Frequently Asked Questions

A twin-tip board is easiest to learn with. The size depends on your weight but it should be larger rather than smaller. 140cm is a good size for a first board for someone around 80kg.

The less planing area the more power you need to keep planing ie a bigger kite or more wind.  Planing area is increased by length and width of the board, more concave and less rocker.

A shorter and/or narrow board will “hold an edge” better than a wider board with more volume ie a narrow board will allow you pull harder against your kite and fly in stronger winds without skipping out and make toe-side riding easier. A board that planes early is better for learning, on lighter wind days and when you want to ride waves without the kite powering you too much.

A longer twin tip board will have more tendancy to "slap" the front foot out of the strap and not be a soft when landing jumps.  It will also be harder to do snap turns onto your toe-side.

Fins help lock the rail down allowing you to take more force from the kite without lifting or skipping out.  Multiple/ larger fins also allow better upwind ability and increased stability at higher speeds.

Long narrow boards will cruise much better over choppy water and will go faster than shorter boards.   The faster you go when you hit a wave (or turn your kite back on flat water), the higher your jumps will be.

Wakeboards are not recommended to learn with as you need more power to keep them planning so you have a greater risk of injury to yourself and others.  Bindings are also more expensive and not as easy to get into or out of

Requires bladders to be pumped up - punctures and slow leaks are not uncommon and are a pain. Bladders are fiddly to repair/ expensive to replace

Safety systems usually work by having the bar slide up one line.  When recovering the bar to relaunch the lines can become tangled

Are slower/ more difficult to relaunch off the water ie cannot be flipped over as easily as ram-air foils (even with fifth line)

Must be launched at the edge of the wind window ie need a beach with at least 30m of clear area side on the the wind direction.  In light winds there may not be sufficient energy to lift the kite at the edge of the wind window

Will stay afloat indefinitely (providing bladders have not been damaged)

Can unintentionally relaunch off the water/ beach if care is not taken

More bulky and heavier than foils when packed up (much bulkier if battens are not deflated)

Easiest to water relaunch – can relaunch anywhere in the wind window ie do not have to get kite to edge of the wind window.   Can easily flip the kite back onto it's trailing edge by simply throwing the bar away. Then simply depower and the foil will lift off the water.  If you panic and drag the trailing edge through the water then you will force water into the cells and make the kite harder (but not impossible) to relaunch

No pumping, no punctures/ leaks. If damaged can still be flown back to the beach in most cases.  Often can be repaired on the spot with sail repair tape

Some models eg FlySurfer Warrior do not require any pre-inflation ie setup/ pull down in 5 minutes.  Others such as Peter Lynn Arcs take longer to set up as they require pre-inflation prior to launching

Significantly less tangles with 3 lines (rather than 4) - can leave lines connected to bar and kite

They have bridle lines – more prone to tangles but can be easily overcome with good setup/ packup technique

Very efficient double surface aerofoil (20% smaller than equivalent inflatable) ie will fly faster and turn easier than inflatable with the same power

Better wind range than inflatables

Lightest & most compact when packed up - great for travelling

The smaller the kite the faster it flys and the faster it turns

The higher the aspect ratio the easier it is to turn but it is less stable (more prone to luffing), more difficult to relaunch off the water and more likely to flip inside-out.

The smaller the bar the slower the turn rate of the kite