BayAreaKiteboarding.com

Looking for suggestions on directional boards and any tips on learning!
BF and I want to learn to ride directionals and we are both looking to buy one. We have a kite trip to the Caribbean coming up and want to take advantage of the shallow, flat water to learn to ride directionals, also, it can be light wind there.
Board 1) for female, adv. beg., ~125lbs w/ gear, 5'6" looking for a directional mostly as a light wind board and our local small conditions/ chop/sm. waves (not big/ ocean).
Board 2) for male, tame intermediate, ~210 lbs, 5'10', looking for directional as steps toward a foil board, and for light wind, local conditions.
Current, local kite spots: Alameda, Brickyards, Sherman, Coyote
Travel spots may include: Ventana, Maui; other flat waters

Additional considerations: I suppose BF may be able to use my directional in better wind conditions, but I don't think I'll be using his (too much volume). So maybe we want two different shapes?
Any thoughts on the compact shaped boards, like North Whip or Naish Mutant?
Traveling with bigger than TT size boards?
Both of us are thinking of learning strapped, although I've seen people suggesting to skip the straps altogether.

Hello,

I am an ambassador for Ocean Rodeo for full disclosure.

I recommend the Ocean Rodeo Duke 2.0 because it has a big sweet spot. Meaning you can move your feet around the board more before you loose your balance. Many high performance kite- surfboards have a very small sweet spot and if you misstep your foot placement to gibe, you will loose your balance and fall off the board.

For a 210 lb person he will be OK with a bigger kite and you with a much smaller kite.

It comes with fins and straps, so you can try it both ways strapped and unstrapped.

It is thermoplastic coated for durability.

https://oceanrodeo.com/kiteboarding/boa ... e/?b=49091

F-One has a couple of good options for you as well:

For you: I would recommend their "fish": wide, super flat. That's what I learned to jibe on and kept riding it for a while as my light wind board (super flat rocker almost all the way to the nose is awesome in light wind)
https://bayareakitesurf.com/products/?item=32075

For him: get a Mitu 5'10 convertible. That's now what I ride all the time: you can use it as a surfboard and convert it as a foil board as well. 2 boards in 1!
https://bayareakitesurf.com/products/?item=50376

Cheers.

Here are some other options to add to your list:

Board 1- female
Slingshot Celeritas 5'6x18.5"
Naish Mutant '16 5'5x20.5
Axis New Wave 5'4x18.5"
Airush Cypher 5'4x18.5"
Cabrinha Spade 5'3x20"
Naish Mutant 5'2x21"
North Nugget 5'0x20.75"
Axis Wooden Spud '15 5'0x20.5"

Board 2- male
Axis Maroro Convert 5'9x19"
Slingshot Converter 5'4x18.3125"
Spleene Zone 5'3x19.5"

I'd strongly recommend looking for boards in the 18.5"-20" width range. Width is your best friend when it comes to learning to jibe!
Board volume (cubic liters) is not as necessary as traditional surfing, so going down 2-4 liters is recommended. Shape, rocker, bottom surface area, and width are most important factors for kiting.
For now, I'd avoid most of the compact shaped boards like the North Whip. They're designed for advance riders and tend to be narrower (around 17").

monkielion wrote:Any thoughts on the compact shaped boards, like North Whip or Naish Mutant?
Traveling with bigger than TT size boards?

Here are some compact shapes that could work as well:
Airush Slayer V4
Cabrinha Squid Launcher
Cabrinha Secret Weapon '16
Cabrinha Double Agent (foil hybrid)
Liquid Force Rocket (foil hybrid)

Traveling will be expensive and and possibly a pain as is traveling with any surfboard.
You might want to rent instead or consider the Nobile split-surfboards.
https://shop.nobilesports.com/kiteboard ... -2017.html
https://shop.nobilesports.com/kiteboard ... -2017.html

Thanks everyone.
So many to choose from! Maybe a better question would be what NOT to get?

Any thoughts on Jimmy Lewis Kwad (me) and BF: JL Canary?

Yes, we figure we'll just suck up the travel issues/costs and hope airline status helps us scoot by. It depends on who you get. But we may have bigger bags with bigger boards this time.

The funniest was checking in at Cabo and the ticketing agent looks at our Mystic 'golf' bag and asks: "What's in the bag?" and BF replies factually, "It says "golf" on it." The agent just let it go at that. Nevermind BF is wearing a hat with a kiteboarder on it. ha

monkielion wrote:Maybe a better question would be what NOT to get?

Any thoughts on Jimmy Lewis Kwad (me) and BF: JL Canary?

Here's the answer (again)...

Yoda wrote:I'd strongly recommend looking for boards in the 18.5"-20" width range. Width is your best friend when it comes to learning to jibe!

Do NOT get a board that's narrower than 18". Once you go narrower it will delay your learning curve and will likely cause frustration.

Another thing to be aware of is how boards are now being sized. With modern tech, shapers now know what the cubic liter volume is for a given board. Several manufactures have now created formulas to help you identify what's your best size based on wave type, skill, gender, weight, and age.

Knowing what your ideal CLV is will assist you in finding the right size (length). With kitesurfing you will want to size down 2-4 liters (sometimes 5-6) since volume is not a necessary component like in traditional surfing where the Guild Factor (body weight to board volume ratio) is critical. In fact CLV has very little bearing on kite surfboards. Bottom surface area is the main factor that will have the most impact. Bigger surface area = less power/smaller kite.

Check out this article to get a better understanding. Note that it's focused on traditional surfboards, so ignore the part about having too much volume being good.
http://surfsimply.com/surf-coaching/vol ... ht-ratios/
Bottom line: Let go of traditional sizing and focus on the volume, shape, rocker, and width to find your perfect ride.
Example: You and your BF could both be riding 5'6 surfboards depending on the volume.

The list of boards that I provided you plus the OR Duke, the F-One Mitu Convert 5'8, and the F-One Fish 5'6 are all 18.5" to about 20" wide. Note that the models suggested for your BF are convertible for foiling with the exception of the Duke. He has plenty of options as well (non convertible) including many of the models that were suggested to you, but in bigger sizes (like the Celeritas as an example).
As far as I can tell there are NO other boards to consider (in addition to JL) other than going custom!!! Every other board currently on the market is either too narrow (sub 18") or is designed for specific type(s) of waves, or are designed to be ridden strapless only.

For your conditions, the Shack would probably be better for the both of you. The Shack will offer better performance in lighter wind. Even better would be the Canary. The issue now is once again widths and lack of shorter, lower volume lengths. I'd consult with Jimmy on the Kwad as it may not suit your needs and/or conditions as well.
Like I said, If you don't mind a delay in your learning and possible frustration, then I'd say go for the JL models or any other brands/models that are narrower than the ones suggested above.

Eventually someone is going to chime in and say:

Just go buy some used cheap surfboards around
(female) 5'6-5'9 x 18"+
(male) 5'9-6' x 18"+
and then use them till they're destroyed. Don't even worry about the CLV.
You can adapt straps if needed by using NSI's pad kit...
http://www.northshoreinc.com/store/pc/v ... ategory=64

I would add
Ask about The difference between quad fin swallowtail and tri fin rounded pintail.
I should have added i ride a slingshot
Celeritas

CdoG wrote:I would add
Ask about The difference between quad fin swallowtail and tri fin rounded pintail.

Lol! Now you're adding more for them to be overwhelmed about. I guess we should now throw in square, thumb, and squash tails too and five fin set-ups.

And next we'll need to talk about all of the fin options... sizing, flex, foils, profiles, etc.