Hi,

Im currently riding a 141cm Cabrinha Tronic, and feel its a touch small for me at 100kgs. I have an old scuffed up 148cm slingshot doyle that gets me going really well, but its old and heavy...

Im thinking of buying a 145cm tronic as I really like the one ive got.

My question is, will extra 4 cms make that much difference?






or...

If anyone has a 145 tronic and want a clean swap for 141, let me know :)

in simple terms...

can make a large difference but tough to compare apples with apples, length vs effective edge can be very different, some of it comes down to the conditions you are riding in

same board, 4cm longer 1cm wider..

Will that extra size make it plane noticeably quicker, sink slower?

The 141 goes great when theres enough wind, but it does sink and stop very quickly if I loose a bit of power in the kite

Watch these videos from Axxon(series of three). Should help you understand the key factors.



Short answer, yes should add maybe 2-3 knots bottom end but will make it more of a handful (bouncing over the waves) in higher winds. Maybe buy a surfboard for light wind and keep the Tronic for stronger wind?

Most people have different boards for different wind strengths. My light wind board has wheels on each corner

I would keep the 141 but get a light wind board option. A bit less rocker, wider and longer than 145.

But, with that your kite size will be important.

The tronic has tapered ends which reduces the surface area significantly. It makes it awesome is swell/waves and chop but it will also be power hungry for its size. On these types of boards you need to upsize from a traditional rectangular shape.

For your pie weight go the 145 x 43. That has about the same surface area as a 135 x 43 regular TT shape.

Note: it will never be a light wind stormer. I simply doesn't have the surface area.

Amusingly I have 2 boards. Both are 145 x 45

A wave mutant which is similar shape to the tronic. It kicks arse In the chop, waves and when its powered. But it's not to flash in light wind.

I also have a rectangular shape light wind TT. Its a great light wind board but gets overpowered easily and isn't as good in the waves.

Same dimensions but different shape and rocker make for a significantly different ride!.

cauncy said..
Well worth a visit to the shinnworld site, width is much more important, the speedball is very efficient along with the king gee, but didn't feel big underfoot and held a great edge when things pick up,when reviewing id try to oversend the kite forcing a stall in power and make the board slump,the speedball was very very good , almost waiting for the kite to recover without sinking, water conditions are important, you'll need some rocker if you've got onshore waves , slop, or whitewash, flatter the water the flatter the board

Ditto from me.And most definitely YES. The performance of any well engineered board will vary a great deal adding or subtracting 4cm. Remember too (as Cauncy says) that while all kiters speak in lengths its the width thats at least as important - if not moreso.

Too small at 141?? Dont know the board but at 100kgs you would be well fitted to a much smaller Shinn - ie about 136 to 138.