Yo Big Ian,
Welcome to lose the straps brother! Thanks for the positive feedback. We already have a good core group on here and its growing daily. With more people on like yourself it will be a great place for us to elighten our fellow kiters to think beyond what is obvious.
Sorry to hear about your knee
Did you finish it off @ the triple S? Hey, on the positive side at least its Summer and its a good time to heal up for next season.
Cool skimmer vids. I want to build a small slider like that for Matheson. A couple weeks ago these guy brought one out and I must have hit it 100 times with Todd. It was a lot of fun. It was pretty high tide so I didnt have to ollie higher than a foot so it was pretty easy to get on. Although, my board is completely trashed now. I did more damage in that afternoon than all the riding I did on it in the last 3 years!
I would agree with you that If you are going to hit sliders I think it definitely needs some kind of extra lay-up, or just know that you need one board for that and its going to get trashed. Honestly, I didn't really even notice the difference in the way it rode. Still rode great, but just looks beaten. I want to make a mini-skim kicker and a PVC slider like the one in that video you posted. Something portable that is easy to carry out, and can be adjusted to the tide. I know you have some ideas. We should plan it out, build it and post it here so other people can build it as well. What do you think?
As far as the kick tail and grab rails those are a must. I am trying to learn a new trick now and I really need a grab rail. However, I am not cray about a symmetrical outline or egg shaped skim board. All the ones I have tried are slowerer and do not cut through the water as well as a traditional outline. I think the traditional outline with a pin tail is the best outline with a kite.
P.S. I modified your post a little so the vids could be embedded vs. a link.
