A couple of years ago I had the good fortune to pick up a small (4'10" x 18" - 147cm x 45cm) Rogue Wave surf board built by veteran Canadian shaper Lee Brittain. Since that time I have used no other board, because this one board does everything so well - it planes up in around 10 kts yet is comfortable to use in heavy winds, it rides fast & smooth, tracks hard upwind, gybes beautifully, turns on a wave, & is great to jump with.

One of the things that makes this board so fun & versatile is that it has the option to use 3 straps. Since the big revival of directional board riding in the last couple of years, a lot of kiters have picked up surfboards. Invariably they come with a 2 strap option, mounted along the center-line. In my experience, this is a configuration that is not very comfortable for general riding. Partly for this reason, many kiters have adopted strapless riding. Strapless makes sense when you're actually in decent surf, but for all around riding, & obviously for jumping, it has limitations.

When riding my small directional, I generally only have my front foot in the strap & put my back foot in the back strap only to jump. This riding position is very comfortable & allows the rider to achieve great power & control over the board in straight-line riding & turning. The down-side is that in down-the-line riding, the stance is less than ideal, because the rear strap is where the back foot would ideally be. However, I only see that as a significant issue in "real" surf - in smaller, mushy, onshore surf it works well enough. The compensation is that you have a fully jumpable board.

I see my board as the perfect all-around "free-ride" design - great for general riding, surfing & jumping. It is a kind of updated version of the small directionals that were briefly popular before the TTs arrived on the scene & took over. I am very surprised that this kind of board with a 3 strap option has not been adopted by more board designers & kiters.

Looks a bit like ...



Do you think he was on to something back then?

... and all you've done is make me lust after something like that all over again

if you are just going to cruise around in flat water and choppy water 3 straps are probably fine

to race 4 straps will probably be faster if you know how to ride a race board

on a wave 2(or 0) straps will probably be better so you can get your front foot across the midline of the board to make the toe side turn effectively. you don't see surfers riding the outside edge of the board for this same reason, makes the turn to one side harder not better. ride it without straps on waves for a while and see where your feet end up...

Combining the comfort of a 3 strap setup with the weight distribution of a two strap setup is the rotating footstrap setup.

http://www.sportsgear-solutions.com/

/Marc

Hey Flyboy, that's my old board!

2nd directional Lee made for me, we built that one super short to make it better for travel.

Glad you're enjoying the board.


Matt

No set-up is perfect for everything. 3 straps does not really put you on the "outside edge", but yes, on the wave you want a more weight-forward-on-the-centerline-of-the-board position. On the other hand, for general riding you want the front foot at an angle to brace against the pull of the kite. If you're in an area that consistently has good waves, a strapless surfboard has a lot to recommend it. However, strapless means giving up the ability to send the kite & JUMP, which I think is a poor trade-off, unless you have good wave conditions. 2 straps is OK for down-the-line, but not very comfortable (IMO) for general riding & jumping.

The other factor is the size of the board - the smaller dimensions make it more maneuverable & much better for jumping than a bigger, 2-strapped surfboard &, in my experience, you give up almost nothing in low-wind performance - it is, after all, still a pretty big board compared to the average TT.

In the end, I don't really feel this kind of board is a substitute for a full-on surfboard - I feel it's a substitute for a TT. For me, directional riding is just more elegant, efficient, interesting & fun than TT riding.



Thanks Matt!