Kiteboards come in all different shapes and sizes to offer something for everyone with any style and all conditions. Lets be real though if your Kelly Slater you can make a dinning table look good in the water. In general the lighter the wind or the heavier the rider the larger the board. Four types of boards you are guaranteed to see at the beach are:
Wave Board
If you already surf you are bound to enjoy this and find you love your surfboard more than you even knew. While twin-tips can be used in the surf, they just do not compare to a wave board. Fashioned in the basic shape and fin configurations as surfboards, some wave boards come with integrated traction pads and foot straps but do not neglect the simple use of wax and a stomp pad. For a more “genuine” surflike experience, take the foot straps off. Because of their high volume they offer high buoyancy so they can pop you up and riding upwind with the least wind and the heavy rider. The transition will be the hardest part of converting from twin tip because you will have to learn to jib turn or ride blind.
Twin Tip Board
The most universal of kiteboards, the twin-tip can be used for all three of the riding styles (free ride, wakestyle and surf). Symmetrical at both ends, the twin-tip looks a lot like a wakeboard and is best suited for free ride and wake-style riding. By far the most commonly ridden board, the twin tip’s strong suit is for free riding. Twin-tips are ridden with footpads and straps. If big air and wake style tricks are what you’re looking for, then the twin-tip is for you. The following two boards are twin tips of different style.
Light Wind Board
When you are milking every bit of power from the wind and you still cant cut crosswind then its time to get out a light wind board. These boards are a bit longer than your average twin tip and tend to be much wider. Because of the board’s large surface area they allow you to ride in very light winds, when you might otherwise be sitting on the beach. This board can be a great bread and butter board for heaver riders or those of use who are cursed to light winds.
A twin tip at heart, the wake style board differs from a twin-tip in how one’s feet connect to the board. Instead of the footpad and strap setup of a twin tip, a wake style board utilizes bindings or boots. Offering high levels of support and cushion, bindings often restrict flexibility and are reserved for the die-hard wakeboard enthusiast. Not optimal for beginners, these boards are best suited for advanced wake style riding because of their difficulty to put on while flying a kite. I am often asked if a regular wakeboard will work for kiteboarding. Of course a wakeboard would work for kiteboarding, a piece of ply would work as well. Some of the problems with wakeboards is that they are heavy, small, and often have large rocker. The large rocker holds the board dragging behind the boat and provides smooth landing but when kiteboarding will only provide drag to slow you down. Kiteboards have minimal rocker and are nearly flat to provide the least amount of drag.