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Flat rocker on twin tip like the monster door. Flat rocker on surfboard w some concave. Most true surfboards have way too much rocker for me. You need to go over Niagra Falls to get on a plane. Lighter riders can get away w more rocker.

14ToeSide wrote:Most true surfboards have way too much rocker for me. You need to go over Niagra Falls to get on a plane. Lighter riders can get away w more rocker.

Agreed, it makes them ride really nice but you need more power to get on a plane than a wakestyle board. I always wondered why people said surfboards are better for light wind until I got a flatter board.

I find this guide pretty accurate:

http://www.juicekiteboarding.com/buy.html

I have come to realize that most people have no clue about this subject. I finally learned that most people really need a medium to large board for their weight. I'm 175-180lbs and I ride 135-140ish boards and prefer them to be a little wider at least 42cm. Width has more of an effect on light wind performance than length. For high winds it's better to get a smaller kite than a smaller board if you are having trouble with going upwind and being overpowered.

I buy whatever I like or make my own board. Size doesn't really tell you much. I have a liquid force concept Mauricio Abreu 135, and a Jaime 132, they look to the eyeball almost identical, but the concept is super hard, no flex, it beats up your knees, also it has an exteme amount of rocker so it's like you are driving a dump truck, and the amount of rocker acts the opposite of how you would expect, you think it would give you more pop but it gives you less pop because it's impossible to get decent speed. The Jaime by contrast has just the right amount of flex not so much that it bends when you are cruising and slows you down, but enough that it doesn't wreck your knees, it has just enough rocker, and builds up speed easily, drives upwind easily, then after it starts planing fast you can lean just on a tiny bit of the edge and really get cranking so you can build up a ton of speed an pop hard (I'm running small fins on it). The only time I use the concept is if it is blowing 50mph and want to plow through the water like a bulldozer for control. But to the eye they look identical. I love the jaime so much, my favorite board, no affiliation to north, I don't ride any of their kites, but I really like this board. I've demoed a bunch of other boards, every one is different, the specs on width and length don't tell you that much.

edt wrote:I buy whatever I like or make my own board. Size doesn't really tell you much. I have a liquid force concept Mauricio Abreu 135, and a Jaime 132, they look to the eyeball almost identical, but the concept is super hard, no flex, it beats up your knees, also it has an exteme amount of rocker so it's like you are driving a dump truck, and the amount of rocker acts the opposite of how you would expect, you think it would give you more pop but it gives you less pop because it's impossible to get decent speed. The Jaime by contrast has just the right amount of flex not so much that it bends when you are cruising and slows you down, but enough that it doesn't wreck your knees, it has just enough rocker, and builds up speed easily, drives upwind easily, then after it starts planing fast you can lean just on a tiny bit of the edge and really get cranking so you can build up a ton of speed an pop hard (I'm running small fins on it). The only time I use the concept is if it is blowing 50mph and want to plow through the water like a bulldozer for control. But to the eye they look identical. I love the jaime so much, my favorite board, no affiliation to north, I don't ride any of their kites, but I really like this board. I've demoed a bunch of other boards, every one is different, the specs on width and length don't tell you that much.

Yeah I've got the 128 x 38 jaime and it's a world of difference from my recoil 133 x 40 (which i've since sold). Both are 09 boards and what's surprising is that I can go in as light of wind with the jaime. The diff in the flex of those boards is amazing... the recoil was very stiff compared to the jaime. I'd like to get a smaller jaime if they made them.

Someone told me if the shape of the board and rails is right then the flex and fin size doesn't really matter. So who the hell knows what's up or down