Or jump over them. The mako, shinn (rocker as you mentioned espeically on the mako as chuck in rounded edges the monk does catch under aggressive work in the surf) And the edge is a great combo in the waves. I know it doesn't seem right hey but it works so well.
Another decent production SB is the WAM as someone mentioned above. Really tight and can be ridden aggressively as you like. the FireWire line is exceptional as well but they do seem to break for kiters and surfers alike. ( only based on what I've seen and heard I may be wrong overall). Bit performance wise they are excellent SBs.
Interesting thing I think is missed in the flame war above is that while picking the most fun gear for the conditions is all a great plan, the question is when you get good conditions downsouth or whatever are you going to be able to ride the way you want to on a SB without having spent the time on it before hand? I guess what I'm saying is that if you want to ride good in good conditions on a surfboard there's no point practicing on a tt/mutant or whatever and vice versa as the riding styles and equipment are different.
But yeah also agree, pick what suits you and ride it,accept or attempt to extend it's limitation but understand thay are there anyway.
2c
You make a good point blueprint, you need to practise before hitting some decent peaks.
And default that's a load of BS mate I have watched and read silently for a long time listening to SB riders bag the Farq out of TT riders. Maybe you have a selective memory, not sure. I have had many many emails just lately saying this same thing.
Lets go back early on, someone said the sooner I realise that SBs are better the better off I will be. ( paraphrasing a bit). That was the last straw for me. Rode SBs long before most crew here were on them, and most before they even kited, so I don't need someone telling me this.
So I decided to be a voice for all those poor bastards who have been made to feel like they are somehow riding inferior boards in the surf.
That's all just trying to establish some balance. Trying to point out there are alternatives that in my mind are much more fun, more intense and provide a far greater potential to explore the qualities and potential a kite can offer. The initial mutants were absolute crap I know I was on them as well as my SBs. The new ones are outstanding and suite our local conditions much better.
How many perfect peaks you find today mate? Seen the swell forecast for the next week in the metro area?
But as blue print pointed out and I'm aware of this, gotta practise the art of SB kiting before you hit gnarloo or Margs main break for sure.
But stop telling everyone that somehow SBs are better, more advanced, the pinnacle of kiting. To me everyone has just woken up from the poor bastards who got Sh1t in the early 2000s.
And...I have provided some good options as I see it for a Suitable SB.
Oh yes go back and read what someone said about the mako. Just naive.
This is the way I see it. Do you want to ride down the line, Tack way out to sea and then ride down the line again?
Do you have little desire for jumping?
do you like riding toeside alot?
Are you trying to re-create surfing and just use the kite to get you to the waves?
SB imo feels better on a sweet wave. you can make your turns alot faster than TT/mutant. The added bouancy helps for low speed action and means you glide longer before you sink down.
If thats you then yes get a sb.
If you don't fit that discription then an sb is not for you. you will be better on a Wave specfic TT or mutant.
I personally like to stick amongst the waves for the whole session. I do mixture of upwind and down line line wave riding on the same wave. essentially I loose very little or do ground down wind so i'm able to fang straight back out to the impact zone and do it again. My turn around is probably 1min for a boost on the way out and wave ride the way in. So 60 waves per hour. Man its fun. but hard work. I see the SB riders blaze a glorious wave down the line then tack out to sea for 5-10 mins. then they come back and do it again. Nothing wrong with that. The big tack out to sea bores me and the action per hour is considerably less than playing in the waves constantly.
But i am not driven to get that surf feel without a kite. If you are then you will be consigned to down the line riding. But hey even with the long tack out to sea you still get considerably more waves than an actual surfer who spends most of his session paddling and then sitting and waiting.
I like to ride all 3, SB Is unbeatable in clean glassy conditions with head high+ wave ,mutant comes into it's own in head high onshore with a faster wave and plenty of froth, and the TT for everything else,as far as the best board for "me" it's a 5'6 x 20" SB ,cardboards wave,naish 133 money shot,love these three boards but all excell in different conditions.
At a more serious level, I am useless. I got into kiting as I got sick of late season trips up north and watching the wind come in and me paddle in while all the windsurfers and kiters had fun. I simply want to kiteSURF. While learning I picked up a twin tip. Everything about kiting on a twin tip strikes me as far more advanced than kite surfing, bearing in mind I already surf okay. I was in struggles-ville on the twinny. Recently got a surfboard and, whoa, I am up and going.
I wish I started this ten years ago, but with dodgy basketball knees, and an ankle in need of surgery, the thought of jumping and twisting and doing all those tt tricks sends shudders through me. That stuff is waaaa-aaaay more advance than dragging yourself onto a wave and surfing. I know what eppo is on about. Is it a case of SB riders suffering from small man syndrome? They doth protest too much. I stand in awe of good tt wakestyle and freestyle riders - which is a bit off topic about surfing.
While I haven't kitesurfed yet, I have spent many many hours up north watching the kiting. I have seen guys truly tear that face apart on tt's just shred the bejeezus out of it powered up, then boost an air over a huge section, land and go again. Try doing that strapless on a SB.
But I have seen kitesurfers on SB link a series of tight turns in the pocket that the tt riders just couldn't match, albeit without the same power. Both seem valid. Just like my decision to abandon the tt as I don't wish to pursue that line of kiting and go strapped on a SB.
On that, I have used strapped SB a lot. I would put straps on my paddle in boards if I could and surf my low volume, poorly planing tow board if I could paddle it. I can't see why people rave about surfing unstrapped. Freedom? I'm certain more radical turns can be made and landed in more critical sections when that board is held onto your feet.
But then again, I surf quality solid waves. I imagine if I was in Perth I would have a different opinion.
Yeh man good points.
To be clear being a SB rider in the past and every now and then I to maintain that in the surf, on good waves, of course the SB is outstanding. Some people need to realise I am not bagging the use of SBs, as of course for surfing a wave it the true sense of the word then of course they are superior.
On a side note I also maintain that in really good sized swell a good windsurfer has even more connection to the wave, they can kill a sail completely and really use a fin driven board.
But I also maintain that the best board for surf riding question has many dimensions to it and a decent mutant such as the mako and cardboard wave does offer an alternative when you can 'surf the wave' but then offers so much more. As plummet calls it his amusement park. And yes it is more taxing, you catch more 'waves' the sessions can be a little shorter, but to me personally it offers you the potential to explore what a kite can offer.
All I have been saying is SB riding is not the ultimate, is not an evolutionary pinnacle, it is what it is, no more.
But I agree with you, I go down to my local (which I don't kite often as I don't want to get in the way of the looped windsurf, kitesurf rotation) and marvel and what these guys are doing, strapped and unstrapped. Just love watching it and enjoy kiting sometimes with these guys. One memorable downwinder up At exmouth across the outer reefs, now I was ****ting myself strapped into my CB wave, this bloke on a strapless surfboard was just awesome.
But I just needed to put the record straight hopefully that surfing in the waves should not centered principally around the the SB, that's all. And I truly think some crew are missing out on what kiting really has to offer.
