Hunt for "My" ultimate kite surfboard

[Slappysan]

...the Wave Bandit Performer 4-10...

Are you serious? These things actually work?

I honestly can't tell if you are serious in questioning if a surf board actually works for kitesurfing. Why wouldn't it work?

You can see it in action in most of my vlogs if you want.

[daspi]

So turns out a local kite buddy owns one of the Wave Bandit Performer 4-10. He bought it for his kid to try surfing. I went to borrow it and took it for a session. Wind was onshore 13-18mph mostly. Pumped my 12m Core Session wave kite and took it for a spin.

The good stuff: Easy to get going, you can feel the plentiful volume. Easy upwind. The stringer in this board does a good job, not feeling bendy. Stable to do foot switches.
The not so good stuff: It feels spongy. I guess the flexy plastic twin fin setup is manly the cause. The board lacks directional stability. Can't edge it hard. Feels a bit like riding a skim board with fins.
Verdict (for me): Fun to play around with. I can see that practicing your first jumps on it is great and low risk. Will it replace one of my regular boards, hell no! It certainly could be an option for someone to get into directionals, but it's not a performance board. Try one if you want, but don't think this will be the last board you will be buying. Glad I tried it though.

After I ditched the Wave Bandit I went out with my Vader and had an awesome time shredding the little waves.

[Dingus]

163lb/74kg. 8 or 9 shoe size.

Enjoy riding rounded pin tail 5’7” to 6’2” by 17” to 18.5” by 2” to 2.3”.

Enjoy riding rounded square tail(4.75”) 5’5 to 5’10” by 17.5” to 18.5” by 1.8” to 2.25”.

Shovel noses are all in the trash, jumped to braking point and beyond.

The only kite mare I ever had was a 2021 north surfboard. Top dollar rubbish!

[daspi]

I seem to like pin and square tail classical surfboard shapes as well. But there is a lot more to it as I found out. I think in the classical shapes I need to stay 5'8" to 5'10" range.

@Dingus what happened to the North Surfboard? Was it a North Charge?

[Hugh2]

BUT, most of us cannot afford to try endless boards and fin sets, or don't have the inclination to buy and sell over and over.

I bought a second hand Naish Global 6' 0" quad fin many years ago for $300 and have loved it ever since. Nope, I am not good in the waves, just enjoy them, and nope I don't do jumps or anything. Always riding strapless. The only thing I hate is the fin boxes, which are useless. I did update to glass fins from plastic, but am not good enough to notice a difference. Most fins are now held in place by gorrilla glue. I'd love to try a new Global, but $1000 (just noticed REAL has a 5' 9" for $750). And I did demo an Appletree Malus Domestica in Cape Town two years ago and it was simply amazing, but $1000 (someone explain to Matt Nuzzo that Malus domestica is the latin scientific name for the apple tree - see his review video -

[Beanie008]

Finally I find I feel what each board needs from me...

So stoked on reading this after your first post...it’s not the board, it’s us!!

A lot of people blame bouncing on the board but it’s actually foot positioning and it’s called trim (in surfing terms). The same goes for turning and not being back enough over the fins...

If you think you’ve got the Vader dialled the next step would be to experiment with fin setup...you’ve got a tonne of possibilities within that 5 fin configuration and you can literally change the whole feel of the board just by throwing in a different fin set.

However, don’t just think quad and thruster, big or small, you’ve got 5 fin boxes to play with so experiment with them all using every type of shape construction and design you can find until you also have that dialled.

Personally I’ve never settled on just the one setup, I have loads of boards, in various constructions and designs, not to mention just as many fin sets, maybe more...

Knowing what works is what it’s all about. A lot of people park and ride and never consider the design aspects of their equipment. But don’t just take my word for it ask any half decent surfer...they have their preferred setup but they also let loose from time to time when the situation calls it

Prone surfing, yes...... you need lots of boards for variable conditions. Or, if you only have one board, you can only deal with one or two conditions with a decent level of performance.

