BOW USERS -INPUT ON FUTURE BOARD DESIGN

[ronnie]

Lastly it has always puzzled me why kite board fins are always mounted perfectly 90 degrees to the board. That is the fin is mounted flat to the board. For me it is an obvious performance upgrade to cant the fin out, nothing extreme, just a bit.

D'light in Tenerife were canting their fins on thier custom directionals at least as far back as year 2000.

[Klaus (c:E]

Hai,

I use the depower to extend the range of my narrowest and smallest boards when i´m on full depower kites.
136 x 31 cm is great fun with FDKites as well as 119 x 33,1 cm.

Sea You: Klaus (c:E

[Phillipp]

I noticed that skimboards have become more popular with bow riders. Given the power is easier to manage with bows, skimboarding actually becomes much easier to learn...

p

[DrLightWind]

Here is my new Light Wind Speed Bow Board.
Size: 142 X 38
Weight: 4.5 LBS (2 Kg)
Custom made by: Dereck / http://www.dcboardz.com/

It's directional and already I had a 2 Hrs session on it yesterday.
I was able to hold ground in 8 to 9 knot on a 12m X-Bow.
So as on one of my friend's 16m Waroo in the same winds,
just by locking in and go with my 130 lbs (60kg) weight.
I noticed it right away it goes up-wind much better than a skin board.
Unexpectedly with a pleasant surprise it goes tail first also
and edges very good.

DrLightWind

[Darktanyan]

Great thread! Makes sense to me, if less edging is required, then boards can be wider and/or flatter.

[4T]

Bullshit bullshit bullshit.

There's no such thing as a bow board. Kites make line tension, that's it. It doesn't matter what's on the end of the kite lines, a c-kite or a bow.

You use a board suited to you weight, skill, and the power you hold down. you can't design a board for bows, its nonsense!

annoyed.
KF

you're not a bow user, are you?
it does make a huge difference what is at the other end of the line.

the whole principle how you react to gusts on a bow is fundamentally different than a C-kite.

on a C you have to edge harder to control the increased power from a gust not to lose your edge. the harder edging actually increases your drag.

on a bow you sheet out when a gust hits and you only have to handle as much power as you like during, before and after the gust [within the low and topend restrictions of the kite of course]. you can keep a constant edge or if you like you can even slightly bear away and speed up. no problem carving upwind again at anytime as you can just sheet out to reduce the power from the kite.
sheeting out in the gust also keeps the kite very far forward in the window so the pull is directed as much as possible into the direction you are going.

if you ride your bow like a C always sheeted in or against a lowly set stopper, of course you will have the same restrictions as a C kite rider.
open your mind for a differnt riding style. if you don't like it, fine.
but don't say they are the same because you don't want to understand or try.

cheers
boogie

[Nico]

Three types of boards are required to cover all kinds of riding.
Limousine = flat water cruising
surfboard = waves
twintip = flat water shredding
with the right kite for you (style and taste) these three will keep you going forever

MO
Nico

[KiteGlider]

Ultimate Bow board:

No rocker (except for scoop ends), no fins,
(this one is arex core, bamboo veneer, glass, epoxy lamination)


The concave bottom section intersects the scoop at the corners creating a fin like shape at each corner, although it's flat enough to ride up the beach shorebreak like a skim board.

Upwind performance is hard to beat.

Only problem is lack of stability on downwind speed runs, takes concentration, not easy.

[gbgreen59]

If you go back and look at the dimensions of boards over the last few years, you will see a trend toward wider and flatter boards. This trend was there before bows/SLE. Concave bottoms really help hold down a C kite. I'm wondering if the concave will change based on C-kites.

Another thought...as several have said, you still need to load and pop to do big tricks. To me, this will keep the need for concave and other c kitish features alive.

[reinis]

If you go back and look at the dimensions of boards over the last few years, you will see a trend toward wider and flatter boards. This trend was there before bows/SLE. Concave bottoms really help hold down a C kite. I'm wondering if the concave will change based on C-kites.

Another thought...as several have said, you still need to load and pop to do big tricks. To me, this will keep the need for concave and other c kitish features alive.

as far as i understand, the only moment concave plays any role is when you go directly downwind. speeds up the board quicker because of sucking in air between board and water

actually concave is more of a marketing trick. but a good one