Hi guys,

the time in Cabarete was a blast. I was pretty unimpressed by the low level of care that people are taking on the beach: Nobody leaves any room when launching, well known professionals crash onto the beach and injure themselves, luckily nobody else got hurt by the kite flying around...

I flew a lot with my X2 14 and 10 and love them. I only have 3 points of criticism:
- the grip on the bar is too abraisive
- the 60 cm bar delivered with the 10 is too long
- the velcros securing the main bladder valve are attached to the tube. When the tube twists slightly, this can acutally pull the valve open, as happened to me on the water. Not very funny at the time...

Also, I tested a few boards and found out that I am not so keen on riding with bindings anymore, but rather enjoy wide footstraps and slightly larger boards. I enjoyed the dinnertray a lot, and also my bigger Carved board, although it is not made for heavy chop...
I am looking for advice for a smaller board for more choppy, higher wind conditions. Any suggestions?
I would be quite interested in trying out a X-Shooter. Toby, where can I try one out??
Cheers
Nico

????????????????????????? Welcome to crowded contest sailing. No pros crashed and hurt themselves although several landed on the beach. Keep trying boards till you find one you like. Good luck with your kite.

I am not talking about the contest.
What I meant was normal sailing on kite beach, and the accident happened a few days before the contest.

If you liked the dinner tray you would love the wave tray. It's even easier to ride. It handles choppy water better than any TT I have ridden and I've ridden a lot of them.

The 147 wave tray is similar to the 151 dinner tray in size and power.

The wave tray is fantastic in the ruff ocean.

Dwight

Dwight,

have you tried any of the smaller WT's ? (142 or 137 ?)

I'm 63kg and ride the WT147 but definitely wanna go smaller. I'm interested in having just one all-round board.

I usually ride in rough chop or open sea swell or closer to shore in short breaking waves, where the WT is at its best

A friend emailed me yesterday evening telling me how impressed he is with the WT142. Although he is heavier (80/85kg), he also found the 147 bigger than expected.

Based on this I should go for the 137 as I'm ligher, but maybe a slightly bigger planning surface board (like the 142) would be more appreciated in the condition I ride in ?!

Mike

Mike,
Choose your WT based on board width. Ignor the length. Don't let the short length fool you into buying the board too big. These boards are very powerful for their size.
The extra wide tail gives them unexpected power. Jacky has the 137 WT, but I haven't tried it. I'm 83 kg. The 147 WT is perfect for me in most conditions.

Dwight