An inexpensive wave twin tip for a big guy

[gobigkahuna]

Just thought I'd share my experiences looking for a wave twin tip. I weigh 245 lbs (110 kg), have been kiting for 8 years and surfing my entire life. I only kite in the ocean, mostly downwinders and what I enjoy most is riding waves. I'll add that I tend to prefer to ride just slightly underpowered so I can actually ride the wave a bit rather than just kite in front of it. Over the years I've tried lots of boards and recently tried an OR Mako Wide, but it just felt too "squirrely" and small. So I continued to look. The guys here swear by their Jimmy Lewis Rad F's but that's just too small for me. I started to spec out a board to either build myself or have made for me when I accidently ran into an ad for a Liquid Force Proof 161.

I picked one up a couple weeks ago and have been riding it since. I modified the board so that one end is "thruster" finned (just like Jimmy's Rad F) and am using CrazyFly AllAround pads and NSI straps. Total investment was around $350 and I've got to say it's not a bad board at all. I love how the "tail" literally sticks to the water and the round rails allow easy transitions. Overall I'm pretty happy with it. The only negatives I'd say are that the finish is not the same as the $800 boards (there are slight "dimples" in the bottom under the foot inserts) and this bugger is -heavy-. Imagine your heaviest board and then add some. But since I'm not exactly a lightweight myself once on the water I really don't notice it.

I'm sure there are better boards out there, but at my weight they are usually not "scaled" correctly to me and end up being heavy wind boards (which isn't what I wanted). For me this board isn't bad at all and considering the price I'm happy.

[dwarf]

Good to hear you found a board that suits you. Enjoy the waves!

[aeberl]

I found out that one of the most important things in a wave twintip is plenty of flex. Of course overall dimensions, rocker, outline and rails are important as well, but non of them work well in waves if the board does not flex properly.
However, good wave twintips usually are crap for freestyle, so if you want an allround board you will have to make some sacrifices. Otherwise, get two boards.

[Frankieboy]

I have been looking for the same, beeing 110kg aswell. I finally bought a second hand Mako Wide and found it a excellent allround board for the ocean enabling to ride waves frontside pretty well. More allround then a directional (that I keep for DTL) and much better then all TT I used before (they can't hold an edge in the bottom).
Still the board IS NOT a lightwind board at least for my wheight. It is 150 long but still feels great in 35 knots, no problems.
It is now my highwind/wave TT (we get waves from 20 knots), besides my LF Recoil comp 137x41 (starts really early!) and a directional.

Frank

[gobigkahuna]

Glad you like your Mako Frank, I didn't. I gave it a half dozen sessions and it never worked well for me. The board just felt stiff yet not able to hold an edge. Yeah, I know what folks say about how you have to ride it like a snowboard but I'm a surfer, not a snowboarder. At any rate if we all liked the same thing it would be a pretty boring world, wouldn't it?

Can't say what the flex is like for this board, my CrazyFly AllAround is super flexy, super soft and the Mako seemed super stiff to me. I'd guess that this board is somewhere in between. I think the big thing that most people wouldn't like about the board is its weight, it is very heavy. But fortunately that hasn't really bothered me. Not saying this board is for everyone, but there seems to be a shortage of boards that big guys can actually use and I thought I'd add this to the list of possibilities.

[Rbgar]

I'm starting to get the Mako wide dialed in these days. On hard carves it would slide out and on wave faces (most likley my fault) but I bought some slightly bigger fins 2.5" (comes w/2") and made a huge difference, I like the glued feel and with my larger size I can break it loose when needed. I had it out the other day in overhead onshore flow and it's nice but if the waves are nice with a good wind angle I take a surfboard for sure. The Mako wide and a surfboard is the perfect quiver for me