Naish Sky Pirate Surfboard: Ride Strapless...?

[nick_80044]

I have an old Naish Sky Pirate 6'0 surfboard sitting in my closet (see pic below). I've been strictly a twin tip guy up until now, but I thought it might be good to get some use out of the Naish and try something different.

The straps are too narrow for my feet. Are they worth replacing on a board this old? What would the cost be?

Could I just plant my feet before or after the straps and ride strapless? Would the straps get in the way? Would this give me some weird balance problems?

Could I just take the straps off?

How hard would it be to learn to gybe on this thing?

Perhaps the most important question: Assuming all of the above works out, what fun/benefit would I gain over riding my twin tip, besides perhaps riding in lighter wind and better flotation in a crisis? It would have to outweigh the loss of jumping and easy transitions.

[jrg]

Pull off the straps, add some wax between the pads and give it a try on a light wind day. I suspect it will be an easy board to jibe (wide and lots of float).

Its fun to learn to jibe and tack, then you can move on to strapless airs (although this board may be to heavy).

[peta]

second that. lose the straps. looks like a great board to learn directional. Once you can jibe you might use your TT less and less. So much fun. Check out the surfboard tutorials at iksurfmag.com technique section.

[nick_80044]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

<< add some wax between the pads >>

The white surface of the board isn't smooth--it's actually kind of rough, like fine sandpaper almost. Are you sure about the waxing?

If I take the straps off, should I stand in the white area or on the big black rubber sections where the straps used to be?

<< So much fun >>

This is what I'm wondering--what's so fun about it? I tried it once and it felt like I was riding a big slippery eel. Granted, the too-small footstraps were not helping.

Thanks for the tip about iksurfmag.com---I'll definitely check it out!

[cliftoncutshall]

riding a big slippery eel
priceless
BTW do not wax a nonslip textured deck. This will make a tremendous mess!

[Aloha]

Only one way to find out what's so fun about it :]

There's so much more to the world than just the east bay spots and twin-tip boards darling

[jjm]

Might not be the same experience without a 2 line kite

[sflinux]

This board rides fine strapless. I didn't like the front stock strap placement, and put an nsi bolt strap stick on, on the center of the board (on the front cutout), having the two straps rather than at an angle, parallel to the rear strap. I had a 6'6", I heard the smaller ones were better.