Surfboard for Kitesurf and Surf (Hybrid)? Does it exist?

[Kitegarten]

Hi,
I have been searching the internet and forums and cannot find a clear answer. I am looking to find a surfboard style board to use it as hybrid for Surfing as well as Kitesurfing in the Waves. I believe it must have straps which can be detached and leave some plain area behind. Does anybody know if somebody is already offering something for both purposes...
Thanks

[Starsky]

Probably one of the more common questions these days. Using the search function with a few relevant terms should give you some info.

Also a pretty open ended question. In a word, yes. There are a many riders, at the higher end who use the same boards with and without a kite. Josh Mulcoy, Flelix pivec, well lets just say the list is pretty long and gets longer every day. But if you were in that league you wouldn't be asking the question. As you move down the spectrum with respect to surfing ability it gets tougher and tougher to make one board work for both. There are a few exceptions.

Things people need to know in order to help:

Most importantly, what is your ability. If your a good surfer and new to kiting, your in luck. Give people an idea of the conditions your looking to use the board in and someone will give you pointers. If your new to surfing but can kite, your gonna have a hard time finding a suitable board. With a kite you can get away with a pretty small board, generally pretty frustrating and futile to learn to surf on.

Secondly, what are the usual conditions your looking to ride/surf in.

Thirdly, if your planning on using the board as a light wind board with a kite, your generally counting out the boards designed for bigger waves.

Eg. Myself: Not a bad kiter that has fun in most OBX ocean side conditions. Sporadic surf experience around the globe back to the age of 10. At one point a decent competitive swimmer, so more paddling skill than surfing skill. Currently live in the Great Lakes, where we get small mushy gutless surf up to 4 foot, sometimes bigger with big wind.

For me a fast, low rocker modern fish works great for both. Its nice and short at 5'8" so fun with a kite. Its flat and wide so its works as a light wind whale watcher and makes the most out of Great Lakes waves on all but our most nukin days. I only really surf on average one trip a year these days but can still fake it paddling enough to have some fun and get a few decent rides with it.

[Kitegarten]

Thanks for the great reply. Yes, I am certainly not in their league. I am a decent freestyle kiteboarder, snowboarder, ex-windsurfer and just tried surfing the first time a few weeks ago. Managed to stand-up on the longboard and figured that I am horrible in paddling into the wave. My sponts are along the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. We have very strong wave all year long with some spots which have artificial barriers, which make the access a little easier. In the first years it was impossible for us to kiteboard in these conditions, because the wind is if existent at around 8 to 12 knots with a 4 feet wave 100% ONshore. The waves are great for experienced surfers, but being a beginner it costs a lot.
Therefore I would wonder if there are any kind of boards with straps for my kitesurfing and yes a little bigger would be good...
If anybody got any other recommendations, happy to hear about.
Greetings
Kitegarten

[Starsky]

If you have big surf where you ride you probably going to want a standard shortboard shape with three fin set up and some rocker to it. Not an easy board to learn to surf on especially if you found padding a bigger board a challenge. Sounds like your going to be better off with two different boards for a while. I bet you can find a second hand bigger surfboard for pretty cheap. You dont have to worry about strength much as your not kiting it, and spend your money on a strong built kite surfboard with straps. something like this will work nicely, but there are plenty of other options.

http://oceanrodeo.com/kiting/surf-series-511-board

Firewire or any of the other big kite brands have kite built standard shortboards that will do nicely. Talk to a shop and they can give you some advice on sizing.