Skim or not to skim??

[Bruce100]

Hi

 

Off to N Spain in a few weeks (Oliva) with the promise of a couple weeks of afternoon c. 15 knotts thermal winds and flatish waterconditions (on Med coast). Tend to ride surf board at the moment (strapped mainly, but occassionaly without) and look out for a decent swell to play around in. Have a couple of twinies, but have not seen much action of late.

 

The question is this - should I invest in a skim for my trip? If the wind is light my 13m Ozone on a twiny is ok for pottering about, but does not generate too many manic grins . If a go for a skim what should I get, the options are endless.

 

Shinn Waterbird looks nice, but so does the North Skim fish. And then there are the wake skates......

 

Views much appreciated.

Cheers

[PAUL0]

North Skimfish

[Andy C]

Not sure if there are more on there but I got a really nice Phase 5 skimboard Brand new off eBay about 3 weeks ago for £99, they're designed for wakesurfing but get great reviews on losethestraps.com for use with a kite. RRP in America is $500 so it was a great deal, and he mentioned that he had another 2 more to sell.

Edited June 21, 2010 by Andy C

[Sammy1599968740]

^^^^^ Silly good deal!

 

Wakeskates not generally for light wind.

 

Skim for sure - i did a review of the Roush Rasta - reasonably priced - wayyyy cheaper than the kite specific ones. waterbird and LF twinskim designed so you dont have to gybe - though skims ride backwards fine!

 

If its choppy and shore dumpy - skims are a bit harder but if you've got real waves and flat water between it'll be awesome fun.

[kiteingcolin]

light winds for the time i spent there a few weeks ago, and it might be worth checking you are allowed to sail there in the summer, I failed to find a nice beach which did not have a little post on the beach entrance which had a kitesurfer picture on it with a thick line painted through it.

[mmuppet]

get an old nobile skimboard nothing will be better - they may look nicer but nothing will perform better in water conditions from glass flat finless to head high waves in light winds

keep the fins in

i learnt all my gybes tacks and jumps using a nobile skimboard - jumped on a surfboard and wondered what the fuss is about riding strapless - i choose to ride straps when i can but conditions dictate

trust me it is 100% relevent cross training for surfboard riding strapless and makes good use of light winds

mart

[Andy C]

Length and width of my Phase 5 board is almost identical to the kite specific directional skins so I think it should perform very similarly to other kite specific ones in light wind. It's not a wakeskate which is a totally different thing.

Edited June 22, 2010 by Andy C

[Bruce100]

Thanks for the thoughts guys.

 

Colin - I am advised that kites are ok during the summer north of the marina. Where about where you?

[kiteingcolin]

drove from Tarifa right up to the borders of france/italy, taking in as many beaches along the way as we could, following the guide book of kite/windsurf beaches,

we were shocked to find the best beaches were seasonal, and concluded if there were sunbathers around the plausibility was it was a kite free area,even if the beach guide made no mention of the fact, there were empty stretches of beach but access was poor or not available,

[Bruce100]

Cheers for the heads up Colin.

 

I am making enquiries of the authorities in Oliva in an attempt to get the full picture - I will be well pi**ed if it turns out that I cannot kite in the high season given that all the tourist information literature talks about kite surfing / pole dancing etc.....

 

The management will also be well cheesed off at the prospect of me having a long face for two weeks

 

drove from Tarifa right up to the borders of france/italy, taking in as many beaches along the way as we could, following the guide book of kite/windsurf beaches,

we were shocked to find the best beaches were seasonal, and concluded if there were sunbathers around the plausibility was it was a kite free area,even if the beach guide made no mention of the fact, there were empty stretches of beach but access was poor or not available,

[Andy-j]

To answer the original question: i wouldn't take a skim on holiday. I'd take a TT and if it's not blowy enough then i'd do something else!

 

Thats me though, i like my TTs.

[Mike B]

If you want riding.. get one... take one.

 

They can save a trip.. but if you REALLY not that bothered about lightwinds and are not going to say "I should have bought that skim" to yourself every time the wind is sub 10kts then you should be ok, but if not... then definitely get one!

Shinn is the easiest to ride, nobile probably the most skatey/earliest to go, and the north the biggest..

 

skim.. aka.. lightwind insurance!

[g0nz01599968659]

Nobile is a lot of fun they get better when you're not grovelling in light wind tbh. Once you get a bit of confidence tacking, gybing & poping it - lose the fins!! Makes it way easier to do handles passes & ole spins (my current favorite thing to do). You'll learn so much about foot placement & weighting riding strapless on a skim Just get one!!

[mondeoman]

Just arrived home from working away, to find my new Nobile Skim sat their waiting for me. Looking forward to the light winds......eh......wtf??

[mmuppet]

too many people put down the value of skim board riding passing it off as a light wind summer laugh and of no more value than that......... learn to ride one and you enter a whole new world of kitesurfing - anyone wishing to get into surfboard riding should ride a skimboard and learn it all on that cos it is 100% relevent until you want the need to be able to top turn and feel the push of the wave which you cannot do on tts, skims or on boards of less than 5ft 6 (sure you can use kite power to be pulled and stay on a wave...)

 

do it - best thing i ever did was buy a nobile skimboard - want one again tbh ! cant ride my surfboard in 2" of backwash

 

bit of tropical inspiration powered by best kiteboarding

 

 

that was on an 11 - i can now match them low wind speeds using a 9m kite (my largest kite) which is far better fun than a slower tractor pulling kite - superb low end on new bullaroo

 

mart

Edited June 24, 2010 by mmuppet

[blowmeharder]

Forget skimboards......get an Ocean Rodeo Mako King ...Awesome lightwind performance (better than my nobile skim by miles) and a kwik switchery of straps and its a mutant gr8 in the waves ...truly multi purpose ....Pricey tho'

[The_DevilsRazor]

too many people put down the value of skim board riding passing it off as a light wind summer laugh and of no more value than that......... learn to ride one and you enter a whole new world of kitesurfing - anyone wishing to get into surfboard riding should ride a skimboard and learn it all on that cos it is 100% relevent until you want the need to be able to top turn and feel the push of the wave which you cannot do on tts, skims or on boards of less than 5ft 6 (sure you can use kite power to be pulled and stay on a wave...)

 

do it - best thing i ever did was buy a nobile skimboard - want one again tbh ! cant ride my surfboard in 2" of backwash

 

bit of tropical inspiration powered by best kiteboarding

 

 

that was on an 11 - i can now match them low wind speeds using a 9m kite (my largest kite) which is far better fun than a slower tractor pulling kite - superb low end on new bullaroo

 

mart

 

Just wondering when riding strapless how do you go about doing a deep water start. All the vids I,ve found of people starting ate in the shallows and they just jump on and are away. What's happens if you come off in deep water.

[markey]

I hold the board with one hand and dive the kite with the other , takes a bit of practise but not to tricky