I am interested in getting into kite-racing – but in no way at a very high competition level. There is no kiteracing anywhere near me at the moment. My plan is to get somewhat competent, then play around with our local catamaran and sport-boat fleets – hoping to interest a few others to jump to the dark side! Then go from there.

As a starting point there are 2011 Cabrinha race boards in my price-range ($500-600), also found a 2011 Sector that is used and a little more but I might be able to find a way to swing it ($700ish).

I am leaning towards the Sector as an easier learning curve and something I’d enjoy using as a general light-wind board, while still having some utility to learn to ride a racing board. This will be my first directional board. My background includes about 6 years in sailboat racing & 2 years of kiteboarding.

Q1 - Are there other good options in this price-range?
Q2 – Will the Sector be usable the way I want or should I bite the bullet and push thru the higher learning curve on the Cabrinha?

I've never ridden a race board, but the Sector is an easier transition to a directional I would think. It is great for light wind, but what really sets it apart from the race boards is that you can ride it on the rail and carve it more like a surfboard. You can learn to flatten it out once you get more comfortable on the board and the fins will generate some lift and it will feel a bit more like a race board. It's a very forgiving board to ride. I sometimes have to work harder to make it go back down wind to the launch as it really gets a great upwind angle without even trying to. For me, it's a better all around board than a dedicated race board. Guys are out there jumping and doing front and back rolls on the Sector; not so much on the race boards. And I have used mine with kites ranging from 15M in sub 10 knot conditions to 20+ knots with a 9M. The sweet spot for me is 12 to 15 knots with my 12M Rebel, though.

For other options, Cabrinha makes the Transport which is more like a Sector than a Race board, and North makes the FreeRace. Never tried either of these boards, though.

I paid less than $700 for mine brand new, and I have seen some used ones locally going for significantly less than that: http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/spo/3187827875.html

I am pretty happy with Naish Venturi (the big one, 190cm). It took me several sessions to understand how to get on it and start riding, but now I can ride comfortably and it does not feel 'technical'. Still can't do tacks and jibes.

Those Cab race boards sucked tho. There is a reason they are that price. I sell Cab and Airush so it is of no advantage to me to bash the Cabs. When something is on closeout price sometimes the company made too many, and sometimes they made too many because they didn't turn out the way they hoped and no one bought them.

- Droffats

I love my 2011 Cabrinha Race Board 183. Maybe that's just because I haven't tried any other race boards though It can't be that bad, it's an exact copy of the Aguera CR59 mass produced by Cabrinha instead of hand built.

I've been riding it for about a year now and can tack and Jibe consistently. Not as much of a learning curve as I thought. Took about 2 sessions to get used to riding the fins. Took a few months before I landed my first tack though. I had very little time on directionals when I started. Kiting 4 years.

Just picked up a used set of Rista fins in the mail now. Can't wait to try them out!

In the price range I'd say perhaps a used race board if you can find one. I'd say your pick is pretty much dead on.
I've not yet tried Cab, but there are several of them around and watching them, my gut feel is that you'll see improved upwind performance compared to Sector 60 V2.
Having said that, your skills will determine your performance for a quite a while:
In this video you can see a very good kiter (green cabrinha) on Sector V2 go faster and better upwind than the rest of the fleet - a mixture of Sectors, newest race boards and at least one Cab. I'm able to cross his bow only because he had to duck to avoid another kiter on North 69LTD.
In this one he clearly outsails a kiter on Augera CR69HW (yellow kite), faster and better angle.
My take on this is that if you gonna ride on rougher/choppier water, benefits of Cab's better lift may not show if you can ride Sector easier/better. Very flat water will benefit better performing board.
Racing against cats will be hard due to worse upwind performance of Sector. At least that what I have seen sailing side by side Nacra cats on very flat water. Again in the chop it might be different.

If racing and learning quirks of racing boards is the prime consideration and you don't care to use the board in small surf, than I'd be tempted to get Cab. Otherwise Sector is simply soooo much more versatile that it is an obvious choice.

I've been looking for a used 69 cm board to come on the market, but I haven't really seen any. I'm guessing:
1. Most people try to sell their old boards locally to avoid the hassel of shipping giant boards and to build the local fleet.
2. The disasters with the 2012 boards from North and Royal posted here probably stopped people from upgrading to 2012 boards, so they are holding on to their 69 cm boards from 2011.

There were some Royal boards for sale, but after the recent posts about royal, there's no way I would buy one from someone across the country from pictures alone.

Hey thanks so much for the info.
Sounds like I will take a little time & look for a 2011 Sector 60V2. We have lots of chop in the bay where we normally sail & ride - and I think I'll be happier with a little more forgiving board. There seems to be plenty for me to sort out before I'll really benefit from a more high performance board I think.

Mike

You should never buy a Sandwich board from Pictures alone, especially if you don't know if the previous owner took care of it properly. A lot of kiters do not maintain their Raceboards well. Especially a lot of them do not open the screw to vent the boards when the board is cooking on the beach causing the boards to delam quite quickly.

Saying that. I will be selling my 2012 Royal Stealth Pro in mid Sept. So If any one is interested drop me a P.M. The board has survived a full seasons training and competing and is still going strong and has never shown the problems that the other boards from Royal have shown.

--
Gunnar