This board is the 5th board I have made and is hands down the best board I have ridden for our local conditions ( choppy, surf, many sub 15 knot days).
Download DXF Plans for B5 - Light Wind Board
Download PDF Plans for B5 - Light Wind Board
++ Rides over chop like a dream, soft ride, excellent upwind, gets going in low 10 knots with a 12 m kite ( 77kg), light so it doesn't feel like a large board.
- 44cm width can make it hard to load the edge and hold it when wind hits high teens. However, I used 2" fins and the set up was fine for 20 knots conditions. Messed up finished but may have started a new 'leper look' for kiteboards future. Yet to be really stress tested in big surf. [Update - not problems in surf, big surf too)
Construction
Its big at 137 x 44cm. I made it with just a single layer of 6mm paulownia wood planks.35 mm rocker, 5mm concave.
Layup:
160 oz e-glass
450gm stitched e-glass
65mm uni-carbon straps for torsional stiffness
6mm Paulownia core (with 4oz e-glass reinforcement under footpads)
repeat as above.
Epoxy, ABS rails (4.5mm)
IMPORTANT - Footpad holes are 6.25" not the standard 6". Fin hole spacing 38mm.
Due to the thinness of the board you'll need to drill footpad insert holes all the way through or risk delamination.
IMPORTANT - Plans assume 10mm rail material. Outline is reduced for by this amount as the plans are for the template to route this.
This has been my main board for about a year now and I absolutely love it. It is a magic light wind board and gets me loads more time on the water than most. Super comfortable.
ReplyDeleteOne thing noteworthy is that the rails being so parallel make it go upwind brilliantly but at the same time it means you need to ride it with a lot of backfoot pressure. This means after a few hundred meters you'll find you're quads starting really work hard.