Bomber Surfboard?

[kitenaked]

Litewave has something new coming...

[NCKite_Ryder]

and nc-kite - I often put the trimline between my middle and ring finger so I can steer the kite back forward with only my back hand on the bar.

or, tweak the board into the wind when you grab so you can then let your front and off earlier to redirect.

So you grab the board then tweak it into the wind in the sweet spot, then let your hand off the board and back to the kite on the way down?!? I need more practice, and need to keep my helmet on.... its getting dangerous. Actually broke the tip of my surfboard on the back of my head in the gorge last month working on this move. Glad it broke.

[WindMuch]

I've jumped the crap out of my 5'8" bamboo F-One surfboard. It's holding up really well.

Knock wood (or bamboo?)

Kirk out

[ramsey]

I'm by no means an expert on the subject, but it seems to me having wood in the board is key.

Fone has bamboo on both sides. Firewire is actually manufactured in the same factory and they only put bamboo on one side.

Being the cab whore that I am, I'm gonna get one of these:

http://www.cabrinhakites.com/squad.html


They use a cork sandwich. I think that's a lot better than just a plain foam/glass board.

As for strapless air, listen to eag......Its really not necessary to grab the board though, just point it into the wind and it should stick to your feet if done right.

[eag]

firewire does make the boards for F-one, but their contract specifically prohibits firewire from using bamboo in their kiteboards. The Firewire kiteboards use a stronger version of their FST surf build, not their wood Rapidfire construction.

The F one's are build was stronger than the firewires, but don't have the nice flex, or at least the one I tried was very stiff.

Ocean Rodeo's boards don't have the wood look, but do have a full wood laminate for strength in the deck.

Yes, you don't need to grab if you use the wind right, I just like grabs.

[ramsey]

Oh....I thought I read somewhere that firewire uses bamboo on the top layer, but after looking on their website I guess its just "High density Aerospace deck skin".

In my opinion, if there's just a foam blank on the inside and no wood, I think the board would be prone to cracking in "high stress" situations.

I guess 2011 Slingshot is using bamboo too. I bet those are pretty bomber. Maybe stiff as well with the carbon rails.......

[mike]

Interesting thread - what about repairs? Those bamboo boards are beautiful and sounds like the wood provides strength, but what happens if they do get dinged? I know a regular board can be fixed so that the repair is almost undetectable, is that possible with the wood grain?

[serge]

I have ruined a couple of boards with strapless airs ... still am .

I agree with everybody that says "if you do strapless airs, you will have heel dings" esp if you do the ones without the grab, you tend to land a little hard a times. Short of that UG board, I think all surf board type will get dings , crack , delam etc ... I saw a car on top of Sonny's UG , still intact , gotta love that , I've never tried the UG so I cannot attest to anything else but the fact that you can run a car on top ...and Sonny's been jumping that thing for years.

I ruined a Jimmy Lewis Surf 5'8' : de-laminated the deck , was also taking water trough the straps holes.
and a S-QUAD Cabrinha 5'7" , heel dings , delamm'ed deck, cracks on the sides , cracks around the fin boxes and it also takes water.

I now have a F-One Fish 5'4" , feels bomber except if you drop it on the asphalt, keep it in the bag ;-)
so far so good and I'm pretty much doing airs all the time.

get a beater until you get it down, I wouldn't learn on a brand new ~$800 board. Having said that all the above boards are for sell ;-) half kidding, if someone would like a beater to learn on, lemme know.

Serge

[rowboat]

To throw my $0.02 in here, I have been riding a 2008 North Rocketfish 6'0" for a full three years, and it still RIPS. This is a production full surf thruster shape, 6'0" x 17 3/4" with lots of rocker. To be honest, I don't know exactly how to describe the particular construction technology they're using, but this board rips in waves and has held up incredibly well with literally hundreds of days of use and several trips just packed in a surf board bag.

http://www.kiteworldmag.com/2008-board- ... cket-fish/

The firewire boards look sick though. Has anyone ridden one?

[eag]

NC Kite- I see 2 basic ways to keep the board with you on big jumps. Big strapless jumps are easier (all of this is my opinion) when it's windy (7 or 8m) and there is good chop or waves to launch off.

The key is using the wind to keep the board in place and on your feet. Without grabbing you can point the nose up and the base of the board into the wind. This works but lacks style in my opinion.

What I like (which may also lack style but it feels better) is to grab just behind by front heel with my front hand and tweak the nose a bit forward. This puts the bottom of the board into the wind without pointing the nose up so high. It's more the heelside rail that's high. It's a bit like a method air on a skateboard or snowboard. It works without the grab, but i find grabbing keeps the board with me much better.

This is the same place that I am grabbing for 360s. Can anyone help with how to redirect the kite after coming around on a strapless 3? I need to maintain my death grip on the board until it's back underfoot, and by then the kite is at 12 and I can't ride away.