WA
178 posts
can somone please depart some wisdom and tell me the main difference between tow and kite surf boards,can the two be crossed over successfully in large surf.cheers
WA
1675 posts
wisdom? probably not.
They both have straps?
There is probably a few that could cross over in smaller surf though
WA
164 posts
I ride a 6'4 Epoxy Rawson. It's designed as a tow board but a choice kitesurfing in perth used to sell them for Kiting. Its a great board for kiting....its a good all rounder and due to the volume you can get away with flying a smaller kite... BUT it tends to buck like a horse when you hit really choppy water. Lots of bouyancy and petty light weight...
I think if you were tow surfing into big waves....(No that I've done it...) you would want much more weight in the board to keep up speed and cut through any chop .
VIC
1159 posts
You probably need that buoyancy to counter the downward pull from the tow rope to the jet ski. Think when you are going out over a wave the jet ski will be out past it, lower than you and pulling down, so the buoyancy will be pushing back up.
Not speaking from experience, just putting my engineer brain to it.
QLD
1203 posts
The upward force from the motion is enough when behind the jetski - you don't need bouyancy. I have been behind a jet ski on my twin tip with no problem.
True tow boards are quite heavy and can be a bit of a dog on a kite unless it is really windy in which case the heavier board cuts through the chop better. Like skwinty I have a epoxy board for kiting that can be a bit bumpy on a choppy day but in good conditions it's great. A good middle of the road option would be a normal fibreglass surfboard with footstraps.
VIC
1299 posts
Tow boards in some circumstances actually have lead weight built into them to stop them bouncing all over the place at higher speeds. This tends to be for the rally big stuff, and in 99% of all cases that normal humans would surf in its probably not needed.
NSW
527 posts
yes, sort of,
i've tried my towboard kiting in big conditions it went real good but i was stuck natural (i've got no idea how dudes do that all sesion)
so i've bought the inserts to let me put the straps in the in line position
on my tow boards i also take out all of the toe in out of the side fins and use centre fins for all fins makes em flow super fast
