Wake Surfer

[gle]

Hi am new to the forum. I ride strapless a nobile skim, a couple of surf boards and a wake surfer. So far the one I like the most is the wake surfer. I ride the Inland Surfer Red Tide 07 limited edition version. I find I can plane and go up wind sooner and easier than on the skim and still ride it when it is windy. I use flysurfer pulse foil kites. I am not doing much in the way of tricks yet but I am finding that I tend to ride the strapless boards more often than the strapped boards now. Just jibbing and playing in the swells is a huge amount of fun.

[Lonny]

Hi Gle,

Welcome to Lose the Straps! Glad to have you aboard.

Nice collection of boards you have there. What size skim do you have? Is it the Nobile with the 4 fins in it? Never tried a strapless set up with a foil kite interesting... The wake skate you have is it pretty flat? I am guessing it is since you are planing earlier vs. a skim. Generally, a good skim will plane up faster than most wake skates. When you have some time put up some video of you riding its good to see other people's styles and what gear they use. If you like riding strapless more thant strapped you found your home on the web

By the way, how did you find us?

[physiorol]

I have always been tempted by the wakesurfers and would get one for the right price

[Josh]

I think Gle is talking about a wakesurfer, not a wakeskate. Example here: http://www.hyperlite.com/gear?UID=38&CAT=44. You get pulled behind a boat on a short rope, get in the steepest part of the wake, and then throw the handle onto the boat and just ride the "wave". Good times.

Glad to hear you're charging it on some different stuff Gle! Post some pictures if you get a chance.

[Lonny]

Thanks Josh. Actually, that makes sense because the "skimboard" I mostly ride from Zap is designed for wake surfing.
http://phase5boards.com/productPropBoard.cfm

Yes, I would agree with you that a "wake surfer" will perform in lighter wind than a traditionally sized skimboard. I use this board with a 12m CB3 staring in 10 mph and can easily ride it up to 25 with a 9m CB3.

[gle]

Lonny the skim is the Nobile with the 4 fins on it. I like it a lot and find I can use it in light wind and have used in in farely flat water in 20 to 25 knots. The foil kites are all I have ever used. The more recent ones have huge range compared to what I am used to. It makes it easy in higher winds as I am more lazy now and just sheet out rather than edge to maintan control like I used to have to do. Josh is correct in that it is a wake surfer not a wake skate. I do have a wake skate as well but it needs a lot more power to use. The wakesurfer that I have is rather different to the others that I have seen. It is 5' 5" long and 23" wide. There is over 4' of dead flat from the tail and a bit of flip in the nose. There is concave for most of the board and rounded rails. It has two 3" fins that are only foiled on one side. It is about an inch thick. With my 10 meter foil I plane and go up wind in 8-10 knots. I cannot do that on the skim board. I need 10 or more. I get a lot of light winds where I am and this board means that I can get out most times I head to the lake. I have been told by people on another forum that it is not possible to use my 10 meter foil in winds that light but they clearly have not tried the board. It is amazing and fun. I have taken wind reading on the shore many times and the result is always the same if the wind gets above 9 knots part of the time and not much below 8 I am going and have fun. In 18 to 20 knots with 3 - 4 foot swells the fun goes to another level. The board accelerates very quick down the swells. I have not really mastered that part yet like I can on the surf boards. Still it is huge fun and provides new and exciting challenges. I have a large twin tip with straps that planes early, but not as early. There is far less fun in using it in the light winds. Jibing strapless was great fun learning. Anyway the point of my post is that that Inland Surfer Red Tide is great fun for light and medium wind strapless kitesurfing and cost me less than a light wind kiteboard with straps. I do not currrently have any pictures or video, maybe in the next few weeks.

[Lonny]

Gle, thanks for all the good information. Isn't it amazing what people will tell you what you can't do when they usually have never tried it themselves? Classic...
Well, I can tell you that I am intrigued by the range, and do believe you. How much do you weigh?

I googled your board, and found the following. Looks like a really interesting board.
http://www.wakeworld.com/surf/getboard7.asp?ProductID=3243

I saw many more here:
http://www.inlandsurfer.com/shop/Results.asp?category=5

According to their website, it looks like they attend the Surf Expo in Orlando so I am going to have to check out their booth this year. I would like to get one to try out.

Also, how did you find us?

[gle]

I weigh 178 pounds. The wind readings were taken on the shore of a large lake about 8 feet above the water. In my last session I was getting readings pretty steady 8-10 knots with a 3 second average of 9.2 and max. gust of 10.5. Who knows what the wind was up at the kite. I was able to ride with the kite parked a lot of the time. The air temp. was in the mid 80's so cold dense air was not the reason it worked. I could go up wind, although not at a very high angle. I looked at the first site you listed and it reminded me that the board goes along fairly quickly in the light winds. I had thought that there would be a lot of drag but there wasn't. It takes a bit of practise to trim it for best results and for quick turns off the swell.

You should try one if get the chance, I love mine. I found out about the site from the new issue of SBC Kiteboard that had a small write up about you. Thanks I am already enjoying what I have seen on the site. Keep up the good work.

[Lonny]

Thanks again for the positive feedback and additional information.

Your posts and other people that have already contributed to the forum are exactly why I was inspired to start the forum to begin with. It allows all of us to connect in a way that normally we could not, and share knowledge about new aspects of our sport that we might not have gotten exposed to. I am definitely going to check out the boards you mentioned at the Expo.

Its great that you found out through SBC. I have not gotten my new issue yet so I did not even know there was a write up in this month's issue. They were very kind to do an article about us, and I think it will really help grow an already strong core of strapless freaks