Well I have been waiting for months for a Underground Freewave that I ordered ages ago and just got to wondering on account of lack of availability here what is good whats not and just a general throw out there to see what you guys rate in the surf board catagory whats the best, and worst to ride and why??

Cheers in advance

get a custom board made for you specifically. still hundreds cheaper than a pop out. colin earle in osbourne park shapes a great board for kiting

Just get a surfboard 2nd hand and ride it.

Different strokes for different folks, but for me:
• Size matters – ~2” longer than me.
• Wide enough
• Plus:- not too much rocker and
• Enough planing width on the tail – especially for riding smallish waves.

If the board is too small and narrow:
• You need a lot of force to get you up and planing and to keep you that way, so you could end up having to use a larger and thus slower kite
• You have to use the power of your kite to ride small waves – there is not enough planing area to keep you up and going
• Gybes will be difficult as you have to keep power in the kite all the way round and you have to switch stance with the board travelling faster than you need on a wider board.
• Smacking off the white water isn’t as nice off a shortboard.
If I was happy with all the above, I would ride a twinnie and not a surfbaord.

Too much rocker:
• is good for riding hollow fast waves, but
• you will have to pull every gybe off the power of the kite as the board won’t plane well
• It will not plane well and is bad for riding weakish, flat or small waves if you are not using the power of the kite.

Fins:
• During the quad rage in surfing, they used to carve long turns and weren’t good on the snaps. I am guessing, as I haven’t ridden a quad while kiting, but I would imagine it would be the same.

Although buoyancy isn’t an issue in kite surfing, if I sit on the board in the water, the water should be about 2” below my belly button. No reason for this, but a quirk of mine.

Everyone has different preferences, but for me the shape and not the make determines the board I will buy.

Liquid Force's range of quads go off.

Very good all round dimensions and shape. They use future fins, which allows some flexibility for different conditions with large range of choices. Also the 08 had plugs either side of the stringer, which I prefer for offsetting when riding strapped. BTW quads are sick in the pocket, very tight turning.

But like Loco said, you can't beat the feel of just jumping on your paddling board. Just gives more of a surfing feel IMO

Saying all that I'm going custom next, will definately be a quad with a few refinments on the current board. Just gotta get time to call in and catch the shaper in the next few days.

I'm a convert to the el cheapo second hand shortboard camp. My latest favourite is a 5'10" polyester, 100 bucks on fleabay. Excellent smile per $ ratio.

I've also recently ordered a 5'8" Freewave on the strength of a demo at Mambo, really fun board, hopefully supply will catch up with demand before the wind dies. I reckon a Freewave together with a poly shortboard will be next seasons quiver.