Long Distance Kiting

well best confort in any board i had is the oceans rodeo mako king. Thats like a riding a carpets ( i dont own one though)

But a TT .

For raceboards you just lose the confort. Maybe north freerace or airush sector 52 will do the job for you. They should be more confortable riding that a raceboard and point high upwind also

So which would be your preferred board? The Freerace of the Sector?

definately go a directional board, some sort of surfboard maybe.

I would be keen on doing a downwinder out of the gulf tooooo

Hi DM,

Is the Freerace good enough in light winds for someone close to 90kg with a big kite or is it a bit too small (i.e. 8-12kn on a 17m) ?
I'm looking for a board that will still stay upwind in light wind but still be fun to carve and backroll. Not looking at doing epic upwinders or downwinders.

Cheers,
Holgs

I am hoping to do the 8 miles downwind from Lanes to Kanaha by end of year :)

Maui does not have billionty long beaches like Australia :(

My two cents, if you want to go fast downwind then a strapped, quad-fin surfboard is the go.

By downwind I mean a broad reach where you can go faster than the wind. Dead downwind is always quite slow.

The nose lift helps the board skip over the chop and the fins keep it tracking fast and straight.

The straps keep you attached to the board and when you're going really fast you can levitate do long glides.

A TT is fast downwind but you can impale the tip on the back of a wave and do a face plant.

None of the raceboards I have tried (North 2009 and 2010 LTD) have been fast downwind. Unbeatable upwind but sluggishly slow downwind.

The quad surfboard is ok upwind but not as good as a flat TT or raceboard.

My mate has resurrected his old quad fin directional kiteboard from 10 years ago. That things rocks. Pretty good upwind and fast downwind.

I am keen to try the Airush Sector 52. I have ordered one but getting the latest model is proving difficult. www.airush.com/2011/products/sector/

Hi Holgs,

Sorry, I didn't notice your post until just now.

Yes the Freerace is good for a 90kg rider. That's about the same weight as me. I recently sold one to a mate in Townsville. He wanted to get into light wind kiting so hooked him up with a Freerace and a Zephyr. He's stoked on the combo. He rocks on down the beach when everyone is packing up to a chorus of "It's all over mate, you're wasting your time". He loves rigging up and going high speed cruising while everyone packs the car and heads for home.

The tail width of the Freerace is actually wider than the Sectors but isn't as wide in the middle. Once you get it on the plane, the North will go in similar winds, just not as good upwind as it has raked surf shaped style fins to make it more loose and snappy in turns.

The 2010 and 2011 North Race LTD's and also the Airush Monaro's are course boards and are not comfortable to ride for cruising. They are incredibly efficient around a course, but too painful for fun freeriding for any length of time. The Sector 60 is still my fave cruising board. I've had so many great days in 10 knots or less just cranking upwind for miles and miles.

See if you can get a demo from your local retailers to see what may work best for your size and weight. I'm sure most will be only too happy to help you out.

Cheers,

DM

You can always call Dan at Cardboards (site sponsor) and talk about a custom made. The guy knows his stuff and is really helpful and the boards are well priced.
Steve

I think you will find it ( yours ) is shaped by Josh Angulo, Mark Angulo is Josh's older brother and one of the greatest freestyle windsurfers of all time.

Josh is no slouch on a windsurfer either.
Either way the family has been into board shaping for many many years, so its no suprise that its probably a very good board.

Nope mine is Hand shaped by Mark Angulo.. I went to Marks house throughout the building of it. Actually Josh wanted my board :)

http://www.markangulo.com/home/ He does not list kiteboards but he made it.

But yeah they are really a cool family.