Hi,

I'm getting a good price on this second hand 5'10 epoxy Southpoint fish (twinfin), check:

http://www.southpointepoxy.com/index.php?cccpage=logreco510

Currently riding a BIC 6'7 shortboard and looking for a more smaller, looser and more lightweight board. How would this one perform you think? Any experiences with kiting fish boards?

Quiver: 9m and 7m rippEHr
Weight: 65 kg
Conditions: North sea windchop, mostly 4-6bft (16-25knots)

Thanks for the advice!
Grtz

As a light wind, small wave board it will probably be a blast.

At your weight you will probably want something a lot smaller once it's up over 20 knots. Something like a standard 6'0-6'1 shortboard.

5'7 is probably plenty of foam.

you reckon it would be an upgrade compared to the bic 6'7 i'm riding right now?

grzt

theres no doubt its gonna feel a lot shorter, but its probably about the same width. At 65 kg a 5'7 in this style board makes sense to me. I would imagine you find a 6'7 of almost any shape pretty big. Its a bic... is it plastic or glass? Either way the fish is epoxy and will be lighter and feel skatey/quick in comparison. Will definitely take a session or two to get used to. I'm 83 kg and ride a 5'8 modern fish as my big board. 10m is my biggest kite. You might find the 5'10 a bit bouncy in chop. That kind of board with a fair bit of foam for its length is really fun when you are on a relatively small kite. They can get you out on your smaller kite pretty early.

careful, some epoxy boards cave in real easy. I think southpoint are not too bad - not 100% sure - but my 7s epoxy fish was just a joke when it came to compressive strength - ie huge heel dings after one session.

Epoxy boards are way stronger against heeldents, than polyester.

You have gotten a lousy board if they "cave in"

Bad construction, bad handwork if handwork, bad materials !

Epoxy is in every way superior over polyester boards.

Stronger, lighter, less dents, no cracks and no dings, not fragile, not soft, you can repair it easily yourself and much more adhesive.


Some say that polyester has a better flex response or pattern
I dont believe that - but I believe that those who have worked with polyester most of their life - they know how to make a really good flex pattern in their boards, and if they continue to work with (sell) polyester boards they will of course defend this.
And "good flex pattern" is such a good thing to claim is "better", as it is an incredibly individual thing, as both the flex pattern and response is not a thing that can be measured and put in numbers easily - but more about how it feels
So can not be contradicted (nor the opposite) - but simply what YOU feel.
Flex pattern is basically dependant on the way your board is designed (thickness, tapering, inserts, materials etc etc).

The advantage of polyester as a resin (besides being cheaper), is that it cures extremely fast, so one can make a lot of boards in a short time - so test, change/build, test, change/build can be done really fast - which is an advantage for a few making their own boards or for a pro rider for a specific contest or situation.

But besides that (not important for most of us), epoxy is by far the better choice IMO.

Not saying polyester boards dont work - they are fine.
But I would definitely choose epoxy if I got the choice
-----------------

Regarding your heeldents:

You need some reinforcement under your heels, besides the top layer glass and resin (resin = glue = epoxy or polyester) - if you want to avoid heel dents.
It could be a thicker layer of glass in this area, or carbon, or balsa or wood laminates, or similar.

So if you got heel dents in your epoxy board - it is not because of the epoxy itself (well, yes, if they got it wrong of course), but because of a bad construction or work

Peter

Hi,

I ride a very similar Retro Fish 5.10.

For light winds and clean running Waves up to 2m its great. Upwind performance is one of the best things about retro fish boards.

Downside is the turning radius. Even with the fins really dialed, they still turn pretty slow. So getting nice snappy bottom turns is not really easy (its doable, but not easy).

You also have to ride it a bit differently than a normal Shortboard. Basically you need to steer it a lot more with your back foot than you would a shortbread.

Nevertheless its a great board for marginal conditions and to really learn to ride wave without using the kites power. I for the north sea it will be great for those small wind waves that everyone else will be SUPing on.

--
Gunnar

resin8, 7s and other surf brands- they just don't have a decent enough sandwich layer for kiting. If u get a custom made either vacuum bag the deck up with at least wood venir or 2mm pvc 100kg foam before glassing it. Best thing is the highest density eps core you can buy with a really good wood venir vacuumed on before glassing. You can make sandwich boards with polyester resin too as long as you don't use eps core (epoxy melts it) or have the eps touching the polyester resin at any stage.

i still love my 7s superfish tho - catches waves like a longboard and it is a shortboard.

Not so sure you should paint all epoxies with that same brush!

Have a resin8 that is holding up extremely well to untempered kite use with plenty of stapless airs and bouncy chop. No comparison to a poly board.

Two years on it now and its in great shape. Would be even better if I could keep from losing it on the rocks every now and again!

The light weight is one of the major reasons its so fun to ride. I'd never consider glassing anything over top until it breaks. Boards dont last forever. This one looks like it has a few more years in it, and that would be fantastic for the abuse it takes. There are some mild depressions in the deck by now, but they are pretty minor by heel dent standards. Couldn't be happier with it. Too bad they dont make em any more. Good luck finding something as tough... not easy.