Hi everyone

Due to a lack of wind I have had some time on my hand to ponder some more about kiting and my overactive brain came up with an idea. Can you convert a kneeboard into a directional kiteboard? I have an old kneeboard just lying around. So I though I can put on some straps and use it to kite.

It is a bit bigger than my twintip and more volume so should help me on lighter wind days(been having a lot of those lately and a blownout inflation valve). I just got my kite fixed so took it for a test flight today and disappointingly the wind wasn't strong enough to plane easily.

What do you guys think? I have the straps lying around anyway and the board so no money will be wasted. Maybe the bit of extra volume on the wider and thicker kneeboard can help me get going on lighter winds? My twintip is 128 so that coupled with my 10m2 kite needs quite some wind to enable me to park the kite.

Any comments, harsh criticism or useful advice and ideas are welcome.

Cheers
Mozzie

I have one as well and it works okay. My board has too much rocker for the 23 inch width. So it's not quite a good light wind option.

Try it... Might be awesome.

Thanks bigtone. I will try it then. Got some time on my hands this weekend. Do you use two straps or three? 1 at the back and 1or 2 at the front.

Just for interest's sake. How good are the upwind riding capabilities of a board like that? How does it compare to a normal board?

Definitely gonna give it a bash. Thanks mate. Cheers

The kneeboard I have doesnt have a lot of rocker so should be ok

I threw a SUP deckpad on mine and just ride it strapless. The last thing I want to do is to jump on mine. At 100kg, I would snap it in half.

I wouldnt also want to be jumping too much on mine. I dont know how much load the screws can take. Plastic might tear. I put the straps on. Just need a few more screws to secure the bouyancy compartments otherwise they might fly off. Gona be generous with the silicone to keep the water at bay

Dive into it man. Whats the worst that can happen?

There is also a extra joy riding something you have made yourself (or adapted to suit).

Post some pic's up so we can get an eye for what you have and what you want achieve.

Have you tried kneeboarding on it with a kite? I tried it with one I borrowed from a friend, it's really hard. Managed to get up on a plane once and said that was enough hah.

If you've already put the straps on then my comment might be a bit late but just go strapless was what I was going to say, wax it up and get out there, if you want to add a deck pad or straps you can do that after you've figured out if it works or not

Will try and get some pics up soon Plummet. dyyylan I haven't tried kneeboarding with the kite yet. Seems like it is hard to edge the board enough to stay upwind. Also looking at making a bidirectional board for myself. Still searching for ideas and playing around with the design. Could someone please direct me to a post or topic on boardmaking? I am trying to search the posts as well.

Will let you guys know how it goes when there is wind. Got a zephyr wind week.

Time for a hydrofoil....

Thanks for the comment JacobMatan. Your comment is good since I might pirate the straps off of it if I try and make a twintip. With the size wood panels we get here I should be able to make two boards. So gonna need the straps.

I was thinking of making one around the dimensions of 150cm x 50cm more or less and another one around 140cm x 43-45cm. Also gonna try and put a slight curve into the rails so it's not a plain rectangle. Although by the looks of it a rectangle works well too judging by the video on another post. DIY kiteboard or something like that.

Homemade hydrofoil.. Now that sounds like a good challenge

Why dont you ride your kneeboard with your kite?

Why do you need to do anything to the board? Just wax it up and take it out for a kite.

It seems like riding a kneeboard kneeling doesn't work well because you can't edge properly. I might just do that bene313. Just waiting to get a gap in my studies and some wind. Forecast for entire week is under 13 knots..

Took the board out for a spin yesterday. Was about 13-16knots maybe. It rode surprisingly well in and out of the straps. Went well upwind. Just the turning around was a bit tricky. Starting in knee deep water was hard because the board kept spinning around when trying to get my feet on..but i think it's just a matter of practice. The footstrap locations were pretty spot on.

Eventually i just rode it like a twintip (nose forward one tack and tail forward other tack) to avoid having to stop .
Actually worked funnily enough. Was fun mucking around with some board slides and trying to jump with feet out of the straps. So a 9/10 for it. Water was nice and shallow so easy to turn around and try again