I notice board length for the surf from 5' into the longer 6's and between 17" and 20" wide. I know its personal but...
Those who surf claim they can use "one board" paddle in the morning and kite in the pm.
My paddle in surfboard is 6'6" x 191/2" its old so being thrashed in kiting is ok, (intended to just buy a set of some adhesive foot straps).
Question is jumping from twin tip to that length is it missing a step?
Do you need to spend time on a 5' ish directional first?
Is volume a problem?
Cheers.
Nah, just do it. You've got the board already so you don't have to spend the cash. If you reccon you like it, then maybe get a better more specific board.
I had a 6'6" shed banger and gave it a go for a while. Was good fun but the rails were too fat and the rocker was too much to stay upwind anything decent and it didn't grip in the turns so well.
It got me going untill I had the cash for a better board more suited to kiting.
You will find a larger board will help with transitional gybes at the beginning, still manageable. Keep it unstrapped and if you want straps put them on an smaller board later on. Just do it. You wont look back.
Kr
No dramas there. Only thing I discovered is lighter weight glass boards might not be strong enough to kite on. I'd been using my primary surf board (unstrapped) to kite on, as I wasn't happy with a previous board I'd converted (strapped), but ended up putting a foot sized hole in the deck when I aired (bounced) out over a wave on a tack out. Luckily easy fix though and a good excuse to order a new Slingshot board.
If you like your ankles and knees to all face the right way i would be "wary"of using straps on a 6'6 Dowls ..plenty of length means plenty of lever(age) on your joints!
have a (couple of)crack(s) without the straps first and see how you go!
The best vehicle for riding a wave is still a dedicated surfboard but you can go shorter than your normal board if you don't have to paddle it ...epoxies are a good option if you don't want to replace a polyester every 6-8months !
I presume you won't want to paddle surf it any more, with adhesive straps. It would be fine to learn on but, like others have said it's a bit big for straps. Spend time on it unstrapped & then see how you feel. & NO you're definately not missing a step.
Col
