Hey guys,

i'm lookin' for a strapless kiteboard to cruise, ride smallish waves and have a go at strapless freestyle!
usually those boards are low rocker, square and so don't really turn good when it comes to bigger surf. do you have any suggestions as to what board would be right for me?

at the moment i'm curious if this would fit my needs:
www.instagram.com/wet_watersports/
how do you like the shape?

other boards like a naish skater or a north whip i considered also..

thank you!

That carver board looks nice. Im pretty stoked on my Firewire vanguard, which looks the same as the carver. Great for waves, kills it upwind and plenty of drive and pop for airs.

Another option could be the Shinnster. Its a seriously fun board for all condtions. Flat water tricks, small waves, light wind, strong wind etc. Only time I find it struggles (or maybe its just my technique) is in waves over a foot or 2, it slides out on the face a bit. Also its a little harder to get air than the vanguard.

thank you! are those boards with a wide tail less playfull and don't turn as good? i hear mixed reviews about the north whip etc. the vanguard tho has very good reviews..

what size would you recommend for 84kg and 184cm? i don't wanna buy a too big of a board, would a 5'4 suit me?

A Compact shape with squash nose and tail is the way to go for what you want. That carver is a bit narrow. I'm 80 kg and 175 cm on a 4-10x 18,5 board I built. Works great. Same conditions as you. If your going into bigger surf you'll want a more pin tail. I also prefer quads, my personal experience is they are quicker turning and go up wind better.
You have to take what's available in your area.

Damn, you did a mighty fine job on that build! Good work dude...

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nikmcc said...


Another option could be the Shinnster. Its a seriously fun board for all condtions. Flat water tricks, small waves, light wind, strong wind etc. Only time I find it struggles (or maybe its just my technique) is in waves over a foot or 2, it slides out on the face a bit. Also its a little harder to get air than the vanguard.

The new El Stubbo from shinn looks good. Read somewhere the Mark Shinn prefers it to the shinnster. Minus the foil

shinnworld.com/

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TomW059 said..
A Compact shape with squash nose and tail is the way to go for what you want. That carver is a bit narrow. I'm 80 kg and 175 cm on a 4-10x 18,5 board I built. Works great. Same conditions as you. If your going into bigger surf you'll want a more pin tail. I also prefer quads, my personal experience is they are quicker turning and go up wind better.
You have to take what's available in your area.

Dam. that looks great!
Love the wood grain and the logo. Deck pad looks dialled too.

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Spark said..

nikmcc said...


Another option could be the Shinnster. Its a seriously fun board for all condtions. Flat water tricks, small waves, light wind, strong wind etc. Only time I find it struggles (or maybe its just my technique) is in waves over a foot or 2, it slides out on the face a bit. Also its a little harder to get air than the vanguard.

The new El Stubbo from shinn looks good. Read somewhere the Mark Shinn prefers it to the shinnster. Minus the foil

Yeah sweet, it does look pretty cool hey.

currently ride a 2014 north Nugget 5"2.

My next purchase will be a FireWire Vader 5"3. Haven't ridden or even seen one but that's the board that makes the most sense to me based on what I have read and videos I have seen.

Another good option could be a Airush Slayer. I tried to get a demo a while ago but apparently there weren't even any in WA.


The spleene boards look good aswell.
www.spleene-kiteboarding.com/directional-waveboard-zone/

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nikmcc said..

TomW059 said..
A Compact shape with squash nose and tail is the way to go for what you want. That carver is a bit narrow. I'm 80 kg and 175 cm on a 4-10x 18,5 board I built. Works great. Same conditions as you. If your going into bigger surf you'll want a more pin tail. I also prefer quads, my personal experience is they are quicker turning and go up wind better.
You have to take what's available in your area.

Dam. that looks great!
Love the wood grain and the logo. Deck pad looks dialled too.

Spark said..

nikmcc said...


Another option could be the Shinnster. Its a seriously fun board for all condtions. Flat water tricks, small waves, light wind, strong wind etc. Only time I find it struggles (or maybe its just my technique) is in waves over a foot or 2, it slides out on the face a bit. Also its a little harder to get air than the vanguard.

