light wind kiteboard

[tjacques]

well i have been waiting for a excuse to spend money. i need a light wind kiteboard. choices spleen door, 154 or 164. the glide, marty, jason and some other utah sailors have. Iam 215 and want to ride in light wind with my 15m instinct. also would want to take with my dakine coffin travel bag. anyone have input? can you get a door in the gorge, or around here? any other light wind options?
todd

[Marty Lowe]

This Jimmy Lewis Flight Deck ,would have to be a good board...

http://www.bigwinds.com/kite/store/kite ... uctID=2131
http://www.realkiteboarding.com/index.c ... em&id=1270
http://www.ikitesurf.com/buysell/classi ... =retrieval

I like your board better all around, than the Glide.

The glide is still the light wind master
(in the boards i have tried, havn't been on the doors yet.)

My Plyde (plywood version) is just as good, just heavier..

Big boards are a pain in the arse to fly (airlines) with.

-Marty

[tjacques]

marty thanks. i think you are refering to my crazy fly all around, 145x49. it is a great board, but i think i need more light wind planning advantage for my size. the glide is 149 x? , jason big guy rides it. the spleen has good write ups about wide range , les rides it and he is 230. travel 164x 49. i think i have to pay to be big, i have a dakine coffin that i think i could squeeze it into. the jimmy lewis looks nice but will it help me more than my all around or the glide?
thanks

[bordy]

Build a plyde and see what you think! Or just get a surf board and learn to ride strapless!!!!! If its not windy enough to jump!

[Kenny]

I own the SS Glide and I just bought the Monster Door 164x50. I have only taken the Monster Door out once. It definitely has more low end than the Glide. It has a more "locked in" feel on the water due to the larger fins. I like the loose feeling of the Glide, so I am going to take the fins off the Door to see how I like it. The big door feels huge. It is harder to rotate with that big sucker compared to the Glide.

I prefer a low-end board with straps because the wind here is gusty enough that I can almost always jump when doing light wind sessions at Rush or Utah Lake. Out of hundreds of light wind session, I have only had ten to twenty where the wind was light enough to ride and stay upwind, but not enough to jump.

I have never taken the larger boards on the airlines. I try to pack a shorter, wide board - something like the Best 133 Float. Unless, I am headed to Maui, I always pack the big kites.

[tjacques]

kenny thanks. so the monster door is bigger than les's door? i believe he has a 164x49. same width as mine just allot longer and made for light wind. do you know about the other door? 154? could this be a good step? am i correct in feeling that my board at 145x49 is close to the glide?
thanks

[Kenny]

Todd,

The regular Door is 164 x 45, the monster door is 5 cm wider. The 154 Door is closer in dimensions to the Glide.

Kenny

[Kenny]

I tried the Monster Door without fins. I thought it was a big improvement. It rode more like the Glide. I like the loose feeling of a finless board in light wind. The board also seemed to be a lot faster without the fins. The M Door rides a bit deeper in the water than the Glide. Of course, with a board that size going upwind is super easy even in very light wind (8 - 9 mph).

The Door has amazing low-wind capability. I was able to ride in wind that was so marginal that I could barely keep the SA in the sky. The only thing I don't like about it is the size. It does feel like a door. You especially feel it on rotations. I had to really throw it around on smaller rotations.

With the fins, the M Door has more top end than the Glide.