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Help Finding the Holy Grail Light Wind Boards

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iriejohn
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Re: Help Finding the Holy Grail Light Wind Boards

Postby iriejohn » Thu Apr 08, 2021 5:52 pm

I've had a Shinn Superking (then known as a King Gee). Very comfortable board that went in very little wind.

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Re: Help Finding the Holy Grail Light Wind Boards

Postby grigorib » Thu Apr 08, 2021 5:55 pm

So first to debunk couple of claims above:
- you can have fun on a door. I could do every of my tricks with a 170x50 door and it felt sluggish a bit but very doable
- doors can eat chop, just pick the right board. I loved my 159x45 Spleene Door but even more I loved Flysurfer Flydoor because Flysurfer has more rocker on tips - and that eats chop like nothing

There are two perspectives to balance between:
1. Riding ultimate LW when no one can. For that pick as large door as you can find. Flydoor is great but Flydoor XL will make you to be last on water
2. Riding around 10knots without having a monster which you can’t take on a plane. For that find the widest board you can and it doesn’t need to be that long as a door. Flysurfer Radical 6 144x46 would do great. Epic has a model like that too.

Yet anything you pick - make sure it:
- is as wide as possible 46-50cm
- has squarish (not narrow) board tips
- has a bit of rocker on the tips to eat chop

Also consider lines extensions to get your lines to 35-39 total length and you will be able to ride in barely any wind with that board
Last edited by grigorib on Thu Apr 08, 2021 7:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Bille
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Re: Help Finding the Holy Grail Light Wind Boards

Postby Bille » Thu Apr 08, 2021 6:34 pm

grigorib wrote:
Thu Apr 08, 2021 5:55 pm
...

Also consider lines extensions to get your lines to 35-39 total length and you will be able to ride in barely any wind with that board
For Light wind , it's 32-meter lines for the kite , (Minimum) ; ask most
any San Diego kiter, and they will probably agree !! :thumb:

Bille

grigorib
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Re: Help Finding the Holy Grail Light Wind Boards

Postby grigorib » Thu Apr 08, 2021 6:51 pm

Bille wrote:
Thu Apr 08, 2021 6:34 pm
grigorib wrote:
Thu Apr 08, 2021 5:55 pm
...

Also consider lines extensions to get your lines to 35-39 total length and you will be able to ride in barely any wind with that board
For Light wind , it's 32-meter lines for the kite , (Minimum) ; ask most
any San Diego kiter, and they will probably agree !! :thumb:

Bille
Long lines mess up your jumps and tricks’ timing yet Jimbo let me ride his 17m XR on 39m lines when I could no longer ride my 19m Speed3 Deluxe on a summer day in 2014 and that became an eye opener for both long lines and LEI awesomeness. Of course with a door then too. The large door lesson I got in 2013 on a trip to Siberia when I couldn’t ride 13m with a regular twintip when few others glided around on their 10m sizes, on doors

Live and learn, repeat :)
Last edited by grigorib on Fri Apr 09, 2021 12:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Help Finding the Holy Grail Light Wind Boards

Postby andylc » Thu Apr 08, 2021 7:41 pm

If money doesn't concern you then the new light wind board from Nomad is ridiculous - I have one on demo at the moment and the 138X42 version weighs 1.6kg, making it a lot lighter than most normal sized production boards, planing super early and being really good to throw around. Too expensive for me to consider buying though, and as a skinny arse anyway I can get going perfectly fine at 10 knots on my normal board. If I was heavier I'd definitely consider a dedicated LW board.

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Re: Help finding the Holy Grail of light wind boards

Postby Windigo1 » Fri Apr 09, 2021 12:19 am

Those are all square door type boards none of them will be smooth in choppy water. Personally I'm heavier than you and I can ride easily in 12 knots with my Axis Ultra it is super smooth in the chop and can do anything a freestyle board can do. I would be using a 15m with a twin tip.... That's if I wasn't foiling because that's that has been the preferred option in the last few years..

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Re: Help finding the Holy Grail of light wind boards

Postby alford » Fri Apr 09, 2021 1:07 am

Let's all try and help with the OP's question and refrain from the "get a foil" answer, it's not witty and certainly not helpful.
At your weight you don't need a huge lightwind board, 150 x 45 çm ish should do the trick. There's many choices and honestly they all do kind of the same thing. My advice is get something that's on sale or lightly used and just ride. Nothing beats time on the water.
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Re: Help finding the Holy Grail of light wind boards

Postby SMJ » Fri Apr 09, 2021 1:52 am

ConcreteFloater wrote:
Thu Apr 08, 2021 10:54 pm
My goal is to try to find a board that we could both use, big enough to get us riding in the afternoon breeze, easy enough to ride as beginners, fun enough to begin to learn basic tricks, and basically suitable for 90% of our riding.
One board that I think meets all your requirements is the Ocean Rodeo Mako 165. I still use this board to this day for light winds and choppy water.

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Re: Help Finding the Holy Grail Light Wind Boards

Postby nate76 » Fri Apr 09, 2021 2:51 am

If I could do it all over again, I would buy a Litewave Wing as my 1st board, and would have saved myself a bunch of money searching for the perfect board. I honestly would be happy if it was the only board I owned - what is amazing about it is how well it rides through chop. Its actually better than any of my othes (Best Armada and Ocean Rodeo Mako). The large rocker of the board allows you to dish out of choppy waves and also bad landings when you're learning how to jump. Sure it is a bit heavier and has more swing weight than a smaller board, but I'm constantly amazed at how well it does in higher winds/ choppier waters. They say the Wing is a big board that feels small, and I would totally agree.

I've also owned a Spleene Door but preferred the Wing.
Last edited by nate76 on Tue Apr 13, 2021 12:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Help finding the Holy Grail of light wind boards

Postby plummet » Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:57 am

alford wrote:
Fri Apr 09, 2021 1:07 am
Let's all try and help with the OP's question and refrain from the "get a foil" answer, it's not witty and certainly not helpful.
At your weight you don't need a huge lightwind board, 150 x 45 çm ish should do the trick. There's many choices and honestly they all do kind of the same thing. My advice is get something that's on sale or lightly used and just ride. Nothing beats time on the water.
The actual answer for choppy sub 15 knots is get a foil. Anything else is a waste of money and time sub 15 knots.

Go TT riding + 16 knots. Below that learn to foil. I suspect a learner who hasn't years of embedded muscle memory will learn to foil easier than and experienced kitesurfer.


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