technique in kitesurfing requires you to ever be below a speed where "submerged bouyancy" comes into play over "planing forces". I look more at the back half of the board for rail location (width and straightness of the rails), rail crossectional shape, and total surface area under/behind back foot. Some shapes like fish can keep the rails really wide and straight, while shedding lots of planing area so the tail is more under control. On the opposite end would be a diamond tail or pin tail where the rails are less straight, though there is still the same planing surface under/behind the back foot. The worst surfboards I have ridden with a kite (but love prone surfing) have more of a wide squash/square/round tail with too much planing surface under/behind the back foot. These wide tails with lots of surface are tend to get really squirlly at mid to higher speeds and resist carving more than a fish or a pin tail. And regardless of the wind speed, you will be going way faster kitesurfing than prone surfing.

But you won't know what you are seeing in shape just coming into it. So I still say you need to get a fun board that is snappy and has lots of pop. Small is good too as you will use your light wind twin-tip for less than powered conditions. And this will keep you from going back to twin-tips in the long run.

Just really try to keep it fun and don't sweat if you are not having good jibe success at the beginning. You will get it.


Return to “Kitesurfing”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Aberdovy kiter, Aleza, ARK, Bing [Bot], Bladebarry, Chriz76, DanielorDani, headintheclouds, htsc, lollypop, nixmatters, nothing2seehere, Peter_Frank, SolarSet, Van Hunk, Yahoo [Bot] and 359 guests