Skimboard Reviews

[Lonny]

One of my goals for losethestraps is to have rider reviews of strapless gear. Also, several people have requested reviews, so I have started this topic to post information about the skimboards that we all ride. It is my hope that we can compile a lot of information about many of the boards on the market to help everyone find a skim that is right for them. Since there are not a lot of skimboards available for demo, and to avoid as much buyer remorse as possible your feedback regarding your board or any of the boards already listed in this thread would be really helpful.

I want this to be an honest an open topic so that other users that come here can find unbiased information about choosing a skimboard and not a pimping section. It would be great if everyone post the following information in their reviews:

1) Overall length measured in inches.
2) Overall width at the widest point of the board.
3) Nose rocker - How far from the nose does it begin and how much.
3) Tail rocker - How much it has and how far from the tail does it start.
5) Bottom Shape
6) Include at least 3 pictures showing the top, bottom, and rail of your board.
7) Finally include your overall impressions of the board. Wind range, jumpability, what conditions you ride it in, etc.

Please let me know if there is anything else you guys would like included in the list of guidelines. Share the stoke - Skip the stroke.

[Lonny]

For about 4 years I have been riding my original Phase5 Prop, which I absolutely love. Phase5 is a company owned by ZAP, which is a well respected producer of skimboards. Their website is here for more information http://www.phase5boards.com/ Phase5 is their board designed mainly for wakesurfing, but also works very well for kite skimming. At the 2008 Surf Expo in Orlando I got to finally meet Bob Smetts, the owner and lead designer for ZAP and Phase5. We talked a lot about his boards, and I have been testing a few of his newer designs. Here is the new toy I have been testing and riding for the last two months:

2008 Phase5 Prop Top

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2008 Phase5 Prop Bottom

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2008 Phase5 Prop Rail

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2008 Phase5 Prop Rail Shot 2

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Overall impressions: I have been riding this board for about 2 months now and have ridden it in as little as 10 mph up to 30 mph. It has excellent range and feels good as long as you choose the right kite for the wind. I weigh 160 lbs and can ride it with a 12 meter Switchblade IDS starting in 10 mph. Once the wind hits 15 mph I can ride my 10, and in 20 mph I jump on the 8 for the super session! This board has more rocker than my old Prop, which allows it to work really nicely in waves or heavy chop. In small to medium surf (2-3 foot) it is a lot of fun, and the additional nose rocker makes pearling the board much harder. This skimboard is the best board I have ridden yet in surf.

This board has good pop, and works nicely to work on all the ollies you can possibly throw.

The only knock I have on this board is that in butter flat water the board is a bit slower than my other Prop, which I think is due to the rocker line. Also it would be great if a grab rail would be added.

I always prefer pads for my boards vs. wax. In my opinion, its more comfortable to ride especially when you are launching some nice jumps. The pads on this board are also especially comfortable, grippy and look cool too! Also, I hate to have to search for wax when I need to get on the water.

Conclusions - Excellent wind range and ability to ride well in all water conditions. Really excels in chop or small to medium surf. Super nice pads. Single fin option is nice to have even if you do not use it. Construction and finish is excellent. Also the thickness of this board would work really well for even heavier riders.

Here are the overall dimensions of the 2008 Phase5 Prop board are the following:
Length: 54"
Width: 20.5"
Thickness: 3/4"
Nose Rocker: 2.25" beginning approximately 20" from the nose
Tail Rocker: 5/8" beginning 20" from the tail
Bottom Shape: Flat
Weight: 6.6 lbs.

Let me know if anyone has any other questions I can answer.

[pebbles]

I started riding a Cabal SX52 then went to the Crazyfly Skimboard, and now I have this Roush Creations Megaloaf. Really nice board for surf, every time I think I'll eat it, this board pulls through. My previous skims just didn't work in the surf. My conditions are either flat or choppy w/ waves.

