I'm thinking about getting my hands on a surfboard and putting straps on it. I'm after some info about how to go about actually fitting the straps and where they should be positioned on the board.

straps versus no straps is an ongoing debate. I went for no straps after trying both, main reason is that you need to change your feet position.

i.e. you need an edge when using the kite to power you, then you shift your feet towards the centre of the board when you are on a wave. If you have straps then you either choose to place them on the edge(so you can resist against the kite) or you stick them in the centre-ish to surf onthe waves.

Try out both before you decide.

of course you suck at it, its the first time you have done it.

i was sh!t the first time as well, some still say i am sh!t, but there you go.

it takes 2-3 sessions to get the hang of it AND more importantly it improves your twin twip riding no end.

i ride a 6.1 x 18 1/4 x 2 5/16 tufflite, its got slightly more bouyancy than a normal surfboard, its tough(i.e. when you hit it with your bar etc) and light as.

Buy the surfboard first, ride it a few times and see how you go. I also practise on a skim board(no straps) in flat water sometimes. Whichever you decide you will no go back after kiting in the surf.

Ok....just went for a wander down town. The local Cash Converters has a "Roundhouse" 6'0, quite flat rockered tri-fin in there. They want $299 for it. It's got some pretty good dents in the bottom, but doesn't look like it's actually cracked anywhere. Too much money? I Googled "Roundhouse" as a brand and it looks like they're actually a local mob here in Bundaberg. No other info about them on Google though.

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Originally posted by meerkatA rocker is pretty important for riding the waves, but will make it harder to get going. If you plan to surf in light winds and smallish waves then its probably ok. I tend to turn loads when riding the wave so having a board that turns quick, handles bottom turns etc is important.

What surfboard to you normally surf on? i'd recommend buying the same type but a couple of inches smaller and wider.

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I don't....only kitesurf. I was intending to use it mostly for lighter wind days where I would normally struggle on my TT, but I'd also like to be able to get out on a small kite in the waves when there's enough swell to actually *make* waves here.

Maybe I need 2 boards

Before you do check your local paper or Quokka, (classifieds paper). A surfboard, esp old one will eventually snap, so if you are looking for something to try and play around on go cheap.
Good luck

I did this when I started and it worked well. Got an old thruster and some sailboard straps and had them glassed into the board by a local who made surfboards (two forward and one aft). Cost about $100 all up. I put the straps a fair way down the board similar to where sailboard straps would sit relative to the board. I borrowed a directional of a local to check out the rough position

I stuck to this for about a year and then finally got a twin tip. Since then I occasionally go back to the surfboard and have experimented with a few different configurations of straps (with and without). I have found a good compromise by leaving the forward straps on to secure your front foot whilst leaving the back strap off allowing you to manoeuvre your back foot. You'll find your back foot doesn't need securing as the board is generally pushing up against it and it's just a pain to have a strap there whilst jiving.

Have fun.

Heres a tip
Dont spend 300 bucks on a second hand glass board.

I bought a 700 dollar Kym Thompson 'Watercooled ' 6" x 18 pro surf model at the start of the summer. I put straps and pads on myself but is not expensive to get someone else to do it. i absolutely love it.

Im going to get a bit technical now.

The construction is full epoxy sandwich and it gets made in the same factory as tufflites Surftechs and Airush converses [The cobra factory in Thailand] but has a better construction [full kevlar wrap which makes puncture the skin with reefs etc really hard to do] and about 50-100 dollars cheaper than equivalents. A lot of WA boys are using them and they are available in a lot of surfshops around the country [SOS in Fremantle stock them].

A standard glass board has no more glass than one of these high tech boards, just a lot more resin which actually means the skin is more easily broken and shattered . The ratio of weight of glass to resin with the best of hand lay up is probably 6:1 , with vacuum sandwich it can be 1:1 and the sandwich of divinycell contributes enormous strength as well. The foam in standard glass board is polyurtehane that is no stronger but 10 times denser that polystyrene.

