I have a question about wave kiting on a surfboard/directional I was hoping to get some feedback on. I have been getting into wavekiting a fair bit lately and have generally been riding my regular thruster strapless. Its a 6'4" square tail. I feel I have a reasonably sound technique as I have been riding surfboards since I was a kid. I move about the surfboard well when needed...which is the beauty of riding strapless I guess. The problem I have is regarding my board. It was shaped for free surfing specifically and rides well in that scenario. When on a kite however I get alot of spray from around the middle of my board (the side buried in the water) and I hear much cavitation from around the fins under the deck. This slows performance dramatically I feel.

Would a board with a wider tail and/or smaller fins help? Do I need to get a board shaped specifically for kitesurfing?

Cheers

I have similar issues with a comp board built for Occy. I am guessing the cavitation is most obvious when you are tacking and board speed is high. This is definitely related to the pitch of your fins. Ignore it I say, because the board should perform really well on a wave. You may need to tighten your turns a little if you are heading across the wave face too fast, constant downloops will allow you to cutback/bottom turn without radical power surges.

So good Hunter....now I'm going to play ping pong.

Yea^

Try wet sanding the trailing edge of your fins, does help sometimes

Thanks all for your comments. I found them all extremely helpful. I have changed my middle fin to a smaller size and have found riding upwind easier. The board was always outstanding when riding a wave and now just turns a little better albeit a little less drive off the bottom turn......don't really know the hydrodynamics of it all though.....it just works. Problem solved.

Slante.