Directional with straps for small Waves / Not for lightwind, not for freestyle

[purdyd]

I fully understand.... Probably not very usual what I am doing.
Maybe my Celero 5‘8“ is just too big for me... it‘s soooo much work getting the turns tight.


Br Simon
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I have a FireWire evo 4’ 10” which would be ideal in those “big” waves but any of the no nose square tail shapes should work great in those conditions.

5’ 8” celero is too big.

[bragnouff]

I'm pretty happy with the Zeeko AirWave 5'2, It's on the small side for me(6'2, 95kg) to ride it strapless / barely powered, but when the wind is strong and conditions get tough, this is a very manageable board. And it's one of the few that I ride strapped too. Actually, on most of the boards I've tried riding strapped, I found that you're either well positioned for standard riding OR for when you're on the wave, with the urge to move (at least the back foot) further forward unless on a wave. But on that one, it's not the case, and I can have a suitable position for everything. I guess it comes from the small size that reduces the options in terms of balance and foot placement.
It's a good weapon for powered euro conditions, comfortable, lively, and dependable.

[Da Yoda]

The Ocean Rodeo Duke 5'4 would really be the only other option that I can think of.

Don't get the Duke, for your weight and what you enjoy doing the Jester is pretty much perfect.

I'd agree, but the Jester v2 is now a dedicated strapless board. If he can find a Jester v1, then that would definitely be the better choice. The Duke on the other hand is still strap compatible, hence why I recommended it.

[tautologies]

The Global is a great board, but sadly no longer made in 5ft & for properly big/fast waves (eg One Eye) I found the larger/older 5’5 Global (Quad), was just about ok (whereas it is perfect for the UK), but lacked the speed & control of a dedicated big wave board (Such as the Pro Session or S-Quad).

I guess there is always a faster wave, but I've had the new one on 3x overhead and it held its own well. I do remember quite a few different iterations of this board fondly...the classic 5'4'' SS was the indestructible one...but also super heavy.

[ScoopZ]

The Darwinian approach of all the main brands has led to and adopted standard of "Strapless" and "thruster" configurations. What you really need are 5 fin boxes like Airush used to offer.
At your weight you can easily go 5'4 -5'6 in a conventional shape. Decide what fins style you like best and then choose width, it sounds like you don't want much flatness in the rocker either.

Two recommendations would be to try the new construction slingshot, celero FR 5"6 or the tyrant in a 5'8. The tyrant has a width a hair over 17" and 20l in vol. Thruster only though.

Even better get yourself a demo on an appletree, they do 5 boxes and multiple shapes.

[Matteo V]

The Darwinian approach of all the main brands has led to and adopted standard of "Strapless" and "thruster" configurations. What you really need are 5 fin boxes like Airush used to offer.
At your weight you can easily go 5'4 -5'6 in a conventional shape. Decide what fins style you like best and then choose width, it sounds like you don't want much flatness in the rocker either.

Two recommendations would be to try the new construction slingshot, celero FR 5"6 or the tyrant in a 5'8. The tyrant has a width a hair over 17" and 20l in vol. Thruster only though.

Even better get yourself a demo on an appletree, they do 5 boxes and multiple shapes.

First off, let me make the best argument against what I am going to say further below - its kitesutlrfing and you CAN ride anything with any flaw, and you can even kite a "blow up doll", so nothing has to be perfect to work.


That said,

One of the reason why 5 fin boxes is not as popular any more is that it CAN limit your bottom shape in order to allow different fin configurations to actually work. Given certain widths, a double concave to "V", single concave to flat, or flat to "V", may significantly favor one fin configuration over another.

Also, the side fin locations for a thruster are not always ideal for them to be in the front location on a quad. So some compromises are made between these locations for the quad vs thruster.

Given the above, sometimes the center fin, or the rear quad fin locations are moved from the ideal location to account for the above also. This means that you have a possibility of both the thruster and quad locations to be in a very compromised location. While this can be fixed to some degree with fin set experimentation, how many shapers or kiters are going to try 6 different sets of fins in each configuration on a board?


So basically when you have 5 fin boxes, the shape is more restricted, while having to deal with many more variables to make a board that works both ways. It's kind of a headache for shapers, but fortunately a kiter can easily make "less than perfect" work.


However, I will side with you in that strapless, and specifically "strapless because it's cool" riders, have heavily influenced the trend toward thruster popularity. If straps were more popular, I would say up to half of the directionals out there would be quads.

[ScoopZ]

The Darwinian approach of all the main brands has led to and adopted standard of "Strapless" and "thruster" configurations. What you really need are 5 fin boxes like Airush used to offer.
At your weight you can easily go 5'4 -5'6 in a conventional shape. Decide what fins style you like best and then choose width, it sounds like you don't want much flatness in the rocker either.

Two recommendations would be to try the new construction slingshot, celero FR 5"6 or the tyrant in a 5'8. The tyrant has a width a hair over 17" and 20l in vol. Thruster only though.

Even better get yourself a demo on an appletree, they do 5 boxes and multiple shapes.

First off, let me make the best argument against what I am going to say further below - its kitesutlrfing and you CAN ride anything with any flaw, and you can even kite a "blow up doll", so nothing has to be perfect to work.


That said,

One of the reason why 5 fin boxes is not as popular any more is that it CAN limit your bottom shape in order to allow different fin configurations to actually work. Given certain widths, a double concave to "V", single concave to flat, or flat to "V", may significantly favor one fin configuration over another.

Also, the side fin locations for a thruster are not always ideal for them to be in the front location on a quad. So some compromises are made between these locations for the quad vs thruster.

Given the above, sometimes the center fin, or the rear quad fin locations are moved from the ideal location to account for the above also. This means that you have a possibility of both the thruster and quad locations to be in a very compromised location. While this can be fixed to some degree with fin set experimentation, how many shapers or kiters are going to try 6 different sets of fins in each configuration on a board?


So basically when you have 5 fin boxes, the shape is more restricted, while having to deal with many more variables to make a board that works both ways. It's kind of a headache for shapers, but fortunately a kiter can easily make "less than perfect" work.


However, I will side with you in that strapless, and specifically "strapless because it's cool" riders, have heavily influenced the trend toward thruster popularity. If straps were more popular, I would say up to half of the directionals out there would be quads.

Appletree have a series of shaping videos on YT that go over what you decribe.

[sarc]

My philosophy has always been, if you are kitesurfing waves good enough to paddle-in surf... then go strapless. Otherwise you are just missing out if you don't go strapped.

[Javawalker]

Hello,
Surfboard with straps ?
Naish
Have a good day

[Carlos_C]

Not seen any reviews but Gong have a range of short boards - with strap options - at really low prices - 450 eu.......am tempted as wont get much use as London doesn't have many wave spots

https://www.gong-galaxy.com/en/product/ ... al-fsp-2x/