A lot of kiters are coming to do all this stuff fresh but windsurfers began to abandon solid glass and PU foam boards 2 decades ago and have completely done so now. Some guys say they like weight but personally I think it is only good on a steamroller.

I PLACED THE STRAPS AND PADS AT 24 AND 86 OFF THE TAIL [to teh rear screwhole not the middle of the strap] AND 16.5CM APART. That would give a pretty wide stance if you have short legs, but it is necessary to be able to keep the nose down in the bottom turn at speed and to drive the tail hard off the top. If I was shorter I might go looking at a 5"10 as in my view the limiting factor in board length for strapped riders is how wide a stance do you want as if you're strapped in, your feet have to be near enough to each end to control it as they aint moving.

After literally hundreds of sessions the board has only got a few small spreader bar shallow pressure dings on it and no heel dents [but i did put on firm pads. I know of only one KT breaking but the rider is a 110kgs on man mountain.

There is an absolutely massive range of epoxy sandwich surfboards avaialble now and in my view they beat anything kite manufacturers have yet produced for wave riders and are lighter and cheaper. The surfboards shapes are infinitely more refined now , after decades of development, with almost every board going nose flat into concave entry and double concave into v in the tail to produce a really speedy drivey feel that doesnt bounce on chop. Most Kite-surfboards are just flat.

I have completely changed my view on this in the past year and just assumed that the uniqueness of kiting would demand something else in the waves, well if it exists i have'nt found it and kiters across the globe are coming to the same conclusions. Felix Pivec and Jeff Pfeiffer definitely led the charge on this one and Jeff spread the word around with his influential 'North shore' column in Kiteworld Magazine.

Because of the lift generated by the kite I reckon you are generally kite-surfing at just 3/4 to 2/3 of your full body weight and consequently should pick a surfboard aimed at a lighter guy that would be a bit smaller than you would actually paddle surf.

dont try use a fybaglass board as they will snap i use too shape for a local surfing shop and use too have heeps of guy coming in tryin to get them repaired i would avise u to spend the extra money and go an epoxy there more expensive but ull spend less in the long run go to ur local shaper and hell be able to make the right board for your height weight ect
hope that helps u out a bit

Stoney from Stone Surf Designs (SSD) is playing around with kiteboards these days. He has spent the last 25 years or so shaping wave sailing boards in gero and is now the main shaper for starboard.
Just returned from a trip up north with my mates trying a proto of the kite/surfboard. It looks and goes awesome and is a lot cheaper. I'm not entirely sure of the construction of the board but has got a layer or two of divincyl with a balsa deck (looks like a smaller version of his wavesailing boards). He'll also shape them to whatever dimensions you like and fin system. Took a few beatings out at the break and came out triumphant over my new epoxy board which now has a few characteristic marks. Can't wait to get a finalised version of the board.
In regards to what the cat was saying, most people shift their feet BACK when on a wave to get drive through the fins...why use the edge of the board? It'd be harder to turn too.

This whole surfboard thingy is a bit of challange. If you have never surfed, like me you haven't got a clue.

Recon the easiest way to learn for a total nob is to begin strapless It can be frustrating at start, but soon enough you learn to jibe (the straps seem to get in the way) and as long as you stay in small slop you are ok. The straps are a treat for when one is good enough to take on the bigger stuff IMO. 1.5 m plus waves and I'm on my twinny until I can ride a surfboard better.

The freedom of strapless is just soooooooooo nice though.

Hi if you want to move your feet but still have straps check out predator surf on a google search. there is also suggestions for strap placements on surf boards. Darcy surfboards is also making boards for kiting which are way stronger than normal boards though not as strong or as stiff as the epoxy ones.

If you can borrow a larger board (ie 7 to 7.5ft or something) and ride around strappless for a couple of days, you should get on top of jibing. The bigger the board, the easier it is to do.