Have recently bought an 11m SS Fuel and am very happy with the purchase (though a recent arm injury has prevented me from unhooking much).
I had a session the other day where the conditions were very onshore. When the gusts came through it was difficult to hold down the power of this kite, as the waves were pushing me downwind. Which brings me to my question:
Does anyone have any recommendations of a board that they have found to be very good at holding down the power of a kite?
From previous threads it seems that a small, flat board with straight edges would work well. However, I'd prefer to narrow down my options through personal opinions and then try one out.
I am intermediate 72kg rider, presently riding a 135x41 cardboard tempo that has loads of rocker and quite a tapered tip, in flat to small swell.
nothing wrong with that board. try to edge a lot harder or bolt some boots on it, you can hold down a lot more power in bindings.
at 41cm wide it's not helping your cause. Try something around 35cm wide, use some mate's boards etc to get a feel for it. Square rails, larger fins, square tips, narrower board will all help. My old naish sol from 05 is awesome, but i'm sure there are others out there
Smaller board might help, but really it's time you learnt to edge like a motherf-r.
I'm ~80kg and use a 134x42 Nobile 666 as my only board. Yeah, it gets a bit hairy in psycho gusts but it's all just a matter of getting that rail right in the water and edging to save yourself.
Also, try playing around with how far forward on the board your feet are. I find that if i shuffle my feet back a bit with my heels closer to the edge of the board i'm able to hold down a bit more power.
Yep I'll second that.
Am 72kg and ride a 125x36 in anything over 20 knots.
Under 20 knots it's a 138x39
Both with a decent concave
Fitzy - Gold Coast OZ
i'm about 78kg and ride the same board. i offer my experiences and ask some questions for those who've ridden more boards and who are better kiters. (my basic jumps and transitions are fine, starting to unhook, and at this stage i'm not interested in boots.)
i get going in less wind or with a smaller kite than similar sized guys but at the top end i'm not sure its helping me. i can edge fine but it seems thatt edging enough to stay in control of the kite in gusts has me losing too much speed.
one obvious answer is to try some other boards and i plan to, but in the meantime, would a flatter and or smaller board let me control the kite and retain more speed? are there specific edging techniques i may not be getting?
i travel light, so after a one-board solution for flat water and some chop on port phillip bay. something that works well with straps and will help me progress. 666? lunacy? how similar are the underground flx's to the tempos?
(75kg) intermediate rider
i have used a 138 cab custom and been fine on a 10m nemesis hp up to 35 knts with higher gusts in morderate chop and swell.
it really depends on how hard u r can edge like for instance pushing harder on ur back leg rather the bending ur butt into a toilet postion
130-135 is what u want.
(upgrading to 132 or 135 north board. broke my custom)
Same old storey edge hard,have the kite high and depowered and you truck up wind totally under controll
^^^ its easier to edge against the kite when you have it low.. damn did no one learn back in the C days where if it got real windy u keep ur kite just above the water and edge like its ur grandmamas business?
ur boards fine mate dont waste time looking at other boards, narrower and smaller will just hinder ur pop and landings. rather look at getting a smaller kite and learn how to edge properly...
BUT if u really have to look at another board get something around 130 - 132 x 40...
hell last summer i was between 74 - 78 kg and only rode a 142 x 43 (with bindings) but i could easily ride a 135 or what ever the cesar of 09 was at kitestock with straps on. i dont condone strap use i just borrowed it for loops.
I didn't think anyone rode boards narrower than 38 anymore. I ride a lunacy 132 x 41 and am 76ish kg. No issues riding powered or overpowered. It's all technique.
Edge properly, stop doing the poo man and you'll be right. Just practice. Onshore with waves will always make it harder. Board dimensions you have sounds good.
I used to ride the lunacy 129 x 39 and moving to the larger size took a bit of getting used to but improved my range and landings.
If you are swayed by the narrow (minded 
) board brigade then make sure you try try try first...
I got an Ocean Rodeo Mako 150 x 34. It is very stiff with a big concave (max 18mm), which makes it cut through the chop and hold the rail very well. At 83kg, I used to fly my 12m in 25 knots and edge like crazy on that board - so it definitely has some high end.
However I am not edging that hard anymore, cause I find it rather inefficient. Why riding overpowered and then spending lots of energy to burn that power?
When I want to translate the pull of the kite into maximum speed, I am trying to ride more like the speed kiting dudes, keeping the board flatter and sitting further back.
For holding down maximum power with the least effort, I just ride one handed and lean back as far as possible. Makes me point very high, but costs some speed.
Select to expand quoteCharl dv said...
