Why bother with a Twin Tip?

Tt's are better for jumping and tricks. They can also be smoother in chop and more fun for bump and jump in cruddy conditions. Obviously you can go forwards and backwards. More easily fit it into the boot of your car. You can also blast the shallows. Oh yeah. They can take the Knocks. You don't have to worry about smashing fins off which means you can ride closer to rocky areas.

If you want to rip down the line like a surfer. Then stick to a surfboard.

Stew, it's handy to have both TT and surfboard. But launching a kite from a boat can be challenging if that's what you're considering.

You don't need a TT at all. TT's weren't invented when many of us started kiteboarding. We did just fine. A mate recently resurrected a 15 year old directional board, shortened it and fitted a hydrofoil. It looks pretty good and works fine.

Many of the original kiteboarders started on bog standard surfboards and did all sorts of horrible things to mount straps on them. They worked fine until the deck peeled off. I used a 9' longboard with no straps and a non-relaunchable kite. Modern epoxy kite surfboards work very well and last reasonably well.

I still have two TT's in the rack and get them out once every year or so. They're fun for jumping, and can be fun on shallow reef surf. I only need a foot of water to ride safely so I can tuck in on small waves and take them quite close on a reef.

I think it will be easier to learn kite surfing on twin tip. Your feet are firmly attached, it is shorter, easier to get ready for water start, smaller number of variables to get right and control at the same time.

If you ultimately want to use the surf board only than you may skip the twin tip but the learning curve may be steeper.

Twintips you don't need to learn how to jibe/tack.
Twintips can hold a sharp edge much better (for jumping).
Twintips can hold down power much better, particularly with a lot of rocker.
Twintips have got (in my opinion) a better windrange. Surfboard are slightly better in low wind and you can surf smaller waves, but with a twintip you can be completly overpowered and still ride.
Twintips are smaller & more portable.
Twintips can be ridden in shallow water.
Twintips generally have fancy(er) artwork.
Twintips are pussymagnets.

Gday Stew , welcome to the kiting side of the forums . As a few have mentioned a twintip is definitely what you should be starting on and when your confident with staying upwind perhaps progress to a directional board . I used a 6'6 Naish Skypirate directional bord when I first started in 2000 and it was all good to get going but trying to stop and turn back the other way was very frustrating because when your first learning steering of the kite is your main priority and for me it was really difficult to try and gybe the board and turn the kite together, there was too much happening at the same time . As soon as I got a twintip it was so much easier and I progressed so much faster because you don't have to gybe the board when you want to go back the other way. Hope this helps and good luck

I might add here that unidirectionals offer much more planing and are more stable downwind and have footholds rather than footstraps. It is therefore nowwhere near as hard to go downwind, switch your stance and then powerup again crosswind as it is jibing/toesiding with a twintip.

If you kite with a proper surfshortboard then you have so much flotation that you can just go wind, depower the kite, switch your stance and power up the kite again.

You could always use a twin tip like a surfboard ....

Twin tips are a lot lighter and smaller so it makes it a lot easier to travel with one than a surfboard.