Power Kite Forum

homebrew plyboard

tridude - 9-10-2007 at 07:11 AM

My second homemade kiteboard...............141x44 cm, tips taper down to 16 inches, slight to neutral rocker, lightwave footpads, straps, and grap handle. Four KGB fins @ 2.5 inches, total weight 4.5 kgs. Top, bottom, and rails were given 3 coats of polyurethane. Had it out twice and planned and went upwind very well. Total cost was $90!



http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u154/sctridude/100_0012.j...

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u154/sctridude/100_0007.j...

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u154/sctridude/100_0003.j...

Pablo - 9-10-2007 at 08:53 AM

Yup, people still forget about the wonders of plywood, I've got a finless totally flat 150x45 and it works like a dream in the light stuff. heavy 2" wide lifting straps from a construction site for straps, fished the ply out of their dumpster as well, total cost was $5 for me to get the poly varnish.

When really powered up or in chop it's not that inspiring though.

speleopower - 10-10-2007 at 05:07 PM

My friend has been making ply boards for several years and has sold I think nearly 200 of them around the country.
My plyboard is in the middle. He has found that perfectly flat plyboards ride as well if not better than the ones he puts rocker into. The boards flex under load creating rocker. But people seem to like rocker so he keeps putting it in.

Scott

MVC-849F.JPG - 74kB

Pablo - 10-10-2007 at 06:03 PM

Easy enough to put some rocker in if you have a pile of bricks and a kiddie pool, one brick at each end of the board, weight on the middle of the board, fill pool with water and forget about it for 3-4 days. drain pool but keep the weight on the board, forget for another 3-4 days, done.

SecondWind - 10-10-2007 at 07:26 PM

Lookin' good Tridude! Nice work :thumbup: :thumbup:

BeamerBob - 11-10-2007 at 07:08 AM

Someone on here told me the difference between a kiteboard and a wakeboard was that the kiteboard didn't have as much rocker. The flat board might hold the edge better. The rocker probably helps with pop off the wake behind a boat. A kiteboarder would have to say whether this pans out with a kite yanking them around.

Pablo - 11-10-2007 at 09:51 AM

Wake boarder is getting pulled from water level, fairly easy to catch the nose on a wave. A kiteboarder is almost always up on edge and getting pulled up at close to a 45deg angle, nose is way in the air. While a wakeboarder has a 90hp boat to provide the power so they don't need to be efficient, a kiteboarder is relying strictly on a kite, the flat board will carry much more speed with less friction loss making it easier to stay up and generate apparent wind.

I'm sure there's a little more to it, but that's the basics.


If you want more info on Plyboards, this is well worth the read:

http://kitesurfingschool.org/board.htm

I built mine this way and it works fairly well, gonna make a MK2 at some point.

tridude - 11-10-2007 at 10:10 AM

Thanx Pablo,

This is one of the site is used as a reference! Ive made 2 boards now, my first being 5' x 19', tips taper to 18 inches. It looks a beast but works well!

BeamerBob - 12-11-2007 at 08:05 AM

I just noticed the 90 hp comment above by Pablo. Most wakeboarders can actually be much less efficient than you thought. Wakeboard boats commonly run between 300 and 400 hp. They usually use a tower to offset this minimal power by adding lift to the tow line.

xxxBUGGYPILOTXXX - 24-11-2007 at 09:18 PM

barnes - 2-12-2007 at 02:26 PM

I'm taking the plywood route as well. I'm going to varnish over pattern fabric to make it look spiffy. I'll be sure to share the results when I do it.

BeamerBob - 3-12-2007 at 06:54 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by xxxBUGGYPILOTXXX
Quote:
Originally posted by BeamerBob
I just noticed the 90 hp comment above by Pablo. Most wakeboarders can actually be much less efficient than you thought. Wakeboard boats commonly run between 300 and 400 hp. They usually use a tower to offset this minimal power by adding lift to the tow line.


Ok so this explains why it's possible to use a KiteBoard to be towed behind a Jet Ski/Wave or Wave runner and not bogg it down but try the same with a true wake board & you'll never get on plane unless you have an 1100cc motor or larger cranking out serious HP.
just-Ray


Well, I didn't mean to say that wakeboarders "need" 400 hp. I could easily get up behind an I/O with 135 hp on my wakeboard. A friend has a 1500cc jetski with about 165 hp, and I couldn't stall it if I wanted to. I don't have much experience with smaller jetskis.

To clarify, the tower adds lift to the line so the rope doesn't pull the boarder down while he/she is in the air. I still want to try my wakeboard with my Crossfire. It gave me continuous scuds on a hard sand beach so it might have the grunt to get my pie-laden rear out of the water if I can muster the kahunas to open it up with over 15mph winds.

windjunkie2 - 5-3-2008 at 11:29 PM

I learned to kiteboard with my wakeboard, and once I got over using foot straps instead of bindings, it was all over for wakeboards+kites. Wakeboards due to their stiffness and rocker are very inefficient, and strenuous to use, just like wakeboarding is, and it takes tremendous power and excess muscle to stay upwind. I suggest to use a kiteboard, or if money is short build a ply board, which you will be able to ride for 2 hrs versus 30 minutes on a wakeboard.