The new El Stubbo from shinn looks good. Read somewhere the Mark Shinn prefers it to the shinnster. Minus the foil

Yeah sweet, it does look pretty cool hey.

Dude--- that board looks sick. Nice one.

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snapback said..
Hey guys,

i'm lookin' for a strapless kiteboard to cruise, ride smallish waves and have a go at strapless freestyle!
usually those boards are low rocker, square and so don't really turn good when it comes to bigger surf. do you have any suggestions as to what board would be right for me?

at the moment i'm curious if this would fit my needs:
www.instagram.com/wet_watersports/
how do you like the shape?

other boards like a naish skater or a north whip i considered also..

thank you!

Hey Snapback,

I've been riding mainly surfboards for waves, but did a lot of research and tested many boards. Nott the biggest fan of the nugget, especially in bigger surf.... but its an awesme board for beginners learning to jibe and riding smaller waves. If you just want to do flat water tricks - would recommend the Naish ...crap, forgot name.... trickter? Little blue iron board ;-) But fun.

I ended up wit the FireWire Vader (launched afgter Vangaurd) and its super snappy but must be ridden quad. Here is a review on the board (Ps. Recommend you go 5'2 or 5'3)
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/Review/FireWire-Vader-51-Review-2/

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snapback said..
thank you! are those boards with a wide tail less playfull and don't turn as good? i hear mixed reviews about the north whip etc. the vanguard tho has very good reviews..

what size would you recommend for 84kg and 184cm? i don't wanna buy a too big of a board, would a 5'4 suit me?

My experience...

The vanguard is a really nice board that manages choppy rubbish and small waves very well. I haven't used it 10/12 knot conditions yet, but from 15 knots and above it is great. The 5'4" is probably the right size for you.

The sinnster/paipo are great boards. They can be skatey with the standard fins, but i added some 70mm fins and it now surfs brilliantly. Almost imposible to damage.

The North whip and x-whip were okay. Have both Nuggets and they are brilliant. The CSC one is my preferred all round device.

The naish skater is a great board, but a bit thin for me, so i use it as a big wind board.

The mako duke is also another interesting option. Handles choppy conditions really well. A really nice strapless board.

Can you post a picture of your board rack bigtone?




I would suggest to the OP to hone in a bit more on what you really want it for, and then probably consider getting multiple boards.
For airs/strapless freestyle, you want super light weight, and I just don't find you get that in many of the kite construction boards listed above. Go super light and you lose the durability for landings. It's an age old problem but you should at least be aware of the trade off and style riding accordingly (ie know when to not stick a landing, even when you think you can).
Of course the shins will nail that durability side but aren't worth their weight if in proper waves for my interest in wave riding style.

I also wanted to try a slayer ^^ but couldn't find one in WA. Oh well, customs forever!!
Happy hunting and demoing though!

thanks guys!

as i don't live near the ocean i usually ride on a lake with 14-20 knots of wind. on holidays i would travel to different wave spots, not huge waves but i wanna ride them a bit and not just boost over them;) so perfectly i would have 2 boards, but i'm lookin for a one board solution which gives me both options. i will spend more time in sloppy surf and choppy water than on good waves, so i think i don't need a full on wave board. as i like the freestyle aspect of kiting i'd love to have a board that handles that as well.
i think i have to demo as hell;) but it's hard here..:/

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snapback said..
thanks guys!

as i don't live near the ocean i usually ride on a lake with 14-20 knots of wind. on holidays i would travel to different wave spots, not huge waves but i wanna ride them a bit and not just boost over them;) so perfectly i would have 2 boards, but i'm lookin for a one board solution which gives me both options. i will spend more time in sloppy surf and choppy water than on good waves, so i think i don't need a full on wave board. as i like the freestyle aspect of kiting i'd love to have a board that handles that as well.
i think i have to demo as hell;) but it's hard here..:/

Try a shinnster or BRM Paipo (same thing) .... sounds like a nice solution for you.

Why not use a big volume surfboard, as that's what your trying to do, wave ride

guys,

here my suggestions.
these boards are extremely well built and are really popular among world strapless freestyle riders

www.splus-surfboards.com/boards/boards-surfboards-kite-surfboards