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Chris1973
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Postby Chris1973 » Sat Jun 12, 2010 7:27 am
I have also tried many board combination for light winds and i'll have to admit that the monster door is the earliest planing tool for the job, however, it does feel like riding an aircraft carrier and it turns like one too, absolutely no fun at all.
I almost given up on light wind riding. But, in the last few months i've been useing a 2009 Naish 5.7 global fish and i feel i'm in love again. In combination with my 13.5 Kahoona it makes the 10-13 knots days really fun to ride. For even lighter winds i just remove the two rear fins and i can ride it from almost 8 knots. I use it both strapped and unstrapped and in betwin (i really like to ride it with the front footstrap only).
Now i don't even bother useing my twin tip in anything lower than 17knots.
Yesterday i also did a comparison back to back betwin my 13.5 Kahoona and my friends 17 Zephyr in 9-12 knots of wind. Well all i can say is that after that i have a smile permenatly marked in my face from ear to ear. I lost in the really lower puffs (8-9knots) BUT when the wind hit the 10knots mark my Kahoona over took the Zephyr in speed of sailing, turning, upwind and fun factor. I'm 90kg and the board i used was the 5.7 fish in quad fin configuration with only the front foot strap installed.
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markchatwin
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Postby markchatwin » Sat Jun 12, 2010 12:49 pm
Hi Chris - Yeh all things point to a Fish design for me. Right now I have it narrowed to:
5'10" Xanadu Wave Rocket
5'8" Placebo Uber
5'10" Underground Kipuna Fish (Though noone, even the manufacturer is really recommending it - they all are behind the Kipuna FreeWave)
And now the Naish Global Fish...
Regards to the Zephyr 17 - I hear what your saying but I'm on board that kite for that extra couple knots on the low end. Also when I'm using my Mako King strapless sometimes I need a burst of power to get me thru lulls or wanting to stay upwind. Your Fish is more floaty than the Mako. My Mako, in strapless directional mode, needs power to stay upwind. Back to back with my 13m Rev or my friend's 13.5 Best Kahoona I fall downwind in those low knots. But I agree the difference is relatively small between a 17m and a 13-14m grunty kite...
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markchatwin
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Postby markchatwin » Sat Jun 26, 2010 2:07 pm
I would agree with Monkey Air that the Xanadu Wave Rocket (Fish) rivals a Door. Yesterday I had this board in a 5'8" size and along with my Zephyr 17m stayed neck and neck with my buddy on a Flysurfer Flydoor Large (164 x 46ish) and a Flysurfer Psycho III 17m foil.
He and I are both 5'8"/160lbs, intermediates... The wind was about 10mph/onshore on our lake with decent waves rolling in from earlier heavier wind.
We both stayed upwind just enough to get back to the launch spot but not enough to get really upwind of it. There is a bit of wind shadow near the launch... Going off the other direction we could get going better as the wind became cleaner.
The Wave Rocket has a broad flat bottom and enough rocker in the front to bust thru stuff. We switched boards and he didn't like mine because it was strapless and you could only ride off the fin. He felt more control having straps and the back edge of the FlyDoor. I didn't like his because of the water spray and the occasional wave busting over the board. On the Wave Rocket the few times I peeled off the upwind reach and went down a small wave face I gathered some good speed and actually surfed a little bit. I had more fun on the Xanadu.
But both are session savers and I think this surfboard rivals a Door styled board...
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PBKiteboarding
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Postby PBKiteboarding » Sat Jun 26, 2010 5:05 pm
Nothing beats a big board like a
Aboards Glider 164x50 or Spleene Door for Fun.. and being able to do
tricks and keeping your feet in the straps
But Race boards win upwind and downwind and races..
www.PBKiteboarding.com
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