Designing Kitesurf board - Design Feedback please

General Discussion
1

Im designing a kitesurf board to build and would like some feedback as I have never used a directional before.

Im looking to build a light wind board and one that will be use in small chop. (6ft2" 170 pounds, 10-15 knots)

This is what I have come up with so far.

 

6ft long
22" wide
tail width 10"
smaller thruster fins - so as not to have too much drag, but so board will have two fins in the water (Kiteboard will usually be on one rail or the other, rarely flat.)
2 3/4 thick
double concave of 8 mm

nose rocker 4 1/8"

tail rocker, 1 1/2" - dont want too much rail rocker because it hurts low wind performance
perhaps slight rocker on rear board top to give slight kick feel for back foot

Volume 40.6 L / 114.5 beers

 

Whatcha think?

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2

Riding conditions will be most on low wind flat water.  When it gets windy its small chop.

I live in Slave Lake, AB, Canada.  Its a 120km lake that get only wind driven waves up to 2-3 feet.

 

I think I will make it 2 1/4" thick and narrow it to 21".  I plan sketching the final plans this week.

It will be a hollow wood core with laminated cedar strips and walnut accents.

Am I wrong to assume the vacuum bagging is not necessary on a hollow board?

 

 

3

 

Why not built a regular kiteboard? Buy a 4’x20’'x 05" (I’m making these numbers up btw) paulonia plank and some tri ax glass. You’ll probably need a vaccuum table. 

You can also make these boards directional and suitable for waves.

 

4

True but then vacuum bagging and CoreCell have not yet been discussed.

5

hey were is the kiterider     this is up his ally haaa’’

 

 

                    cheers huie

6

Hi Brian,

 

The conditions here in Holland are mostly either windy and choppy or light winds and flat(ish).

 

For light winds you could consider a fish type board between 19 and 21 inch wide. Imho you should keep the thickness down to 2,5" max but thinner is better I think.

As for fin position you could try 4ways finsystem and play with cant, toe in.

7

Dedicated kite surf board?

Wrestling with the following questions myself on a combi board project so may I throw a few questions into your thread?

What are your intended riding conditions: windy/chop most of the time, light wind/larger wave - both?

A dedicated board for the former may be less wide and as thin as you care for as you’ll likely be under power during most of the session - no?

For lighter wind/larger (and cleaner) waves, you’ll want more buoyancy so you can cheat the thickness by leaning out the rails - yes?

For both, perhaps a compromise of a 19"- 20" by 2-3/4" thick deck with thin rails that progress from rounded entry to harder chine at the back of the board.

As your expected speed through the water increases the toe-in on the thruster setup should be somewhat reduced.  As a flexible alternative perhaps a mixed quad setup with the inner fins straight  and the outer fins angled.

Those are the current design parameters I’m working with but until the boards get more time on the water and greater exposure over the next few months please consider everything as though I’m speaking the outie hole instead of the inny hole.

8

Hey,

thanks for your input.

Making it thinner makes sense.  I think I will go with your suggested 2 1/4".  

 

Right now Im just gathering opinions and design specs.  I hope to be working on it within the month, but will not ba able to use it until April or May when the water thaws.  :)

I will post update photos once I get going.

 

Do you have a build thread for your board?  Id like to see how your doing it.

thanks

 

9

Hi!

 

You could easily make this board 2" narrower for some added controle. 20’’ is still pretty wide for a kiteboard. 2.75 thick is too thick imo. 2.25 should be more than enough. Making it thinner and less wide and the board sits, sets and carves more efficient. I like flat bottoms in choppy conditions. Rocker should be good.

Whats ur building schedule?

 

I’m currently working on a 5’8x18x2 kiteboard

 

Mook 

10

 

I have been wanting to build a hollow cedar strip board for a couple years now and am excited to get started.

11

Thanks for the invite ,Huie.

I’ve been weaning myself off of the computer lately,it’s a refreshing break really…

Hey Letloosekites…

Mook is correct in suggesting a reduced width and thickness of your board…

20 " wide is plenty, actually too much for high winds,   with 18" being the most pleasing width when powered nicely…

6’ long is plenty long as well…    I build 5’6"  to  5-10" long boards for myself, and I’m a heavy weight rider…

2 1/4" maximum thickness is cool…     My max is   2  1/4"  but is most often 2"  thick…

I belive you said your design has a 10" wide tail… You might want to pull this in a bit…Or consider a quad fin set up…

Your rocker numbers are good, perhaps a touch more nose flip rocker and a little less tail rocker…  I go  1 1/2"  to  1 3/4" tail…    4"  to 4 1/2" nose depending on lenght of board and it’s intended use…

Kite race boards, or a light wind, flat water board would have far less tail rocker…So if you’re only riding in light winds  and flatter waters , you could reduce the tail rocker even  further  than  your planned 1 1/2"   for a more efficient board…

12

Hey Kiterider

Ok, heres what I have come up with.

