so those of you with large tt's/doors, wondering if you gave tried using a surf board. specially if for light wind conditions, a surf board is very floaty. pro's , con's? directional, size, straps, ...

surfboards work well in light winds..........fish are usually wider than thrusters and for the most part better in light wind (just my opinion).....recommend strapless........6' seems to be the default length.

Most people I know that ride directionals use them for waves and choppy conditions vs a lightwind board............you are able and to go two or three sizes smaller when using one...............15 to 17 kts on a 12m is a sweet zone but a 9 or 10m would be applicable with a directional.................

directional give a little advantage but really effective results come from exceptional riders.

all about planning speed with both. the lower planning speed either will give good results.

the directional race boards have the looowest like mini windsurfers.

with surf skills directionals have advantage. directional w/big finns, quad or thruster setup about 6-7ft, TT about 43+cm wide require tedious board/kite management with upwind fall to make it come together.

It really depends on the board, and your skill level. I have a 6' North WAM, and I've found that it doesnt really work for those truely light - wind sessions. The wind really has to be over 12 mph for me to be able to ride it comfortably. Anything less, and I have to grab my monster door.

I was in Florida last weekend and was thinking what about a stand-up paddle board
No juice to plane it all goes to speed ?

I am shure it has been tried but why wouldn't it work

very hard to steer...

+hard to steer, drive or whatever your supposed to do, really no steering wheel...more like one big steering wheel in the back and the front with a couple of smaller as it speeds up. speed change and drive very hard to match with the needs of kite, in light air which just takes perfect water and breeze all while walking up and down the thing.

20 sec of WTF you fall off and drop the kite, 10 min of swimming, SUP session over.

There was a thread and photo of someone who flew a 3m trainer (2 line open cell) from their SUP on one of the SUP forums I visited recently. Looked like they were having fun, although I haven't tried it myself.

My personal low wind combo is my Waroo 20m and my CrazyFly 148x49 twin tip. I can have fun with that combo in 15mph steady winds (no current, and lulls no less than 12 mph). If the wind is under 12mph I'd rather be doing something else.

the 4th weekend there was a F-one rep who had a SUP specific kite he was demoing. I wish I would have given it a try but it was very slow going cruise. The wind was so low I could not get going with the SA and the Mako King. Although I have read and agree that a large door would have got me plaining faster than the Mako King. A Lightwave Wing TT is another option.

With a surfboard you really need to get your riding toe-side and jibing down. I tried running the Mako King with larger fin and thrusters this weekend and it is a completely different beast. No skate or snowboard like looseness. The larger fins make it stick and surfboards have much longer fins. (I have never surfed before as I am a NY transplant in California) My first non-jibe turn I got yanked right off the board.