Kiteforum.com

Hey,

Anyone got any tips for dealing with choppy water on a race board? I am new to riding a race board, I was getting to grips with it on my 2012 Cabrinha but that got stolen and I now have an airush monaro v4 but my first few sessions have been a real struggle.

There isn't really much in the way of flat water where I kite, more often than not its pretty choppy so I don't have much choice than to work it out.

I'm basically getting thrown all over the place, either dropping backwards in to the water or being thrown over the top of my board? I have tried playing about with foot strap position but to be honest I don't really know where to start.

Also when people use the term "drive into the fins" what exactly is the movement you do to achieve this? Is it more heel pressure or pushing more through your toes?

Any tips welcome, i'm totally hooked on riding this board I just want to improve so I can really ride it properly.

Cheers

David

I have a Cabrinha race board 2012 also, could you ride well with the back straps that far in? For me its a real bummer... I know riding with chop is also a bummer happened to me yesterday i was getting like capsized downwind and the board flipping, when i did it it almoast looked like that michael jackson move hhahaha so i went back and grabbed my twin tip and had a blast afterwords so try depowering and streching out so more leverage also maintain a goood angle so u dont explode

Ok guys.

My question to you is: what fins setup do you have ? Cant angle and make?

To me it sounds like you are overpowered and on the wrong setup for your skill level. Cheap crap fins make it really hard to learn to ride a course race board.

I have two sets of fins, the ones that came with my airush board and some chabrinha fins that were a spair set from my old board. The airush ones don't look very well made, the leading and trailing edges are not even straight. Not sure what the cant angle is but the Cabrinha fin have more cant than the others. When I had my other board I was much better, since getting the airush I feel like I have gone back to the start.

Is it easier for a beginner to have more or less can't?

How much do you weigh?

How long are your fins?

Using stock fins from other boards typically is not a good idea.

I weigh about 87kg and the fins I have are 42 front and 38 rear.

Hi,

If it was really winds, the fins are probably too big. In light winds the Fins should be the right size for your weight.

However they might have too much cant for your new Airush board.

A sure sign that they are too big is that the board rails up unexpectedly and you go over the top of it.

Another problem may be that your rear fin is too small compared to your fronts.

The best would be to write to Airush and ask them what Fin Setup they recommend. Alternatively you can always contact Paolo Rista. He will also know what fins will work best with that board as Rolf and Katja are using Ristas. To me they look like they are not using much cant on their fins from the pics from the Africans.

Basically what I am saying is get some good fins. They make a world of difference. Cheap fins just make learning a lot harder than it needs to be.




--
Gunnar

gmb13 wrote:Hi,

If it was really winds, the fins are probably too big. In light winds the Fins should be the right size for your weight.

However they might have too much cant for your new Airush board.

A sure sign that they are too big is that the board rails up unexpectedly and you go over the top of it.

Another problem may be that your rear fin is too small compared to your fronts.

The best would be to write to Airush and ask them what Fin Setup they recommend. Alternatively you can always contact Paolo Rista. He will also know what fins will work best with that board as Rolf and Katja are using Ristas. To me they look like they are not using much cant on their fins from the pics from the Africans.

Basically what I am saying is get some good fins. They make a world of difference. Cheap fins just make learning a lot harder than it needs to be.




--
Gunnar

Great advice. Fins makes a huge difference!!!

Not only size but also the way some fins flex. Low quality plastics will add a spring effect to the board, and it will bounce. It will make the board feel uncontrollable.

On the new Naish board they have added quite a bit of nose rocker to accommodate for riding on a broad reach in monster chop...or actually in any direction in chop.

tautologies wrote:

gmb13 wrote:Hi,

If it was really winds, the fins are probably too big. In light winds the Fins should be the right size for your weight.

However they might have too much cant for your new Airush board.

A sure sign that they are too big is that the board rails up unexpectedly and you go over the top of it.

Another problem may be that your rear fin is too small compared to your fronts.

The best would be to write to Airush and ask them what Fin Setup they recommend. Alternatively you can always contact Paolo Rista. He will also know what fins will work best with that board as Rolf and Katja are using Ristas. To me they look like they are not using much cant on their fins from the pics from the Africans.

Basically what I am saying is get some good fins. They make a world of difference. Cheap fins just make learning a lot harder than it needs to be.




--
Gunnar

Great advice. Fins makes a huge difference!!!

Not only size but also the way some fins flex. Low quality plastics will add a spring effect to the board, and it will bounce. It will make the board feel uncontrollable.

On the new Naish board they have added quite a bit of nose rocker to accommodate for riding on a broad reach in monster chop...or actually in any direction in chop.

What happens if your fins are a good tune up with your board i have ristas but are all dinged up! Hahaha i hit the sand beach once going crazy in downwind another time i banged them going up the stars and dinged them and the last time i hit accidentaly a turtle jybing turtle was ok but left my rear fin super dinged in the middle hahaha

I know this probably sounds crazy, but if your fins are too big can you cut some off the bottom and sand them back to smooth?

I have a 2011 Cab 59cm wide board with quad powerboxes. It came with come pretty tiny fins, I think they are 24cm rear and 26cm front.

I saw a guy was selling a quad powerbox set of Rista fins from a 65 cm wide RRD board, so I took a chance and bought them. They are 33.5 rear and 37.5 front. The board goes upwind much better with the new fins and is good in light winds, but like you said, it rears up out of the water uncontrollably when I get powered.

So do you think I could trace out the shape of the fin, then cut 3 or 4 cms off the bottom of each fin and sand it down to the original shape or would that totally screw them up?