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Surfboard Suggestions for lightweight kiter

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Northwest Kiteboarding -> Gorge / Portland / Oregon Coast
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watercamper

Since 08 Sep 2017
86 Posts
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PostSun Jul 28, 19 5:17 pm    Surfboard Suggestions for lightweight kiter Reply with quote

Looking for recomendations for a surfboard for a 125 lb kiter. Board should be able to mount straps. It will be used here in the gorge, the Or coast and La Ventana. All the boards tried so far were too big and bounced a lot. Not smooth at all. TIA

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Jonpnw

Since 22 Jul 2010
1322 Posts
Pacific Northwest
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PostSun Jul 28, 19 6:52 pm    4’8” SCI FLY Reply with quote

Check out the new 2020 Slingshot SCI FLY ! Works great for my wife
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Join the Columbia Gorge Water Sports Association. http://gorgewindsurfing.org/

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ldhr

Since 21 Jul 2009
1470 Posts
Hood River
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PostSun Jul 28, 19 6:57 pm    Re: Surfboard Suggestions for lightweight kiter Reply with quote

watercamper wrote:
Looking for recomendations for a surfboard for a 125 lb kiter. Board should be able to mount straps. It will be used here in the gorge, the Or coast and La Ventana. All the boards tried so far were too big and bounced a lot. Not smooth at all. TIA


That's how surfboards feel in the gorge chop. Shocked
maybe give us details what boards and what size you have tried?
As JONPNW said - Slingshot is making a small board (4'8").
https://www.slingshotsports.com/2020-SCI-FLY

My wife - also ~125 had a custom board built.
Go see Art at North Pacific in the gorge. He's made dozens of smaller boards for smaller riders in the gorge. He knows what works.
The Waterbug model is very popular.
http://northpacificsurf.com/product/waterbug/

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macgruber

Since 06 Dec 2011
490 Posts
SE PDX volcano
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PostSun Jul 28, 19 9:24 pm     Reply with quote

Slingshot 5’2” screamer or 5’6” Celeritas if you can’t find one. Narrowness is more important than length.

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watercamper

Since 08 Sep 2017
86 Posts
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PostMon Jul 29, 19 6:03 am     Reply with quote

She's only ridden strapless in Baja, a 2016? OR Duke 5'4", 25 or 26 l if I remember correctly. Enough to nail her gybes and enough to know she doesn't like the ride quality. Felt too big and bouncy.

So changing to a narrow, 17" wide board will make it smoother in chop? Help me out with this concept.

Also, I keep getting an INvalid Session when I try to reply to this post from my mobile. I had to connect my PC to a hotspot to be able to post. Tried rebooting the phone multiple times. Nothing worked. Same thing happened on one of my last posts. Any ideas.

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watercamper

Since 08 Sep 2017
86 Posts
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PostMon Jul 29, 19 6:20 am     Reply with quote

It was a 2016 Duke, 5'4" x 18.5" x 25.3 l.

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Matt V

Since 26 Oct 2014
462 Posts
Summer- OR Coast, Winter - My van near good snow
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PostMon Jul 29, 19 10:04 am     Reply with quote

watercamper wrote:

So changing to a narrow, 17" wide board will make it smoother in chop? Help me out with this concept.


Generally, wider boards hit more chop, and hit that chop much harder. Narrower boards have more of a tendency to cut through the chop, instead of being thrown around by it.

And womens bodies are different than mens, even at the same weight. Here are a few of those differences:

1. Womens hips are wider (angle pressures knees differently than men)
2. Women have a lower center of gravity
3. Women have a smaller foot

#3 is a big one and most directly affects the ideal board width for a rider. With the shorter lever arm of the female foot (heel to big toe distance), less force can be applied to each rail for a given weight and static foot position. This is not usually a problem strapless where the feet can be moved a bit to make up for the shorter foot/lighter weight. But straps that lock the feet in well to one position can be detrimental to controlling a normal width board for a rider with small feet.

