markchatwin wrote:I have the King, had the 140, and am way into the surf side of the sport now. There is no substitute for a real surfboard IMO.
The 140 was a good jumping/chop board for me but required a lot of kite power and was too small to "surf". So I got the King. Right off the bat I noticed great planability in TT mode. In Mutant it was not "right". It had a lot of drag on the tail and required much more kite power to get it going. Also the back foot placement was too far forward of the 3 back fins. So turning wasn't "surf" like.
Then I tried the King strapless with the deck pad and it was way better but hard to gybe on, but doable. Also kind of small as a "surfboard". I went back to TT mode and that board is my GO TO for crazy shore break and rough conditions when you want to be strapped in. It also has a good "lightwindability" when in TT mode. Surfing is better than smaller TT's but still the stance (TT) is not right for surfing.
The King also is a great one board quiver for traveling since it's every kind of board. No one thing is great but it does it all. Even jumps OK.
A true surfboard with straps is my vote for you. Like the North Whip/Epic 5'7"/Cabrinha Skillet. These are slightly larger to allow good flotation. Once you ride a wave with a surfboard nothing else will cut it for me...
Can only agree with Mark !
Also - I dont understand the phrase "you dont want to worry about gybing" ?
It is really easy when you can do it - just like riding a bicycle - the easiest thing, when you CAN.
And apart from that, really fun too.
It seems that the few surf hybrids has lost their appeal, the last years...
Understandable why they at first look so "easy" yes, but experience has shown that most dont like these in the long run, as they are not TT's nor Waveboards
Just my experience and what I see others experience
Peter