I am 110kg and starting strapless on an old surfboard. I want to get a board like a whip or similar but most reviewers are in the 70-80kg weight range and I am thinking that an extra 30-40kg is gonna make a difference. Any heavy riders out there got any advice

I have been trying quote: Bigger boards for a few years that are manufactured kite/surfboards. When you have shore break, lots of Drift, oh yea, did I mention DRIFT? I can't make the SMALL kite bigger board work to get out. I weigh 240 lbs. I need the SAME juice/size kite that I do on TT. As for the board, I finally went custom and had John Amundson make me two boards. 20 and 23 inches wide. They are THE Boards for me. When the wind picks up over 20, then I can ride some of the production Boards again with a Kite that is the correct size for me and GREAT Depower so I can Surf the wave with NO power in he kite. At least that's what I'm told to do. So for me, it's BOLLOCKS to say: yahoo I can take a 10M out because I'm on a Surfboard when I should be on a 14M. In the Clydesdale Division, we cant go by Popcorn Fart weight advice.

My 4 cents.

It depends on what waves and how you like to ride. Going long isn't always the answer...a little wider can definitely be one way to go.

Check out the Naish fish? It is super wide...not any longer, and it still had kind of a pulled in tail. I've not put straps on mine yet....and I've mostly ridden it strapless. Super fun for very light days for me up to shoulder high waves. I bet you'll make this work well. I'm 85kg.

Changing fins and fin configs will completely change the feel of the board.

thanks to all who gave advice, so nice to hear from people all over the world. food for thought for sure.

i don't think you need a huge board to actually ride the wave. it depends more on matching the conditions. i'm about 210 lbs, and have a Firewire 6'8"*22" standard surfboard and a JImmy Lewis 6'*20" KT (kitesurf board). I can surf a wave on either while kiting, but it more comes down to my kite. if i'm overpowered, the chances of really surfing the wave diminishes greatly, regardless of which board i'm on. if i'm a bit underpowered, i find once i'm on the wave, i can surf it and the kite itself sort of disappears. so just like with a TT, you need to match your board and your kite sizes with the wind/wave conditions. better surf kiters than me can probably deal with being overpowered better than me.

i'll say one thing though, as a bigger guy you should not get a smaller/thinner gun type board unless you know you're going to be in nuking conditions all the time. i did that initially and it set me back a few years on getting into the whole surfboard/kiting thing. the whole 'go smaller' push seems to be more about image than anything.

Hi Joe

I'm 110kg and I use surfboards rather than kite boarding company directionals.

I ride Aviso boards that are hollow carbon fiber replicas of surfboard shapes
(that pay royalties to the original designers).

They are great for big riders because they are light and have a very efficient
flex pattern. They are very ridgid from tip to tail in the rails, but have loads of flex along the centerline.
This absorbs chop and gives you a recoil effect in the bottom turns.

The Don Johnston 6'8" mini gun would be a great board for you.
It is a quad concave with moderate but effective rear rocker.
It is best suited to riding strapless due to the mini gun shape... narrowish tail.
You do need to move around the board and it likes to be ridden on a forward stance.
It goes upwind like crazy.

http://www.avisosurf.com/DJ6-8.html

I also highly recommend scimitar fins by Future Fins.
http://www.thesurfboardwarehouse.com/p- ... mitar.aspx

I have lent this board to several heavy riders and they instantly love it.
It's easy to ride, has loads of flotation, but just needs to be ridden with your weight more forward
and very far forward for the best upwind performance.

With this board I am often out with the same sized kite as people way lighter than me.

My absolute favorite is the Doc Lausch 6'1"
It is a bit more technical to ride for a heavy guy, but it is really fast and efficient.
You just have to really move your weight around well.
This board has a slightly elongated flat central section that gives it speed and low end, however it has quite a pronounced tail rocker. If you don't distribute your weight well the tail rocker will slow you down. The Scimitar fins really work on this board too. Huge difference.

Regarding the Scimitar fins they come in a set of three. Just use the two outer fins. The middle fin is a wierd shape and I don't like it at all. I just use a more standard middle fin or just no middle fin depending
on what I want to do.

Regarding the Aviso boards... they are very expensive new, but I often find them used in mint condition for really good prices. Even as low as $ 350.

Keep in mind they are not board to use for big jumps with bad landings, especially if you use straps. I cracked a couple when using them with straps. Since I have gone 100% strapless no problems at all. I also like the idea of using a board that will give in before I blow out a knee, ankle or whatever.

One time I fell on an overhead wave and my board was thrown at me and hit me right on the knee.
It pushed be against the sand under the water and caved in against my knee. I'm convinced this saved my knee and it only took about 1 hour of work to patch up the board. These boards are actually very easy to repair. They are also way more ding resistant than any other directional kiteboard or surf board.

Thank-you fredbgg lots of great info its great to know that people you have never even met are prepared to sit down and give their opinions and advice,wish I was in malibu!! I`m in devon england if anyone finds themselves over here I will tell you the best places to kite,luv joe

I'm a 100kg and agree with a lot of what's said here.

There are a lot of factors that go into choosing the right board. You need to take a serious look at where you will be ridding this board ,what the conditions will be, and approach what it the right board for you. Things to consider are the wind speed, wave size, shape, and how you are going to ride the wave. Then look at what surf shapes work best in those conditions and go from there. Also keep in mind when looking at surfboards that the suggested sizes are taking into consideration paddling which we don not need to do so we can get away with less volume.

I have found that I don't need a huge board to surf the waves as the kite has the speed to get me going and into the wave. I currently use a Firewire Dominator 5'8 and it works great in the lightwind onshore mushy conditions I ride the majority of time. I also have a Webber Fatburner 6'3 in SLX epoxy that works well in those conditions also. Lately I have been looking for a board with more performance in larger surf with side on wind and ordered a custom from a local shaper who did some surfboards for me and is also a kiter.

FredBGG brings up an interesting point about fins. Lately I have been trying different fins on my boards and the difference they can make is shockingly huge. Some have made the boards dull and dead and others really wake them up. I've found that I need to stay in Med size range to get the best combination of drag and bite. So while a board may feel like a dude to you all it may need is an adjustment in fins to wake it up.

I have a Slingshot Celeritas 5"11 at a reasonable price. brand new. board is 20" wide will carry you around no worries. I'm not 110 but i am over 90kgs. board is too big for me so should suit you just perfect.