^^^ its easier to edge against the kite when you have it low.. damn did no one learn back in the C days where if it got real windy u keep ur kite just above the water and edge like its ur grandmamas business?
I learnt in the C days.and nowdays you push the bar out the kite flies forward out of the pwr zone, its all to easy with half the effort required of back then.
get with the times.... kites have changed
we dont double declutch cars anymore either
get a macas tray and put ur foot hooks and fins on that. more flex and pop than any board out there!!! you will be able hold down 60knots easy
Board size is hardly going to help, it may be a tiny bit easier with a smaller board but not much.
Who ever said its easier to hold down a board that is flatter i got no idea why you would think that, there's a reason wakeboards need more wind to get going, it's because they have more rocker... Think about it.
Bigger fins aren't going to do much either, when your lit up your right on your edge the whole time, your edge is the fin.
Your best be is just learn to edge properly, or, really what you need to do is get a smaller kite.
Even if you can learn to ride really overpowered, It's not like you will be able to do much in that much wind anyway.
In conclusion, learn to edge and save money for a kite.
Thank you to all who have contributed to this post. I have tried out quite a few boards over the last week and have some feedback for those interested.
Before I do I need to clarify:
- this post was about board performance, not technique
- anyone can hold down a bow kite, had no trouble even when gusting to 39kts, but a c kite is different
- changing kite size is important, but is not always possible with changing conditions
Over the last week I have tried:
- Nobile 555
- Cabrinha Caliber
- RRD (not sure which)
- TB Haura
- Liquid Force Drop
All of these boards could hold down more power than my Cardboard Tempo. Don't get me wrong, the Tempo performs better than the others in many more ways, especially pop. The Tempo is awesome, but I ordered the super flexible version and unfortunately when you edge hard in the gusts, it turns into a banana and you fly out of control. Djdojo, this is probably why you can't keep a straight upwind line.
So, after trying all the boards above, the two most important factors for me in holding down power is:
- heavier board
- stiffer board
Of course length, width, rocker and shape all affect performance, but I feel to a lesser degree in regards to holding down power. So now I am stuck with trying to find a board that is heavy enough to hold the power (but not so heavy I can't throw it around), and stiff enough that it doesn't bend to much when edging (but not so stiff that my weight can't bend it to get a decent pop).
Well seeming you've gone with the right kite choice & bought a fuel why not stick with slingshot & give the lunacy a crack, its an awesome board.
And all you gotta do when riding a fuel in gusty/strong conditions is keep that kite low & egde hard I know this because i do this & it works
Yeh. A mate is getting one next week. Will give it a go. Just worried that with it's rectangular profile it will suck in the chop we often get here.
you are never going to find this "magic" board.
if you are trying to learn new tricks and advance your riding then buy a stiff board with plenty of rocker and just learn to edge.
despite what you think, it is all about technique.
So you don't want my 135 x 36 carbon fiber pickle fork with bindings then.
It holds more power than any new board and goes faster but has no pop and the spray off the bindings is huge.
Hmm, so many perspectives, and no general principles that I can see beyond "keep working on skills and techniques" even though there is not much consensus about what the specific techniques are in terms of kite position, and style of edging (not all edging is the same).
In my case it was quite a revelation to watch Shannon Best's instructional vid (kiteboarding 101) from back in the day when he was still with f-one. The message for dealing with power was bent knees and pelvis forward. This is the opposite of poo-man and combined with a low kite it just puts the power more directly through your legs. This increased my top-end on a given kite by about five knots. It requires (and will produce) strong legs, but as I am slowly learning, that's a big part of where pop comes from. Shannon's thighs look like they're about to explode at some points in the vid, but there's no doubt he's holding down massive power, going very fast, and getting all the pop he needs.
Still, there are a big range of boards out there, and until I can get the time, conditions and demo-availability to test some, I greatly appreciate detailed feedback from those who've ridden a few.
Any more comparative info on lunacy, 666, flx, or others will be appreciated, including board size/rider weight/conditions. (I love the light weight and smoothness of my tempo, but I still wonder about its combination of flex and rocker for riding with straps.)
Cheers, dojo.
If I'm not unhooking I always ride with the kite fully powered even when it is 35-40 knots. I ride c kites and I have a 138 tempo. I'm not saying don't use the depower strap, point is with the kite skimming the water and leaning back hard you can pretty much out edge anything. Definately technique nothing to do with the board as others have mentioned.
i ride 2010 fuels and a 129 2010 lunacy and they are the perfect combination the 132 or 135 lunacy would be perfect for you, out of all the boards that i have tried the lunacy definitely hold the most power and overall is the best board i have riden
