Hi All,

I'm a 2nd season kiter, 78kg, and own a 12m Atom 07, and Underground FLX 138x41 board. Had lessons and can competently go upwind/crosswind on this set up now.

I've windsurfed for 20 years, so am experienced on the water, but the whole kiting thing is still new and I'm still not up on the reasons for choosing certain gear over other gear.

I only ever kite at the moment in those 'moderate' seabreezes, prefering to get on my wave board up at Lancelin when its howling, so for my needs the kite gear I have is ideal at the moment.

However, I'd like to be able to use the 12m and get going in less wind than I currently am able (say 12-15knots) without sinking, and also participate in some of the downwinder events during the season.

My question is this, would a 'surf board' style kiteboard be of use to me in allowing me to get going in less wind (with the 12m), and would it be easier to use when running downwind with the kite?

I find the Underground board I have tends to skip out from under you a lot when running downwind. It seems to need more edge to give it grip on the water than you can apply when running downwind....its fine crosswind and upwind though.

Is it a gear thing or a technique thing I'm experiencing?

Cheers.

You would only use a surf board style kite board or surf board if you intend to ride waves. There is no real point in using a surf board just to get planing in lighter winds. You should be able to get going on your gear in the 15 knot range. If you want to get going in lighter winds you may want to consider a bigger twin tip board - wider gives more surface area than longer.

You may have the wrong idea of a downwinder. I haven't done sail boarding before but I seem to remember that a downwinder in sailboarding is when you get down wind as fast as possible. I down winder in kite boarding is when you go in and out of the surf as cross wind as possible but don't have to agonise about staying upwind. So you lose ground through jumps, downwind carves, a bit of wave riding etc. Riding straight down wind is not that much fun.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply, have been reading the posts in the other recent thread regarding light wind gear and that's given me some insight.

They have downwind events here locally where they bus everyone up the coast a few k's from a meet point, then everyone kites back to the meet point en mass.....that's a downwinder.

You are right Wilmo, a mass of people kiting downwind together from an upwind spot is a 'Downwinder'.

But I understood your first post the same way Sunseeker did - That you are actually trying to run more or less directly down wind. As he says, that's not much fun and would probably explain why your twinny is giving you problems.

You still ride the same way on a down winder as you would normally, it just gives you the freedom from having to worry about making up the ground you lose when you do big jumps, ride a wave etc.

defo the "surfboard/directional" board will get you going in less wind.. and coming from a windsurfing background the jibing will just feel better. at least it does for me.

for me, i would say i gain about 3-4 knots on the bottom end compared to my twintip.

big twins... just feel wrong, compared to jibing a surfboard onto a wave.

With a directional board, do you actually jibe it like windsurfer, ie change feet in the footstraps or do you ride one way 'back handed' (for want of a better term!)
:-)

OK, got the concept of downwinder as well now....thanks. I know better than to run directly downwind - you don't go anywhere on a sailboard very fast either doing that. I still found with the twin tip 'broad' reaching is more of a struggle than cross/upwind.

well, personally i change feet in the footstraps... usually. i like being able to ride both sides. but most of my boards are older 3 strap boards, which i prefer. with a lot of the newer two strap surfboards i think a lot of people dont bother to switch their feet and just ride frontside..backside. personal preference really.

i do wish someone still made the 3 strap boards though.

another thing... if youre wanting to use the directional board for lightwinds, i think its better to take the straps off. quite often when its light i find i have my feet placed well ahead of where the straps would be.
and its also easier to learn to jibe without the straps getting in the way.

Good point, thanks for the tip. The footstraps (particularly the rear) look a long way back for light wind sailing.

I think I'm going to look for a 16m kite and a directional board to have a bit of fun on during those really light seabreeze days.

Select to expand quote

wave knave said...

another thing... if youre wanting to use the directional board for lightwinds, i think its better to take the straps off. quite often when its light i find i have my feet placed well ahead of where the straps would be.
and its also easier to learn to jibe without the straps getting in the way.

How much harder is it to waterstart a surfboard without straps?
I'm a noob and can waterstart reasonably well with my twintip but expect I might spend a lot of time body dragging back to the board if it didn't have straps.

Par, i tried a strapless surfboard the other day for the first time. (i havnt ridden a surfboard with straps). And the water start is dead easy. I gave in though because it was a little to swelly and i just kept flying off, and lost too much ground (no downwinder). But you should have no problems getting up strapless.

your set up should be fine for the 12 knots mark especially if your doing down winders.

if you find the underground skips out on you then getting a bigger board isn't going to solve much. just give it some more time and you will be fine.