I will be narrowing it to 20" and 2 1/4" think.  I am also going to go with a quad fin setup.

You said to lesson the tail rocker, but it is only at 1 1/2" right now in the tail and 4" in the front.  Do you feel it should be less than 1 1/2" in the tail?  Maybe 1" or 3/4"?

Its intended use is a light wind board that can be used in small chop.

 

Thanks for your input!

 

13

Hey Letloose.

Please don’t let my suggestions dictate the direction your board construction is going…

This is your board not mine, and I don’t want to have control over the dimensions, as my numbers were meant only as possible options…

I have friends that put in as little as 1/2" tail rocker on their kite surfboards, but more frequently set it at  3/4"  to  1"…

I don’t go  near flat, unless I was building a race / slalom type board…My first directional had about 3/4 to 1", it went fine in light air…

You mentioned using the board in light winds and relatively flat water, and less tail rocker is better suited to these conditions allowing you to plane up quicker and stay there… More rocker  would turn easier though…

I don’t ride those conditions, and want a board that’s fast, but more importantly, turns well on waves of 1 to 4 meters…

That is why I go with a minimum of 1 1/2" tail rocker… This amount of rocker works surprisingly well on flat sections and does not feel slow…If you were to get into 2+" of tail rocker, as is common on some HPSB’s, this much rocker could/would slow you down in the conditions  YOU intend to ride…

Now if you want to concentrate on cranking out nice  tight turns  on that flat water, and you’re not concerned about  max. board speed, by all means go with 1 1/2" to 1 3/4" … You’ll like the feel as the winds pick up… I really like 1 1/2" +, but that’s me…

There are probably hundreds of different design combinations you can do to kite surfboard builds, some will work well ,some will suck big time…You have to go with what suits your ideal goals…

Finally :   I think you’ll be happy with the 20" width  and  will probably want to build a high wind board closer to 18" wide in the future… Wider boards tend to bounce around under the front foot and the nose due to the wind lift, chop and increased board speed when kiting…Narrower boards with narrower noses don’t…

Send me a PM if you have any problems…

I’ve just read your later post where you say the board is going to be made out of cedar strips and fairly heavy wood…That changes things somewhat…and I have no idea what width and thickness would be “ideal” for that type of construction…  Light wind boards built with heavy weight construction  materials  are an odd combination…Just so you know…

14

Hey Kiterider,

I really am brand new to building, and most of the help that is available for building boards, is for surf specific boards.  So I do value your opinion regarding kiteboards.  I will make sure that I am happy with the design as well.  :)

I never thought of my wood selections being to heavy...

I will do some research on that before I get to that stage.

15

I’ve learned a great deal here… After all, kite surfboards are just surfboards that are 'tweaked"

Put together your material list of wood , the skin thicknesses,  internal frame materials and board dimensions, and ask some of the extremely talented hollow surfboard builders here how much they would estimate your finished board would weigh…

HWS are beautiful… I’m just not sure if they are best suited to light wind kite surfing… High winds, probably great…

Ideally you’d want your 6’ long light wind board to weigh somewhere between 5.5# to 8#… I have no exact idea what a cedar strip board would weigh, but I’d guess ,10#  plus…

I’m not  really trying to discourage you from building a wooden surfboard ( even though it might sound like it)…

It would look great !   Go for it!!    And have fun…

16

i guess i should have asked, but now that you mentioned hollow, strip-built....

 

check out john B's  effort  back on kiteforum

http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2356635

he also has a similar thread describing a strip-built mako

http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=160&t=2359297&p=611116#p611116

pics and description will provide lots of clues to the process.

no bagging, but lots of clamps.

 

compsand forum is lots of fun, as well

http://www.compsand.com/

but if you do a google search for 'strip built kayaks'

you'll see that these guys have the process pretty much wired.

 

-bil

 

 

 

 

17

So here is what I’ve got done so far.  

I am very close to being able to start laminating strips.

 

 

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