Hi

Please give some feedback about surfboard sizes.
My weight is 80 kgs (175p).
I ride straped, and i would like to have an all condition board.
I like to ride both ways powered or not depending on conditions.
BTW i will ride high depower kites.

Thank's in advance

It all depends what you are looking for...
There are many different things to consider.. You can go with a smaller size like a 5'8" or less, quite narrow, and that would give you good bite and power carving ability, but you will have to use the power of the kite more because of the smaller size.. you will have to use your kite like if you were using a twintip.... if you come off the power too soon you will slow down.. so basically, it may have a wind range close to a larger twin tip...
When I was doing my development for my kite surfboards, the feedback I got from my riders was they want more of a surf feel... More glide, and less plowing the water when riding.... So that got the boards a little bigger and wider.... 6' to 6' 2" range and about 18-19.5" wide....at first it takes a little more skill to handle, because you will proberbly over use the kite and feel like you are being pulled off your edge, but after a while you will either use a kite size smaller or learn to fly the kite less aggressive in the power zone... That way you get more of a surfing feel, you are carving using the board and not using the power of the kite pulling you around. From the feedback I have gotten from my customers, if you have a surfing background you get used to a bigger board sooner and really enjoy it.... also very usefull in light winds because of the bigger size.... ( and you can also reide strapless in light wind for fun) If you have come from a wake backgroung it takes a little to get used to this sort of free riding and gliding and carving, and not plowing under huge power... So the choice is yours...
I personally feel that most of the production surfboards offered today run a little too small, they cater more to the wake/kiteboard riders and not the surfing feel...but the general kiting public will adapt to this type of board sooner... Lately with my more experienced riders, I have been making them a little bigger, and it really brings out their style......
I personally would recomment for you a 6'1" by 18 1/4" single concave....
For riders that want a little shorter, I have started off with a 6" board and then stubbed the nose down (the top 3 boards in the photograph) , that way you have the rocker and lines of a longer board, ( can handle faster hull speeds) but now has a shorter swing weight.. and can fit in the back of their pick up truck

lots to think about

I would be glad to answer any questions you may have..

regards,
DC
http://www.dcboardz.com

Very nice designs, i love the artwork, hope to try one out someday!

Hey Derek can explain the advantages of four fins vs thruster? I haven't riden a 4 fin surf board it seems that it would go down the line faster but not be as fast turning, just my guess however.

The quad fin setup as shown in pics is all good. Faster tighter redirects on big waves, can change your line easily, can use the rail of board more.

The centre fin on a std thruster is more suited to low speed strapless riding, but the quad setup does it all.

A couple of us down here converted our thusters over to quads and the range the boards cover is awesome, you can ride bigger boards and not get overpowered or lose manuverability at speed on larger waves, and my mate has been surfing his board as well, and says he wont be going back to a thruster any time soon.

Those boards shown above look great, fins in the right place and tweaked out lines more suited to kiting and what Dereck says about size seems good advice

Thank's

My goal is to get the best compromise, surf feel (wave powered) and powered surf (kite powered).
For strapless riding I already have 6'0''.
Your shapes look great, and I think the quad fin set up will help a lot in powered conditions.

Thank's again.

what Kevin Salter said is all correct.... It is to do with board (hull ) speed.
When I started doing development for the best surfboards with a kite, I just felt the tri was not the best set up...espically with straps.....but as I started reducing the size of the midddle tri fin the feel got better and better...So I tried twins but they were to loose, not enough drive.. so I tried a 4 fin set up..and bingo!.......The Quad handles speed better... Also the deck angle when riding a surfboard with a kite is steeper...meaning it is ridden with one rail deeper in the water than how a regular surfboard is ridden.... so the water is flowing faster and diagonally across the board at higher speeds and the middle fin in a tri set up just acts like a brake and disrupts the flow of water comming off the tail of the board. The third fin sorts gives a surfboard design a max speed at which it will ride...... that's why you will see also that pro surfers that use thrusters have to have many different baords for bigger and faster waves........the Quad seems to have no top end! so basically you get more range from a quad board and this lends itself well to kiting as well.......

I also regular surf my 4'play Quad, and once I got used to the extra speed out of turns I loved it!


if you get a chance, give one a try!

Dereck.

PS:here is a couple more pics of a 'pro model 4'Play just out of my shop this weekend...

http://www.dcboardz.com

For high and low wind I use this

.....

Hi,

AHA! NICE! My problem is not travel. It is my car luggage compartment! The Rochetfish 5' is the biggest i can fit to have the car completely "quiverless" looking.
I was planning to ask a shaper to make me a "noseless" board: shape like you usually do and then cut 4'' off, please. Is this ok?(to cut the 4'' of the front of a board)

Thanks!