even tho its purpose is to fly through the air, there are so many options, from race v hull to home made skim board... for strapless surf particularly water starts it seems a semi buoyant is the go, can push rear under water get on and go.. wot boards work best 
The board will make a big difference if you are learning but also further up the track. Having a bigger board with more bouyancy not only helps with water starts (especially in marginal conditions) but also when touching down, which will probably happen alot when learning. With a smaller board you pretty much have to pop strait up on the foil and be flying strait from the get go. A smaller board would mostly be lighter comparatively which makes it nicer but for me a 'normal' size freeride board seems to work best, at least for now.
I have heard a low volume board helps with water starts, Its easier to keep the foil on its side.
I would agree that a board with volume will help it like wind situation and also when you want to learn surface jibes and tacks.
Also a board with nose rocker will help with not crashing during touch downs, Angles chines will also help for side touch downs.
BUT. Almost any board will do as long as its stiff enough.
I'm using my mutant. It has decent nose rocker so that's good. its low volume so its good for water starts. But the low volume does make it harder for learning jibes. It is a power hungry beast normally so its not a light wind board. but I find that doesn't matter at all. I can get going on the foil in silly marginal conditions on a small kite no problem at all.
I agree with plummet: the board's not really all that crucial, pretty much anything from a boogie board to a SUP would work, but there are board features that will help with various aspects of foiling. I am using an older abandoned diy kite surfboard ... my only beef with it is that the nose is quite narrow, so on touchdowns it can bury the nose. I think a wider nose board with chines would increase chance of riding it out. But if I touch down only once or twice an hour, this isn't a big deal, least not enough to pay $1000 for the latest and greatest purpose built foilboard. [then again, I may be cynical, I am a little skeptical of $1000 twintips too, the great riders could do their big tricks on a sheet of plywood I figure 
]
I had planned to attach my foil to my diy wood paipo, but it's pretty close to neutral buoyant. I was advised that with an aluminum mast and fuselage and relatively heavy g10 wings, it may be floating only barely. A little extra foam is nice to keep it out of the water for launching and also for board retrieval after wipeouts.
Select to expand quotePlummet said..
I have heard a low volume board helps with water starts, Its easier to keep the foil on its side.
I would agree that a board with volume will help it like wind situation and also when you want to learn surface jibes and tacks.
Also a board with nose rocker will help with not crashing during touch downs, Angles chines will also help for side touch downs.
BUT. Almost any board will do as long as its stiff enough.
I'm using my mutant. It has decent nose rocker so that's good. its low volume so its good for water starts. But the low volume does make it harder for learning jibes. It is a power hungry beast normally so its not a light wind board. but I find that doesn't matter at all. I can get going on the foil in silly marginal conditions on a small kite no problem at all.
It's foot straps that help. My Alien Air is something silly like 30L or maybe more--the old one was 45 IIRC. Strapless starts in light wind are difficult, but a front strap or two solves that problem. I can still push the rear under the water.
Stiffness is vital for control, it's harder to ride if the board is flexing up and down when you're trying to trim the foil :D
I'm not sure about nose rocker. I've found the flat boards are no more difficult to ride than the rockered boards.
IMO for light wind you either need a stupid grunty kite or a really fast kite . . . get up and onto the board and foiling in one power stroke, or on the board on the down stroke, moving on the up and then foiling on the second down stroke.
Wide boards are an issue if you're leaning it over and working it close to the water.
If you go down the route of a Paipo style of board, and assuming you ride strapless, there is a great technique to master that will pop you up on the foil straight away every time even in the slightest wind. I have an aluminum mast and the board barely floats. On my natural side I will point the board slightly down wind and keep the kite at 11 holding the bar with my front hand. Back hand I use to keep the board on edge. I then plant my front foot and if the wind is super light I will put my knee on the back pad. Then I will downloop the kite and as it heads downward I let go of the board and plant my back foot. Once the kite starts it's upward trajectory there is enough power to pop straight up on the foil. There is virtually no planing involved...just a quick pop. I found this method works really well.
Select to expand quotejuandesooka said..
I am a little skeptical of $1000 twintips too, the great riders could do their big tricks on a sheet of plywood I figure ]
And break there legs clean off. I have a 2k $ twintip its nice, also have legs still. If i threw down on a sheet of marine ply id be in a wheelchair. We need stiff boards with plenty of rocker and deep bottom channels for soft landings. You cant make that cheaply. Without them knees get blown second you have a hot landing and i have a retardedly hot landing that makes me bounce off the water like a babys head against a door frame least 5 times a session.
Foil boards you dont NEED anything except a bit of metamucil and whatever the contents in your pill box under S because your all old and weekend warriors who wouldnt know what to do with a real twin tip.
Select to expand quotefruuugz said..juandesooka said..
I am a little skeptical of $1000 twintips too, the great riders could do their big tricks on a sheet of plywood I figure ]
And break there legs clean off. I have a 2k $ twintip its nice, also have legs still. If i threw down on a sheet of marine ply id be in a wheelchair. We need stiff boards with plenty of rocker and deep bottom channels for soft landings. You cant make that cheaply. Without them knees get blown second you have a hot landing and i have a retardedly hot landing that makes me bounce off the water like a babys head against a door frame least 5 times a session.
Foil boards you dont NEED anything except a bit of metamucil and whatever the contents in your pill box under S because your all old and weekend warriors who wouldnt know what to do with a real twin tip.
I think your fanny rag needs changing
Select to expand quotefruuugz said..juandesooka said..
I am a little skeptical of $1000 twintips too, the great riders could do their big tricks on a sheet of plywood I figure ]
And break there legs clean off. I have a 2k $ twintip its nice, also have legs still. If i threw down on a sheet of marine ply id be in a wheelchair. We need stiff boards with plenty of rocker and deep bottom channels for soft landings. You cant make that cheaply. Without them knees get blown second you have a hot landing and i have a retardedly hot landing that makes me bounce off the water like a babys head against a door frame least 5 times a session.
Foil boards you dont NEED anything except a bit of metamucil and whatever the contents in your pill box under S because your all old and weekend warriors who wouldnt know what to do with a real twin tip.
How the fk do you manage to spend $2000 on a twin tip? Does it give you a bj when there's no wind? That's a feature I'd demand for that kinda money.
As for the hot landings, sooner or later your luck will run out and you'll blow a knee or an ankle. And then don't come crying for sympathy from the old weekend warriors who don't know what to do with a 2 thousand dollar twin tip that doesn't even give bjs.
Tried the LF Fish, LF Rocket Fish, Skim board, Shinnster, El Stubbo, 150x50 CrazyFly TT.....
In medium to heavy wind I prefer the Stubbo or Shinnster. .
In light wind, the LF Fish board and CrazyFly width are very helpful in getting up.
It is a pain burying your board six foot deep trying to get up in light wind. Length helps, Width helps, volume helps, no rocker helps.
Then once you get decent, you won't want length, will want rocker, width is okay, volume is neither here nor there.
bit bullet and got strap inserts on alien twister, finally getting going through ocean swells, buoyancy and rocker were good, flat nose slightly boggy on touchdown, hit rail when leaning upwind tack also boggy, thinking narrower more pointy profile in future to battle high seas at speed but happy atm, any race guys comment on favourite ocean boards? think v hull would help carve it up 
