Some good tips here if you have a problem with a board
boardlady.com/water.htm
All sorts of info on here, check out the purpose built trailer
Edit; sh!t loads of info on here when you look around

Found this interesting video over on the polys page.
Probly very similar to the race board construction

found this one as well, building a board from scratch with lots of interesting videos

kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=107&t=2374642

a few old school methods in use. Get the basic idea of it. i wonder if for a kite board it would be good to make it hollow. would make it a lot lighter and with good build methods i reckon it could be stronger too, so essentially like a carbon boat. You could really concentrate on reinforcing the fin boxes with carbon nomex rather than just the foam in between them giving a stiffer connection to the board. would be harder to build but end result would be better i reckon. thoughts?

hollow boards have been done, not sure how they perform though. some info can be found here:

woodycookie.wordpress.com/innovation-2012/

there are some good photos in there of the hull and deck before being glued together.

The main reason people dont make hollow boards is you get a hole the board is stuffed. I have worked at Sykes racing as a boat builder where we made olympic class rowing skulls and they are hollow. The biggest problem was heat and letting it out.

I have built hollow surfboards and they feel really different. You can use very light foams and achieve the same effect. Also its down to cost. Mikes Labs race boards retail well over $3000 thats a lot but they are very well made. An average rowing skull will set you back $18000 - $32000 depending on the materials BUT the resale is very good generally half after 5 years.

I could make a board that would be half the weight and double the stiffness for kite racing. But it would not stand up to the abuse and would fall apart in a year. Windsurfing has been down this path before and I have seen some crazy ideas come out of dingy sailing as well

I tend to disagree. After sailing an 18ft skiff in some of the harshes places they get sailed, Munster boats makes them as a carbon pre preg and they are insanely strong. A simple Kevlar wrap would help with dings. Yep heat is there worst enemy but a simple bung or one way valve would suffice. Pre preg with nomex core would be plenty strong enough. We get screwed by all the manufactures saying they are using the best technology. Not too many modern high end sailing vessels are made as **** as our race boards.To use 100% carbon as a marketing gimmic is a joke. They shouldn't be making the boards if they arnt full carbon. I'd be happy paying the 3 to 4 thousand if I knew it was going to last a few seasons but 2100 and lucky to get a season out of it is pathetic. I hope someone does go down the hollow board pre preg nomex core and vacummed bagged road cause they would get my $$$

If they can make carbon foils to lift 72ft cats out of the water I'm sure as hell they can make our boards strong and light enough. Pull your heads In board manufactures.

AGK, I agree Munster make a fantastic boat they are regulated by class sizes and rules so they can focus purely on manufacturing. Hey I understand that kite racing has class rules BUT it is a very small market. Developing products with high end materials Like Nomex and prepreg costs BIG money.

I totally agree with you that manufacturers are ripping people off by saying they are 100% carbon. I have been to Cobra in Thailand and have seen some excellent pre preg and autoclave work. There are some excellent manufacturers in this area in Australia BUT they will not develop anything for Kite racing until they see money in it.

Hey I could make carbon foils to lift a 72ft cat out of the water but they had a development and research budget that went into the millions. I have CAD designed parts for small dingy's and manufactured them for 100% carbon infusion but the owner of the business really wanted it for his own boats. He could then test it and on sell it to the market place. There are not many boat builders out there willing to take that risk, I know because I have worked in the industry. I am out of it now and moving into teaching.

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HappyG said..

AGK, I agree Munster make a fantastic boat they are regulated by class sizes and rules so they can focus purely on manufacturing. Hey I understand that kite racing has class rules BUT it is a very small market. Developing products with high end materials Like Nomex and prepreg costs BIG money.

I totally agree with you that manufacturers are ripping people off by saying they are 100% carbon. I have been to Cobra in Thailand and have seen some excellent pre preg and autoclave work. There are some excellent manufacturers in this area in Australia BUT they will not develop anything for Kite racing until they see money in it.

yeah probs need to be a 2 way valve, pressure can go out when its hot but gotta get back in somehow. similar to what are on windsurfers anyway. thats cool people have made them but the reason they may not have performed is probably because the shape was crap, not because it was hollow. as for dents etc. that still stands for foam core boards too. Carbon nomex would be better but just require more skill to build, and hence cost more on production. but the boards already have the carbon, the cost is in the nomex and then building them. but they are relatively simple compared with a boat. i know flying 11s and NS14s etc are around 7k hull only and they have a much bigger more complicated mould as well as build. Sure they are fiberglass but there is a bit more to them.

i just think if you could do it you could make the fin boxes a lot stiffer and lighter. the internals would be pretty easy as well once you had the mould done.

also 18s arent exactly a huge market. i know they go for more $$ but they dont build a whole lot each year. if you could get a decent shape in too then the boards would probably last longer and then you would be just upgrading fins. like with 16s second hand boats last for ages and stay competitive if you upgrade rigs and re build deck when it goes soft.