Length-53"
Width-20 3/4"
Nose rocker- 19" w/ 2" rise
Tail rocker- 16" w/ 1/2" rise
Weight- 7lbs.
Bottom Shape- slight concave
Pads are very sticky and the whole top has a texture deck including grab rails.
Quad fin setup w/2-4 small surf-style fins. I rarely ride w/ fins, but if I do, I use the bottom 2 smaller fins when the surf gets big. Feels like it is on rails, w/ good upwind and carving w/ 4 fins. Using a 13m EZE and 8m Vicious I can ride 12-25, lulls below 10-12mph and I can't stay upwind. My weight is 210lbs. Oh yeah, it is 2" thick.

[Slyde]

DSC00727 1.JPG (61.54 KiB) Viewed 122651 times

This was my first skim. I got it primarily for light wind riding but soon got the skim bug, now light wind is not such a priority. I put fin boxes in it at one time but only used it that way a few times-dont know what possessed me to do that-such a stupid concept. I would never ride a finned skim now. Blutack in the holes seals them up well.
Overall a great skim. At the time was dirt cheap.
Dimensions: 53x20inches. 2 inches nose rocker. 1/4 inch tail rocker over the last 4-6 inches only. Essentially a very flat rocker so good for light winds.
Rail shape very boxy. Construction is glass over polystyrene foam. quite solid but I have ground thru a rail eventually and it took on a little water so I had to dry it out and repair it. Has complete soft deck. I needed to cut a few grooves in the foam with a soldering iron to get some traction but quite comfy to ride and no wax needed.

Performance: Quite heavy so grabbed transitions etc need a bit of hand muscle. probably too heavy IMO. Ride excellent in butter, quite fast and goes well in v light due to flat rocker. Quite a buoyant board and with the boxy rails I find it hard to carve in surf as I'm only 70 kg. Probably suit a heavier rider. Overall the ride is quite smooth. Fish tail makes the tail a little wide for control in a breeze but i think is good for pop. Quite an even outline well balanced between nose and tail ie not an egg or a pin.
Overall. A good cheap entry into the world of skim kiting

[Slyde]

This was my second skim. I bought it off a pro skimmer so its not really kite specific but I know a lot of riders have this board and like it.
Dimensions: 50x201/4 inches, 2 inches nose rocker, just a hint of tail rocker-less than 1/4 inch. The Roush boards are supposed to have some concave but a straight edge on the bottom of this board looks like its dead flat. Construction is closed cell foam core and glass deck, carbon bottom with small amount of plastic inside the edges like a modern twin tip (cant remember the name of that plastic). I think they also make a non carbon version. There is also a slightly bigger version but I've never seen one. Has a nice grab indentation all the way around which is a nice touch and I think stiffens the board a little. Rails are tapered but come to a hard edge all round. My version has factory tail pad and front pad and textured deck so needs no wax. If you can get this type of deck I'd highly recommend it as its really comfortable and perfect non-skid. The board is really light and has massive pop with little effort. Unfortunately I recently broke mine after 2 years riding, probably its too light - I would go for an all glass model in the future.
Shape is egg with wide point back a little so it doesnt ride backwards as well as some. I found it difficult to carve this board to toeside- tends to want to track straight ahead.
Overall a great flat water board with massive pop and high speed but not so good in waves.Its quite demanding of technique with spins etc as it tends to catch an edge quite easily if you get it wrong. Bottom end is OK but its a smaller skim than some so needs a little speed to work. Best to get something bigger for the really light days. I'd probably go for one of the newer Roush Surftech boards if I was getting a Roush board - they have a more balanced outline and more concave and are a little longer. Pic is of deck only as I broke the bottom. I might try to fix it and relaminate the bottom in eglass. I'm sure some other riders will have something else to say about this board.

[Slyde]