There are some tricks to using a bit of a wider board than ideal. Even though I weigh 105kg, I still only have size mens USA 11+ foot length. That extra weight for that foot size does help, but I also use a mid-wide board width. In addition to the board being mid-wide at the maximum width, it also has a wide fish tail (LF KiteFish). And the tail width is a major factor in generating upwards pressure from the rail at higher speeds (lower speeds it still generates uplift, but easily manageable even at slow speeds).

Here are a few things a smaller rider can do to go strapped on a board wider than normally comfortable.

A. Loosen the straps. This can be dangerous on one end (foot slipping out) but makes up for it on the other end by being easier to get out of. With a loose strap, the kiter can put their foot in deep for toeside pressure. For more heelside pressure, use the loose strap like a deck hook and pull out of it a little more. For locking in during a jump, twist both feet out while in the straps. Regardless, loose straps require active feet - they always are pressuring one way or the other. So if you kite, and especially jump while just letting your feet hang there like TT kiters with tight foot straps or boots, you may have some issues with loose straps.

B. Given that toeside pressure is most important on a clean tight jibe, move the back foot out of the back strap and place it in front of the back strap a little more on the toeside of the board. This will allow a tighter carve through the jibe. Those coming from windsurfing will find this instinctual and easy. Actually, it is hard not to and most windsurfers find that they put the foot on the toeside side of the board too much for a non-windsurfboard.

C. Learn to pry up on the straps. This is the key to strapped kitesurfing. By prying up on the straps, you can actually exert more pressure on a rail than by stepping directly on it. And maximum pressure can be moved from rail to rail without ever moving your feet. This is where strapless is a complete handicap compared to strapped. While rail to rail is the most obvious, by lifting up on a strap with the back foot, you can pressure the nose as much as you could ever want to - again without moving your feet. Same goes for pressuring the tail by just lifting up on the front strap. And this is where you maximize the performance of a kitesurfboard with instantaneous tail pressure. When you learn to maximize this technique, you can use a wider tail on a bigger/steeper wave than possible while strapless. And the benefits of this are that you don't really need as much nose or nose rocker - read that as shorter/flatter/wider boards now work in big waves.




So I would recommend first defining what you priority's are. Strapless is lots of fun and even tames/slows things down a bit. Strapped gives the option for higher speeds, quicker movements, and a larger performance envelope out of the board/entire experience.

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Da Yoda

Since 12 Mar 2009
79 Posts

 



PostMon Jul 29, 19 12:53 pm     Reply with quote

watercamper wrote:
She's only ridden strapless in Baja, a 2016? OR Duke 5'4", 25 or 26 l if I remember correctly. Enough to nail her gybes and enough to know she doesn't like the ride quality. Felt too big and bouncy.

So changing to a narrow, 17" wide board will make it smoother in chop? Help me out with this concept.

A 25ltr board is A LOT of board for a 125lb person. I'm around 140-45lbs and currently use a 20ltr board. Volume is not the main factor, but it's quite helpful for narrowing down the ideal board size for a given rider.
E.g. I personally like about 4-6ltrs smaller than what's recommended for a traditional (non-kiting specific) surfboard. Next I like to focus on the intended shape, the associated dimensions, and the board construction aspects.

For her riding pleasure, going a bit narrower will also help out (at or <18"). I'd recommend some strapped surfboards like the new Slingshot Sci-Fly 4'8 mentioned above (or maybe the 5'0 version), the O.R. Jester 5'1, the Cabrinha X-Breed 5'1, the Duotone Whip 5'0, the F-One Slice ESL 5'1, and the RRD COTAN 5'0. All of these boards would be perfect for small/medium sized waves and also performing tricks (strapped or strapless).

If she was finding a surfboard bouncy in the chop, then she may need to work on her foot positioning and body weighting... especially if coming from a twintip. However like Idhr stated "that's how surfboards feel in the Gorge chop". They can take more work since they're stiffer and longer than a twintip. Ride time can fix that! Wink

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user124

Since 02 Aug 2012
390 Posts
Portland
Obsessed



PostMon Jul 29, 19 1:33 pm     Reply with quote

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Firewire boards like the Vader or Evo. These are great boards. Sizing usually runs small. But they also come in 1 inch increments so easy to get the right size for a smaller than average person. Big Winds or Clean Line could discuss proper sizing, but definitely get advice from a proper kite shop to get the right size.

