Hey guys,
I have been kiting a little while, got the basics dialled, can ride upwind easy and doing little jumps and backloops. I am 5'10 and 78kg and most often ride a 10m blade trigger in 15-20 knots in adelaide metro. I am still using (mainly) the gear i bought when i started. This was a blade scalper (2011 i think) and its 128x40cm. I have been told a few times recently that this is tiny. I've never really felt it was too small, but then again i havent really had anything to judge by. Just wondering what i would gain with a bit bigger board?

Ive seen that bigger boards are recommended for beginners and lighter winds, what are the other benefits?

Cheers

Should I get a bigger board?

YES

Is it better????

Only in every way!!!

Bigger board around 136x42 and keep your smaller one when it's windy.

I think you will be a little surprised by how much earlier you will be up and riding
in lighter winds.

Hope this helps

For a guy your weight:

-Average board size: 134-138cm
-Big board size (light winds) 140cm +
-Small board sizes: 132cm or less

A lot of beginners are told bigger is better because big boards plane easier and you need less power from the kite and less technique to get going. However big boards are less maneuverable and can be harder to learn freestyle tricks on. They can also be harder to learn to ride upwind on (especially if they are very wide, i.e. more than 42cm wide) and generally speaking won't perform as well in strong winds and very choppy conditions.

Smaller boards are great for very strong winds, they hold a stronger edge with less effort and cut through the chop a lot easier, but that's also subject to personal preference.

Your average wind range in your area and the type of water (flat, chop, waves) and your style of riding plays a role in the board size as well.

The fact you learned in 15-20 knots with a 128cm board at 80kg is impressive and definitely shows you have a very good technique. That board is worth keeping if you like it, for strong winds.

Try borrowing boards from friends in sizes around 134-138cm and see the difference. I would avoid going over 140cm unless you wanted a dedicated light wind board.

Christian

You really only should consider boots if you're willing to focus your riding entirely on wakestyle and freestyle unhooked tricks...otherwise there isn't much point. Boots would also only make sense if you have a C-kite: much more suitable for unhooked wakestyle tricks.

When riding boots you would want your board size to be a bit bigger than average, but I'll let the wakestyle gurus give you more details on that.

Thanks for the help guys i will have a look around.
how good do you need to be to use a board with boots? a guy down the beach was raving about them the other day.
do boots affect the board size choice?

Don't go for boots until you've ridden atleast one season. Its far easier to get yourself out of trouble if your in straps, and crashes hurt a lot less.

Why not try your hand at making a board yourself?

www.instructables.com/id/Plywood-kiteboard/

It's not rocket-science. I love the last line though ...

"Laugh at people on the beach who spent $700 on their board and who feel compelled to tell you, "that won't work."

cmrls23 said..
Hey guys,
I have been kiting a little while, got the basics dialled, can ride upwind easy and doing little jumps and backloops. I am 5'10 and 78kg and most often ride a 10m blade trigger in 15-20 knots in adelaide metro. I am still using (mainly) the gear i bought when i started. This was a blade scalper (2011 i think) and its 128x40cm. I have been told a few times recently that this is tiny. I've never really felt it was too small, but then again i havent really had anything to judge by. Just wondering what i would gain with a bit bigger board?

Ive seen that bigger boards are recommended for beginners and lighter winds, what are the other benefits?

Cheers

I weigh the same and I ride the same size board, I only have an 8m kite and that's all I ride anywhere from 17-35knts