Hey surf stars, what's a good kite/board combo for going/staying upwind easily in choppy sideonshore surf. Interested in what design features or attributes the board should have i.e. length, width, thickness, rocker, rails, tail shape, bottom contours, fins etc to have great upwind ability but still able to rip the wave as well (or am I dreaming)
No doubt heaps of variables but assuming typical beach surf 2 - 6ft, riding strapless. Appreciate your comments and look forward to some interesting replies.
Mate to be honest any decently sized surfboard should ride upwind pretty well. But if you want an upwind machine, I suggest a wider flatter tail and a quad fin setup.
... I've got an Airush Cypher 5'10 which is a great board for exactly the job your after but if you want a total upwind machine with magic upwind powers, the North Nugget. Mind you, the Cypher has 5 fin boxes so you can taylor the feel you want, its amazing how different you can get it from quad fin to tri, fins forward in boxes or to the aft to make a huge difference, something the Nugget doesn't have. 
cheers,
Robbie 
hi mate, i have a 5'2" north rocket fish, it is an epoxy, I must say i have difficulty getting upwind with it, even in 20+kts (flying a naish park 8m).
I can hold my up wind position, but even that takes work. I am 180cm and 70kg.
It is however very quick and snappy and great for boosting airs (not that you would buy a directional for that), so perhaps you will need something bigger.
just my two cents.
cheers
Learn switchfoot riding.
Toe side is crap for upwind ability.
Gotta be technique, cause people can stay upwind on skim boards...
Late model wave kite, the Reo rips upwind as do all the Ozone kites, and get a Dynabar, that thing really makes the difference for lost of people.
Thanks guys, was really interested in the board design characteristics but some good points made.
Like flat rocker and hard edge, also need to work on switch. While competent on toe side I know I'm losing ground there.
The local is typically gusty and choppy with strong current so going up wind can be difficult. Have been varying technique to improve with mixed results it's all good when conditions and equip are optimum but over or underpowered or poor conditions I'm battling to keep ground. More experienced guys are doing it so I've still got room for improvement.
Currently riding SS Octane 9 & 13 and BWS10 with SS Verve 6'2" quad, is fairly narrow and heavy
Been considering new gear for a while, looking at options. Upwind ability is big on the list and a chop eating board.
Hoping to try the drifter, reo and rally at KP demo next week assuming there's wind!. Try some different boards as well.
Thanks for your input.
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Really good toeside riders can ride upwind pretty much the same toeside as heel side, the majority can't get anywhere near as well upwind when toeside.
Im pretty crap at toeside because I never practice it, switchfoot just seems so much easier,better and more natural to me.
Just my opinion and I'm no expert but a board with not much tail rocker (or rocker in general) fairly wide in the tail, a nice hard sharp rail, lots of concave in the tail, quad or reasonably big finned thruster, ridden strapless and switch is the answer to going upwind.
The brand of kite and the way it is flown also makes a big difference, you have to let it fly and not choke it.
I use custom Oceanline Board which I must admit is loosely based on a proto BWS Drifter board that I had and loved for upwind ability (drifters weren't available to purchase when I wanted one so I had something similar made), they both take a while to get used to turning though.
P.S. My money is on Rowdy (or any good switchfoot rider over a toeside one).
Some good tips in this thread - pity it has to end up in a pissing contest.
Happy new year...
actually, you should not buy a kite or board for the surf based on how it goes upwind but how it surfs, IMO
Thanks for the on thread comments you guys, some goods points TL & SQ. Take your point KW but you also want to be able to stay on the break easily with that surf kite and board.
Of interest, I've been kiting with a front footstrap only to help stay with the board and get comfortable with jumps off waves when heading out. I took it off mid session yesterday, surprised how much i needed to change my stance as i was pretty happy with its position, but found I was able to go upwind much better with a few adjustments, pretty pleased. Gonna work on switch to get that extra ground as well.
Its amazing how far forward your front foot actually is when kiting unstrapped.
I think this is the biggest reason straps hold riders back, especially in light winds...
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Hahaha, I've been here the last few months! Surf has been cracking lately!
I doubt I would actually take your 100bucks, but it could be used for purchase of sacrificial beer carton .