They don't have strap inserts but that problem is easily solved with an NSI "Full Monty" deck pad with inserts.

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pollywog

Since 07 Aug 2009
289 Posts

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PostMon Jul 29, 19 7:44 pm     Reply with quote

Being a lady and being tall 5’8” but smallish, 135lbs, I ride the SS celeritas 5’6. I’ve ridden the duke (it was okay but I wouldn’t own one) the north Quest TT, and a couple of the new F-one surfboards. I liked the quest TT the best. Not sure how it would be in the gorge (rode while in Maui).
I do like the celeitas. It whips around easily and seems to handle the gorge pretty darn well. It’s never limited me (it’s progressed well with me). I ride strapless and can jibe well and am working on learning up wind tacks.
Test one or the SS current version of it. It’s been a good board for me!
Amy

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watercamper

Since 08 Sep 2017
86 Posts
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PostMon Jul 29, 19 7:55 pm     Reply with quote

Do those full monty deck pads actually hold the footstrapas well?

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user124

Since 02 Aug 2012
390 Posts
Portland
Obsessed



PostMon Jul 29, 19 8:08 pm     Reply with quote

watercamper wrote:
Do those full monty deck pads actually hold the footstrapas well?


Yes they are bomber if applied correctly.

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Da Yoda

Since 12 Mar 2009
79 Posts

 



PostMon Jul 29, 19 10:19 pm     Reply with quote

user124 wrote:
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Firewire boards like the Vader or Evo. These are great boards. Sizing usually runs small. But they also come in 1 inch increments so easy to get the right size for a smaller than average person. Big Winds or Clean Line could discuss proper sizing, but definitely get advice from a proper kite shop to get the right size.

They don't have strap inserts but that problem is easily solved with an NSI "Full Monty" deck pad with inserts.

+1
I was going to recommend the Firewire boards like the Evo and Vader, but since they stated "strapped" I didn't bring it up. I agree the NSI system can work pretty well. I currently ride a Firewire (strapless) and love it!

With the NSI FM system, the FCD Blunt 4'8 (or 5'0) is another board for her to check out. I'm now eyeing the Eleveight Escape Pro 4'11 which could also work for her.

Btw, the Evo and Vader KITE specific boards come in 2" increments except for the smallest size where it's 3" below the next one up. The Vanguard comes in 2" increments throughout. One inch increments are only available on the "non-kite" surfboards.

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Slappysan

Since 13 Jun 2012
308 Posts

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PostTue Jul 30, 19 10:25 am     Reply with quote

watercamper wrote:
She's only ridden strapless in Baja, a 2016? OR Duke 5'4", 25 or 26 l if I remember correctly. Enough to nail her gybes and enough to know she doesn't like the ride quality. Felt too big and bouncy.


The OR Duke is waaaaay too big for her, get her to demo an OR Jester it's a fun board and I'd even go so far as to say the perfect lake board as it eats the chop and is fun to slash around while powered up by the kite on small waves you couldn't really surf. The real issue with the Jester for me is it doesn't really surf waves properly, it always wants kite power.

The pefect board for her though is the Wave Bandit Performer 4-10, only issue is you can't put straps on it but personally it's a board that has no need for straps because it's so light at 5.6 lbs with ample width it picks up the wind and does strapless airs in as little as 14 knots. The soft flexible foam goes a long way in eating the chop, not as far as the Jester though but far enough. At $150 it's a steal and the best kite surfboard I've ever ridden. It's great just letting it wash up on the beach if there is a sketchy landing spot and the wind has gone to shit I can just focus on getting the kite in safely.

I have like 40+ sessions on my main one (and own 2 others) and it's still going strong.

You can read my original post on it here http://nwkite.com/forums/t-42781.html

You can see my latest session on it here

Link

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watercamper

Since 08 Sep 2017
86 Posts
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PostTue Jul 30, 19 4:45 pm     Reply with quote

Thanks for all of your help, advice, etc. She rode a friend's 4'10" Firewire Evo today and bought one this afternoon. Can't wait to get the NSI Full Monty deck pad installed.

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