I agree with Scott - the new wide "phatties" are great. Everybody is releasing something like that too. Lots of distributors call them "Florida boards" .... hmmm, wonder why ; )
Another point: I remember riding my old Litewave 169 back when that was considered a normal size. I never had any problems with that because we didn't really have anything else to use. Point is, you can use a big board as long as the kite isn't over powering you. It's crazy to think I was riding that board when it was gusting to 30! I've definitely settled on my favorite size (around 132x37), but don't be afraid of using a bigger board when the conditions lighten up.
One more thing: if you're rounding up in the lighter stuff, remember to bear off the wind to get up your apparent wind and board speed before trying to edge upwind. You may not need a bigger board at all.
Larry
|