Kitesurfing, no...... you dont have to get a bunch of boards, but I did go through that stage. From skimboard, to wake skates, to TT's, to wakesurfers to prone surfboards - longboards, mini-longboards, mini-simmons, grom boards, to kite surf strapless specific, to strapped kitesurf boards. They are all fun and messing around with them can be a blast. Playing with fins is a must too, as it's part of the learning experience.

But a barn full of boards and a trunk full of fins is not the answer you will likely find in the end. Once you go through these growing pains, you will find one or two boards that will fit all conditions while you use different kites for those conditions. Then you can stop focusing on "gear" so much, and start focusing on "you" more.

Sure thing, nobody suggested a barn full. My whole family kite and I am frequently left with my old faithful while the kids raid my XTR's. Sharing is caring

And what do mean by focusing on "you" more? Is that some saying in Utah?

[Beanie008]

@Beanie008 good to hear your input. Did you find out what design feature in a board makes it a better carver? Meaning you can lean about 50/50 into your edge/turn without loosing grip or stalling.

Carving: This is a subject I'd like to discuss. On some board you can just lean into the turn and carve like no tomorrow. Others wobble, skip out. Is this also just rider mistake and not knowing how much weight on front/back foot is needed? I currently think some boards have more flow and others carve better. Not sure if I use the right terminology or not. Glad to learn what it's called.

Forget boards, it's all technique....set yourself up, look where you want to go, commit, feel through the turn...Boom you made it!

Well maybe not the first time but soon it'll be eyes closed.

Once you get the foundation you can shred anything at any speed and lean just by feel

[knotwindy]

@Beanie008 good to hear your input. Did you find out what design feature in a board makes it a better carver? Meaning you can lean about 50/50 into your edge/turn without loosing grip or stalling.

Carving: This is a subject I'd like to discuss. On some board you can just lean into the turn and carve like no tomorrow. Others wobble, skip out. Is this also just rider mistake and not knowing how much weight on front/back foot is needed? I currently think some boards have more flow and others carve better. Not sure if I use the right terminology or not. Glad to learn what it's called.

Forget boards, it's all technique....set yourself up, look where you want to go, commit, feel through the turn...Boom you made it!

Well maybe not the first time but soon it'll be eyes closed.

Once you get the foundation you can shred anything at any speed and lean just by feel

Yea but
Some boards are designed to do exactly what you want/like
While others you have to force a bit or adjust to

And it way more fun for me to ride a board that does what I want instead of fighting me.
Sorry, I thought this whole riding thing was supposed to be fun.

And yes, sometimes I will try different boards and adjust to them and it changes my riding and what I am capable of which I can them bring back as an additional skill to my older board and have some new tricks so it’s not all bad. I still just really like a board I don’t have to think about. It’s just there and I can focus on the waves and not changing techniques.

Cause it’s all about the feel of the wave and the lines we can draw. To me. YMMV

[daspi]

@knotwindy I am with you. This is what it's about. Skill level is certainly a big factor too. As our skills improve, we start to love different boards. It's exactly what brought me back to the Vader. It is now perfect for me for small waves and chop. I will explore more with the Mitu once we have at least waist high waves and at least 20-25mph.

[adamj2281]

@knotwindy I am with you. This is what it's about. Skill level is certainly a big factor too. As our skills improve, we start to love different boards. It's exactly what brought me back to the Vader. It is now perfect for me for small waves and chop. I will explore more with the Mitu once we have at least waist high waves and at least 20-25mph.

Same here, look I don't spend money on many things other than water sports (kiting, foiling, surf). I've progressed through a few different shapes - OR Jester, Cabrinha Spade to more traditional shapes. As my riding progresses, boards I might not have liked before I find renewed interest in. So, case in point, I'm on a Tomo Hydroshort, I went with it because I could travel easily with it and I liked the shape, but I'm finding myself missing a bit of volume and grip in bigger surf/higher wind. Is that me or the board? Probably more me than the board, but in any case, I'm going to probably try a bigger 5'8" Duotone WAM or something to pair with it.

Honestly, I like researching and reading the forums for information on new boards as part of the hunt, so keep the posts coming.