What board to buy:
Every kiteboarder faces the dilemma of choosing a board to start out with. There's so many opinions that you get from different people, and so many options, brands, specifications and styles to choose from.
History:
Kiteboarding is a cross-over sport that originated from windsurfing, wakeboarding, snowboarding and skateboarding to name a few. The biggest influence we have is from windsurfing, and the two biggest names in the sport are from a windsurfing background - Naish and Cabrinha (Neil Pryde). Not too surprising, the majority of people on the beach are ex-windsurfers who took on kiteboarding.
The first kiteboarders used windsurf boards to kiteboard with. These boards are longer than 2 meters in length, are heavy, bulky and inefficient when it comes to staying upwind. Apart from that you had to be able to gybe the board (a complicated, unnecessary method of switching your foot stance in order to turn the board to point in another direction.)
The reason why these types of boards made it nearly impossible to stay upwind with was that windsurfers stay upwind and create leverage in the water via the large fins on their windsurfer boards, while kiteboarders use their rail to stay upwind with – we edge the board at a 45 degree angle to create leverage in the water and to travel at a 90 degree angle to the wind. These boards were too big and heavy to edge.
Directional Boards:
The kiteboard companies soon realized that these big boards were inefficient, and responded with smaller and lighter versions of the windsurfing board to make it useable for kiteboarding. They were named directionals due to the fact that you have to gybe the board in order to go in another direction, and rely more heavily on fins in order to stay upwind. These boards normally vary in sizes from 140 cm to about 2.2 meters, and usually have three fins at the back of the board and sometimes one or two on the rails of the board to provide extra grip. These boards were very popular during the early stages of kiteboarding. Directionals are still widely available today. They use a combination of the rail of the board and the fins in order to stay upwind.
Twintip Boards:
Not long after the Directional boards, a french guy with the name Franz Olry invented a twintip board in the back of his garage that would change the future of kiteboarding forever.
Twintip boards are based on snowboards and skateboards – they are symetrical. They don’t require you to gybe the board in order to change direction and most of them have a more freestyle – skateboard/snowboard type feel to them. They normally have two fins on each end of the board, although many fin setups are available today. The fins provide minimal grip, and are mostly there for support in light winds. These boards rely very heavily on edging. These kind of boards are by far the most popular, and are more user friendly, easier to begin with, and provide you with freedom of movement on the water.
Twintips are good allround boards – they have very little drawbacks if any at all.
Twintip boards range in sizes of 80 cm to 180 cm
Mutant Boards:
A mutant board is a cross between a twintip and a directional board. They normally have the same fin setup and principal as a directional board, but have two extra fins at the nose of the board that allows you to ride the board in both directions without having to gybe the board. These boards appeal to people from a surfing or windsurfing background and generally perform a bit better in surf than twintip boards.
So what type of board should I buy?
A twintip is basically the only board you should consider. They are easy to start out with, and are the choice of board for 90% of kiteboarders worldwide – beginners and professionals alike. They are good for any conditions and are not the kind of board that you will outgrow at all.
There is a general trend to start out on a directional board and then move over to a twintip board. This is the wrong way to begin to kiteboard as the principles and difference between the ways that these two types of boards function are worlds apart.
Many people are still in favour of providing you with a directional board to start out with. This advice benefits some two-fold, as they firstly get rid of old stock, and secondly makes two sales since you will be back after a day or two to get a twintip board since you won’t be able to get going on a directional board that easily.
I know many kiteboarders who came up on their twintip board within the first few hours, but I can’t say I know many that managed to get up on a directional easily.
If you are a windsurfer or a surfer you might favor a Directional or a mutant. But even then the twintip is still a better option. Directionals are commonly referred to as dinosorectionals due to the stone-age type stigma that are attached to these boards.
What size board should I buy, and how does size and volume count?
150 cm - 160 cm is a good size for any type of board and any body weight. Basically the more volume your board has, the more planing area you will have, which will allow you to kiteboard in lighter winds.
The shorter your board, and the less volume you have, the more wind you will be able to kiteboard in. A 150 cm - 160 cm board will allow you to go out in most conditions. Choose too a small board and you might sacrifice some lightwind conditions, and choose a board that is too big and you will sacrifice strong wind conditions.