I'm pretty much a surfboard guy but occasionally like to get out and jump. Right now for my TT I have a Mako King and the landings are hard on my knees. i.e. older guy with scoped knees syndrome... I'd like to be able to get out past my shore break and ride through chop and jump high off of waves and rollers (inland lake sailing). I think I need a little length (or width) for stability.

A board that I have recently tried and liked was the Crazyfly Raptor Pro (Carbon fiber). I just loved it's lightness and feel. Don't know if it's the ultimate jumper though which is why I'd like to know if there's any other contenders - thanks...

Fifty 50 ..wood core is important.. my 2nd one, I swear by it.

EZ iest on knees.....strapped surfboards for jumping.........like landing of a fluffy cloud

You plane right out of jumps...heelside...toeside...land tail first..let the fins do the work for you

... don't mean to be rude but - you sure it's not your technique?

something with a lot of rocker will absorb hard landings better, but wont jump as well because they are slower through the water.. but if your knees are really that bad maybe boosting high is not what you should be doing

I wonder what type of pads your Mako board has .... They make a lot of difference for ( us ) old folks .


Also when landing .... pull the front foot a bit higher / or push your back one lower so you don´t land " flat " with the board.

Saludos

I'd say there's no other board I'd rather not land anything on than the Makos....reverse camber = good for carving (? some say) but lousy for landings.

Definitely its going to be a bit about technique, and you're not going to land everything butter smooth, but if I was to recommend a really soft landing board I'd point you towards the Hadlow Freestyle.

You're probably going to find that unless you're taking really gnarly torquey crashes where you hang up a tip or tail and tweak your knees, or big slamming out of control elevator drops where you forget to whip the kite back over again, that just riding through chop is going to be most unpleasant and knee-racking part of riding!

So in summation : technique, big rocker, flexy board, and moving to Brazil! ha!

While it's definitely my technique that makes some landings hard I also have some good jumps where the landings are hard. When I've had good jumps on the Crazyfly Raptor the landings are very soft comparatively. So I'm looking for other contenders for softer landings.


It's amazing that I can be so specific in my post and 5 guys (one via PM) can offer sound board ideas but 2 guys pull the "it's your technique" and the "maybe you should not be doing it card"... If that be the case Kamikuza then all you guys with "great technique" wouldn't care what board you were on for jumping. But you do. I'm sure your jumping board is not the Mako King at 165x45 with no flex, little rocker and 18mm of concave... There is truth to what you offered but are you advocating I stick with the Mako King for jumping and work on my technique? Working on technique applies to every facet of kiteboarding but still there is certain equipment that is more suited for a certain technique...

And Dyyylan - what are you "My Mommy"? Read the post man, I'm older with 2 scoped knees and want a softer landing board. They're not reconstructed or made out of ceramic. You may be too young to know what "scoped" knees are but usually this means meniscus trimmed, rough edges smoothed. That post was just ridiculous, well the part about "maybe I shouldn't be doing that". I'm proud of the fact that I can jump and surf at 50 years old with 2 scoped knees. Not like you of course but I have just as much fun. I just want some gear recs to make life a little more comfy.

Anyhow thanks for the responses that related to the post!

Mark, I had a 140 Mako and a Mako King. I got rid of them largely because the landings can be so hard, particularly the King. If the jump is a little to hot and hard, the board can't absorb the shock because there is no flex. To be fair, the King is not meant for jumping, but I couldn't keep from jumping with it anyway. Most regular twins will land better than the Makos, I am currently riding a Cab Caliber and my sensitive knees are just fine. I think the most recommended board on the forum these days for what you are looking for though, is the Shinn Monk but I haven't had the chance to ride it. It used to be that the Mako was the best board in the chop, but I would have to agree that a lot of other boards have caught up.

K

My knees are fine ; it's the prosthetics i keep breaking if i land wrong , and i got
two of them so i very rarely ever go over 10ft high or the bill could go into the $30-40K range
if i broke both of them, and i would have to quit kiting if that ever happens.

Both these guys kinda nailed it for me, i also land with the tail of the board Lower than
the frount, and let the board squirt the energy off slowly. The other benefit is that you now
have a bit more control on landing what would have bin an over-rotation --- by sheeting Out just before touchdown and the fins
will straighten you out to the desired heading.

This thread had some good tips for landing "Under" the kite to make the landing softer :
Tips for Jumping
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2377637






Bille