Kiteforum.com

Ok maybe equipment failures can be considered normal in an extreme sport with huge powers involved. I can understand as normal that my first boards 2002 and 2005 models broke after a while as they had some kind of foam core inside which meant that they could not stand much of abuse and hot landings. But I thought that board technology has progressed and boards don't break that easy any more. And actually that is true for my Airush boards, which are the only boards I did not manage to break wet . Unfortunatly I had my beloved airush TT stolen this summer, and I made a quick desicion to replace it with a TT of another brand (which I don't want to meantion wet) that was readilly available so that I don't lose any summer sessions. Now after 2mounths of use and just 14 sessions on the board it has broken in half. Vertical break in the exact centre of the board means that it was caused by the pressure during hot/hard landings, and I actually I had quite a lot of hot landings since I like kiteloops and was doing them with a new kite which I was learning it's looping behaivor. So inevitably some kiteloops went wrong and I had many hot landings. I am not a heavy rider (85kg) and I dont have any knee injuries due to my hot landings (I don't even feel any pain after a kiteloop/megaloop session). In the past I had broken Takoon, Naish, Xenon and Axis kiteboads. So what am I doing wrong? Stop kitelooping is not an option since that's what I like most in kiteboarding and I still have not hurt my self seriously doing them.
Low quality mobile photo:

choose a board that is not the lightest on the market?

Not sure if your boards are, but maybe it could be a reason.

Choose a heavier board and see what happens.

Wrong/correct?

Is the fracture in the image on the top or bottom side of the board?
What direction is the fracture? (if you were to fold the board, would the bottom surface ends meet or the top surface?)
What is the position of the fracture? Center, off-center, under the foot strap?

Supplying board make and model would DEFINITELY help. Knowing board style, construction year and materials used will be a huge contributor to an answer.

How many boards have you broken?
Did they all break the same way? Similar ways? Different ways?

For reference, I'm 85kg, I've been using a 2009/10 Best Spark 140 for almost 10 years before the footpad strap failed. I've done hundreds of jumps with bad/hot/fast landings and never once did the fiberglass shell or plastic core show any form of damage that you are describing.

I had the same problem for years. I snaped about 6-7 boards all at the same place ( backfoot heel side ) after hard kiteloop landings. The only board that lasted on me and got the most abuse is the Epic Spartan. When I got it Dimitri asked me to abuse it as much as i can and try to break it. This thing doesn't want to give up, still goes strong and performs the same like when i got it.

the compressive strength of the core was not enough for whatever you did, or less likely the core was not well bonded to the reinforcements very common to occur where fins end under the board so all forces are directed to this point.

seems to happen to very thin boards more, maybe because they bet closer to their elastic limit faster... but the flex saves your ACL

My duotone board did this. Try and find the old board you had. All boards have a maximum force they can handle

Go wood core. Way stronger and less likely to break that way. This is one of those trade off you have to give up light for durability.

There's a huge difference in board strength. Some brands snap on any hot landing others you can crash into a buoy with.

Cabrinha CBL boards are indestructible, can't imagine you'd brake it so maybe that's the go. But keep in mind they are also a bit heavier than other boards

From the pic I can see it is a wood core board. Probably a fairly light layup so its not a knee buster. So Boom no strength except the wood and there ya go. Wood is good but not a cure all.

thewindego wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 15, 2020 5:21 am

From the pic I can see it is a wood core board. Probably a fairly light layup so its not a knee buster. So Boom no strength except the wood and there ya go. Wood is good but not a cure all.

Yes it is a wood core, not very thin either and a bit heavy I could say, it has less flex than my previous board which also was wood core but with a bit more flex and I had abused it a lot and did not manage to break till it was stolen. The board that I broke back in 2017 was also wood core and a stiff so maybe a stiff board with wood core is not a good combination.

SWO_kite wrote: Is the fracture in the image on the top or bottom side of the board?
What direction is the fracture? (if you were to fold the board, would the bottom surface ends meet or the top surface?)
What is the position of the fracture? Center, off-center, under the foot strap?

Supplying board make and model would DEFINITELY help. Knowing board style, construction year and materials used will be a huge contributor to an answer.

How many boards have you broken?
Did they all break the same way? Similar ways? Different ways?

For reference, I'm 85kg, I've been using a 2009/10 Best Spark 140 for almost 10 years before the footpad strap failed. I've done hundreds of jumps with bad/hot/fast landings and never once did the fiberglass shell or plastic core show any form of damage that you are describing.

The fracture is on the bottom side vertical to the axis of the board and exactly in the middle / centre of the board. The cracke is facing out. 2017 model bought it new , wood core. I dont't want to reveal the company till I listen to what they will say about this. This is the 6th board that I break but in an 18 years period and the first 2 board were not made storng so they actually dont count.