Why did they stop making surfboards for fat guys?

[FredBGG]

I'm 6'5" and about 110kg

I gave up on kiteboarding company boards a long time ago. I also just do not like how they ride.

I use hollow carbon fiber Aviso boards.

My lonest is a 6'8". It is a replica of a 70s mini gun surfboard for big wave riding. It is relatively narrow and long with a skinny tail making it really agile
in the waves despite it's length. It is fast as hell and rides really smooth over shop.

I have other sizes too. I have slowly collected 5 of these boards. I even scored an Aviso that has a modified design and build for kitesirfing.
It has straps on rails that allow for really quick adjustment of the straps based on the conditions. I also got my hands on some old Naish footstraps that are huge.
My feet are size 16 with high instep. It is an amazing board.

My all round low wind board is an Aviso Lost Mayhem 6'4". It is relatively wide and has a board concave to it. I use a special hull wax on it that really makes it zip over the water.
The wax does make the board very zippy and it will easily zing out from under my feet when stitching my feet around.

I pretty much ride then all strapless. Strapless is the way to go for heavy riders. Kite companies always put the foot straps way to war back
and have a pathetic range of adjustments.

As you can see here I ride my board very far forward.

[tanre]

Great replies. Thanks all. I will give my new Charge a shot for awhile and if not, will look int Aviso and other custom options. It sucks that I didnt have any demo places around here and that most production boards don't accommodate 100kg+ riders.

Also, I found it strange that the North Charge states its 5'11", but is about 1.5 inches shorter than I am and I am 5'11"...maybe Ive grown 1.5 inches in mid 40's:)
That make me think that the volume is also less than stated. Additionally, the sticker on the board states volume at 29.2, while the signature on board states 29.5. Go figure.

I went with Large JW fcs 2 fins

[BE_Kiter]

Hi Tarne, did you tried the Charge?
What was your experience?

[14ToeSide]

Hey Fred!

It’s Been awhile. Good to see you are still kiting.

I picked up the Aviso 6’ 6 Quad after we talked a few years ago. Shortly after that I found out about the 6’ 5 FireWire sweet potato. It’s 23.5 inches wide and 3 inches thick. It floats my 111 kg and size 15 shoe amazing well. As long as my kite can fly I can stand on it and make it back if the wind gets 2 kite. Use the Tater 95% of the time.

Are you still flying any Flysurfer’s ?!

14

[tautologies]

Agreed. Fred is a legend!

[alpaia]

Hi interesting post thanks for sharing.
Indeed industry is mainstrem / bulk of the rider market oriented.

I'm not huge but heavier than average (92 kg).

What I have noticed works :
- flatter / faster rocker especially at the back
-parallel outline, wide under the back foot (tomo ish)
-strapless as said earlier you adjust your center of mass to get the glide right

Does not work, or is a hinderence
-boards with kick tail, straps far back, pinched in outline
-volume does not help much to plane but is a pain in the chop / bigger conditions

Best boards to glide efortlessly, despite weight
-"tiki" the long "plank" with a kick nose - gets me upwind with less kite power in light conditions
-Gong made a board the "Matata" it is a mini simmons inspired Kite board - very effective and fast yet fun to turn
-I made my own board : a tomo like 165cm x 48cm, 42cm OFO with fast rocker in the back , very low volume. very efficient, wide wind range

Hope this helps

[tautologies]

Hi interesting post thanks for sharing.
Indeed industry is mainstrem / bulk of the rider market oriented.

I'm not huge but heavier than average (92 kg).

What I have noticed works :
- flatter / faster rocker especially at the back
-parallel outline, wide under the back foot (tomo ish)
-strapless as said earlier you adjust your center of mass to get the glide right

Does not work, or is a hinderence
-boards with kick tail, straps far back, pinched in outline
-volume does not help much to plane but is a pain in the chop / bigger conditions

Best boards to glide efortlessly, despite weight
-"tiki" the long "plank" with a kick nose - gets me upwind with less kite power in light conditions
-Gong made a board the "Matata" it is a mini simmons inspired Kite board - very effective and fast yet fun to turn
-I made my own board : a tomo like 165cm x 48cm, 42cm OFO with fast rocker in the back , very low volume. very efficient, wide wind range

Hope this helps

I think you have some great points, but all this also depends on how we want to ride right. I would much rather have smaller board and a tad bigger kite, than a big board. My current board quiver that I use is the 5'4'' naish skater and 5'7'' naish global. Whenever I take out the global, I love the tail kick because it throws sooo much spray...but I do have to ride a bigger kite than the puny people.
The skater is a huge board, and has more than enough both volume and width to hold a big guy. Even going with a small kite. I do not think they stopped making board for big guys, the board design just changed like you were describing.

[tanre]

Hi Tarne, did you tried the Charge?
What was your experience?

I tried it once, but havent had strong enough wind here to really try it. Did 1 tack and gave up...Just been foiling days

[tanre]

Hi Tarne, did you tried the Charge?
What was your experience?

Tried it a bunch since this post BE. Rode in waves and flat. I would say I'm not that good on directional, but have probably improved to level of "average". SO, yes, I like it. I think for my size, it works well. Its maneuverable ENOUGH, but now that my skill has improved a bit, I'm thinking of getting something a bit more sporty to improve on my top/bottom turns. That may also mean that I would need more consistnt wind, but I tried a smaller board and was able to really enjoy it.
Hope that helps.

[TommyDuotone]

I'm 98 kilos and this board works great for on-shore slop/light wind.


The key is to move your back foot to lip in the tail pad before you make any hard turns. Super fun and floaty board. I have/owned the 5'2" and 5'4" * and will try to always have one in my quiver. Good for smaller riders too.

*stock FST modified w/ extra 4 oz. deck plus 4 oz. patch for front foot