Kiteforum.com

i have been messing around with the race boards and have ridden the thruster and quad, i have found the thruster to be a little more stable while reaching and downwind but the problem is the rocking of the board.

i come from a sailing and windsurfing background so i have a good idea about rtacing but im struggling with eitherthe technique or the equipment! any tips? i have no problems with tacking and the jibes are coming together after 2 practice sessions.

i was also thinking about a single fin board instead of the multiple fins, anyone already tried this?

just think of what you are missing on your kiteraceboard , what you had on your windsurf board...:

Yezz a mastfoot....which you put your weight on to stabilize it, ....this is what you do not have on your single fin or thrusterfin kiteraceboard...this is where the 2 front fins come in , to stabilise and to tack high upwind...the thruster will improve in time I think , but I fear that the Quad and Tri fins will be carried for a long time under different wind and water conditions..

Single fins ..I think you will need complete different boards, I am thinking on deep concave from nose till rearend where the deepest concaves will be the area under the front footstraps lets say you devide the lenth of the board in 4 pieces you have 1/4 nose 1 /4 rear end and the middle 2/4 will have the deepest concave with sharp edged sides..the rear end going into a flattened V...

This center sharp sides might be the way to get rid of the 2 front fins, and just keeping one deep rear middle fin...
Now start the debate

Dude

pro merc wrote:i have been messing around with the race boards and have ridden the thruster and quad, i have found the thruster to be a little more stable while reaching and downwind but the problem is the rocking of the board.

i come from a sailing and windsurfing background so i have a good idea about rtacing but im struggling with eitherthe technique or the equipment! any tips? i have no problems with tacking and the jibes are coming together after 2 practice sessions.

i was also thinking about a single fin board instead of the multiple fins, anyone already tried this?

The hydrofoil racers could be considered single fin so I think there are possibilities, but maybe the fin would be a whole new design, with ability to balance fore and aft. Maybe some kind of slot fin.

Don't know about race, but I tried a single fin surfboard 6 or 7' as part of first lessons years ago.
It was awful -as soon as I got on a thruster, it was obviously better, in feel, tracking, etc.
Race board is such a different shape though...
I think the problem is with one fin the sensitivity to trim would be huge and with the fin loaded, change in trim from chop, etc, might spin you out or dump you before you could adjust. Racing windsurferes can be "twitchy" this way, but it is manageable because of the inertia and long lever arm between the fin and the mast -as pointed out above, kiters don't have this advantage ( just others )...
But try it if you like, maybe there is a way, with a different design!

thanks for the reply guys!

are there any site out there with raceboard tecnique write ups?