Kiteforum.com

I'm thinking of buying a Slingshot Skate series board, either the Drake or Zeppelin. Anyone have opinions on the quality of these boards?

I've seen a LOT of people trying to sell used ones on message boards and thus I'm wondering if they have some performance issues...

Please please please show me where you see ALOT of people selling them used.....PLEASE! I find them to be a great investment myself, and if you know where their are several selling on used forums, I'd love to know about it as I have several friends that would love to be hooked up with them.

So umm....seriously, where are you seeing ALOT of them being sold?

Thanks for your reply...
Johnny

is you scroll through the postings in the "boards" section under the "kiteboarding" section in the classifieds at iwindsurf.com, there's probably been about 10-15 ss skare series boards listed there over the past month or two. Granted, many of those have probably been sold by now, but the fact that people seemed willing to get rid of what is a pretty new board raised a flag in my mind.

So you've ridden them and like 'em, huh?

I had a Jarvis, and sold it on iwindsurf.com

The board was very nice, great construction, and performed well. But, it turns out that I just don't like riding twintips. I prefer a small directional or a Mutant.

That was my reason for selling.

The boards are very easy to ride, probably one of the easiest twin tips to adapt to. Most guys can just jump on and go without the usual spin out or slipping and sliding typical of a windsurfer trying his first twin tip.

The construction and durablity are good. They have the Ptex snowboard style bottom.

The only area of weekness in the design (in my opinon) is the amount of wind they need to go. They must have put a lot of rocker in them because of the windy conditions in the Gorge. Again, my opinion. When I tried one, the first thing I did was tell the owner to take some of those fins off, because compared to the boards I ride, it was very slow and lazy to plane. He did take my advice and is much happier with the board.

d is right i did the same and the board was better , i like mine all but the edges ,too sharp, easy to get hurt with such a sharp edge , other then that it great , im thinking about a lighter tt soon maybe a underground??

Yes, I ride the SS skate's frequently. I am happy with them as well. Built tough, great bottoms, nice sharp edge's for mowing down the grass....they are pretty much as described in the above posts. The extra fins seem to help for people just starting on TT's, but alot of people do take them off later.


Just checked iwindsurf. You're right, theirs been some of them on there alright. I have tried contacting a few of them with no reply yet. I have 2 friends who really want one but don't wanna pay the price for a new one. Thnx for the hookup!

Johnny

So if I take the two extra fins on the rail off, will that make the board handle the lulls better?

That's my main problem with the board. It dogs out in the lulls. The board is great when powered up but it has no float to help carry you through light lulls.

Hey Kailuawinds: For the light to medium winds at Kailua, I'd suggest looking at the Cabrinha Prankster which does have some float to it to carry you through the lulls. Especially if you're starting off on a small to medium sized kite. I may be switching to something like that myself.

So again, can someone tell me if taking off the two rail fins will make it more forgiving in light winds?

first try to sandpaper down those sharp edges,and you can change the fins to ones that are thinner,this will make it go faster,try less fins and it will go faster on light winds,,the best is the Drake,or Zeppelin for riders that are lighter.
regards and have fun
Pat

Switching to just 2 fins at each end will help the light performance. Like a wakeboard fin setup.

Float is bad in a kite board. To get through wind lulls and improve light performance, you want extra width, not thickness. Stay away from thick boards. You are not windsurfing. Look at thin wide boards. They have the ability to really get you going in light winds, yet still can edge good when the wind picks up.

Underground in New Zealand, and Roberts in the Gorge, have both built their light wind boards wide and thin and they rock.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Dwight on 2002-08-11 00:40 ]</font>