Finally I got a chance to ride the board for a couple of days. After the first quick spin, I adjusted two things: re-grooving the EVA footpads for better grip, and changing the fins. Grip is perfect now. First I had a set of cheapo surf fins, 100mm base x 120mm depth, with quite a bit of sweep. They might be good for surfing (dunno), but for kiting, they are a drift anchor. As soon as the board speed picks up, you feel that invisible hand grabbing your tail and holding you back.
So I took that set of cheapo surf fins, a jig saw and a grinder, and made my own fins
. This is actually rather easy. I was looking for less sweep, less depth and an approved foil and found those FCS looked like what I wanted. Made my personal copy, cutting down the plastic fins to 80x100, with a NACA 0012 foil (outside) and hollowed out on the inside, and I must say, I am delighted with the result: the board came alive at speed, enough grip, good balance. The rear fin is an ordinary small 80mm base x 100mm depth surf fin and works well so far.
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I rode the board in 12-20kn, side to side-on, sloppy shore break, from knee high to shoulder high. It is very easy to ride, super stable (the wide outline with loads of width in tip and tail works really well in those conditions) and feels perfectly balanced. Going out through the shore break without any problems or pearling or anything, accelerating fast with little wind, going upwind nicely. I found it rides best with a rather wider stance, I did not have to move the feet around much, just shifting the weight did it, which makes for a nice lazy ride in the shore break.
Playing with the slop snowboard-style, the board is loose and turns on a dime, goes rail to rail with ease, and carries well through tight turns without losing momentum. Nice! I did a couple small jumps (I'm not very good at this), and had the board glued to my feet, sticking the landings on the first attempt. Very nice! Did not have a chance to try it in clean waves, but I carved some fast turns behind a wave, to see how it goes, and it tracked well, felt good and stable, and I could lay in with all I had without spinning out, as long as I kept pressure on the front foot.
To conclude, I am very happy with this board. Great shape Mr. Amundsen, thanks for that!