here is a question for the kayak surfers.
i have an old sailboard that i was thinking about rigging up to ride waves. the only thing any good on it now is the board. my question is…will it work to just ride waves with. I was thinking of adding a back band, foot rests and thigh strap.
bump!
i think thats a great idea and would like to try it too. i have sat on my windsurfer and paddled it with a double paddle. it was not very comfortable and pretty slow compared to my other boats BUT with the right outfitting i think it could be a great way to recycle all those old ws boards out there. i would want a contoured seat and footstraps plus thigh straps. i think its very doable.
thats just way
more than i’m interested in. I was thinking more like yak board type fun. stand up looks interesting though…
It would depend on a lot of factors …
The first waveskis were just long boards that somebody put a seat on.
I have only seem a few sailboards up close and in personal when I tried it out. Do you have a pic of the board you are going to try this out on?
How is stability for sitting on the board when you are not moving?
How wide and how long?
How much rocker in nose of the board?
The balance point maybe funny on sailboard .
Standing up you can shift your weight a lot easier on the sail board, it may be come a pearl diving monster.
Is the bottom basically flat ?
No matter what the performance is not going to be great. Waveskis are shaped with rails and bottoms with pretty sophisticated profiles to get the most out of surfing sitting down. If you are happy just catching some waves and sliding around why not go for it.
sailboard
dont have a pic. it is 9’ long. its an old o’brien board. it has pretty good front rocker. as much as my sons surfboard. the bottom is completly flat. the stern is flatish like a boogie board.
I am concerned about where the seat may have to be. i’d have to try it out a few times without a seat. i can through a back band on it and adjust it forward and back until i find the right spot.
the board is 24" wide. I was going to put it in the pool today and see how stable it is sitting but its crappy out.
I already have the board and would be just fine with catching some waves. Just don’t want to spend all my time climbing back on. I guess if it works great, if it doesnt out it goes. i’ll probably only really use it 5 times a year. I spend most of my time in a day tourer.
Hmmmm
24 " at 9’ seems a little narrow. Look at the infinity waveski web page for California style boards. The closest you are going to come is something called a merv ski, but it has a tri-plane bottom.
I imagine you will end up putting your butt just behind where the front foot straps are now. (Scheck the balance point, and trim while sitting in the pool.) You will put your front foot straps so that you can have a little bit of bend in your knee, about a hand width of space between your knee and the board. Waveski seats are easy to find on line and glue on. I would consider getting a dive belt - the plastic quick release kind and making your own seat belt. You will have much better control than thigh straps. You will probably want to start out with a diffeent shaped fin and smaller than on sailboards. Probably only about 4-5 inches to start and start with a center fin. If you have outside fins they can be shorter.
Seadart is right on … unless it is a
newer generation, light wind / early planer type, tail probably starts to tuck back in … No worries though … will stil be fun.
Put some waterproof marks every 1" on the board BEFORE you get on it and work on position in the pool … use a consistant / repeatable tool such as a construction square or something that can indicate your fore and aft movements on the board in relation to your marks and body. If possible, have a patient someone take pictures of you from the side … keep everyhing as consistant as poss.
EZ to put footstrap plugs into board too …
Various supply can be found @ fiberglasssupply.com … let me know if you need any help setting them in.
mervski
this is the shape of the hull on my board. thanks
thanks
I’ll do what I can and see if I can have a little fun with this thing.