My third and current skim. Only recently purchased and ridden 3 times, so my opinion will be biased towards it as with any new gear-you dont want to figure you have bought a lemon when you get a new board.
Dimensions: 54x201/4, 3 inches nose rocker, 1/4 inch tail rocker. More surf oriented bottom shape with a subtle concave in nose turning to flat , turning into subtle spiral vee in tail.
Rails taper somewhat then square off in the last half with hard edges all round. This board has the most rocker of any skim I have ridden. Seems to be 3 stage rocker with a central flat area.
Construction is eglass over foam-seems really solid-in fact heavier than I expected but OK weight. Dont want to break another one!!. Mine came without deck pads so I padded it up and used 3M grip tape elsewhere. It doesnt have grab rails so needs texture near the rails for grabbing.
I've ridden it in super light drifter on a 12 ERA, 10 knots on 12 ERA and in small surf 15-20 knots on 10 ERA. Low end is not as good as a really flat skim but still damn good. In the flat its OK, quite fast but sometimes feels a bit sticky probably due to the tail rocker. In the waves with a bit more wind it really excels. Carves well to toeside and feels fun to surf with kite depowered. Pop from flat water is not as good as a super light carbon model but with timing can be good. I really like this board because its just great all round. You can rip along in the flat wash and pop nice jumps off kickers, or carve it and surf a little. It seems easier to do pop shuvits than my last board-the rails seem more forgiving. Rides well backwards because of the balanced outline but the nose rocker means you need to keep weight forward when riding backwards. It responds well to tail pressure and I find I can hold more power on this skim than others I have ridden- I use the same kite size as I would on a TT. I can see I'm going to spend a lot more time in the surf with this board this summer whereas in the past I might have grabbed a TT or a surfboard when there was small surf. From what I gather this is much the same board as the phase 5 prop that Lonny rides but I think there may have been some mods to the bottom shape and rocker over the years. You can get a carbon version I think.

[chanson]

great idea Lonny..

I will ad my review later today.!

[patrickrynne]

DIG Boards Kite Skim

An argentinean company (http://www.digboards.com.ar/) that makes a kite devoted skim board that looks very similar to the Nobile board.

Thoughts:

I have had about 10 sessions on this board so far. The board seems very dense (heavy) compared to, say a carbon skimboard, but I feel safe to say the board is probably indestructible. The higher weight seems to reduce the jitters going over chop, and I can't really notice any difference in flat water yet. Haven't tried the board without fins yet, but reading the forum here, sounds like i should. Still a newbie, I am not launching airs yet, but I can imagine the heavier board may make it more challenging.

The deck has this very nice sticky grip on it (green), so no pads or wax needed (very nice feature). Overall, stoked. -patrick

[Dready]

Well this season I had the opportunity and the honor to test and review boards for my sponsor Roush creation skim board in combination with surftech.
To be availed to review these boards first I will have to dive then on two categories: freestyle skim board or wave riding skim boards. (All of this is done on a kite skimmer point of view.)
So I will start with the freestyle skims first

Eric Roush - 51 3/4 Morphius
LENGTH: 4'3" 129.54 cm
NOSE: 9 3/4" at" 22.86 cm
MID: 20"" 50.80 cm
TAIL: 11 1/2" at" 27.94 cm
THICK: 3/4"" 7.62 cm
VOLUME: cc
FINS:
TECHNOLOGY: Epoxy Skim

This will be the best freestyle skim board on my personal opinion size wise can hold the weight of most riders and steel go up wind on light conditions, is unique concave technology aloud the board to stay on the water and on extremely over power riding (over 25 knots and on) also helps to land most of the tricks without slipping out of the board and gives it a unique pop that you cannot get on most of the boards.
Also this eliminates the needs of fins placing it as an intermediate and advance kite skimming board (not the best for beginners or persons learning how to ride strapless)
Is a very light board so is really easy to pop, spin, kick or hold which makes it a perfect board for most of the tricks on kite skimming.
Construction wise it feels really solid and so far have prove to hold most of the heavy free fall landing that comes with kite skimming, it could also be found on a costume carbon version for those afraid of breaking boards or those that like to put your boards for test like rail slides, kickers and really aggressive riding.
Its shape has amazing abilities that’s remains me riding an skate board a good nose rocker that helps to avoids sinking the nose on uneven landings and a good wide tail that give you a solid feeling for olies and power up landings.
This board actually comes with side channels on the top for a better hand grip on aerial grabs tricks.
For being a really thing board and having sharp edges it cuts on the chops like a hot knife on butter, this also give it the unique advantage of using the board rails as a fin to steer it in any direction or to break speed.
It is an extremely responsive board and by changing your stands on it can make the board speed up or slow down, go more or less up wind and if you learn how to kick it well you can make it spin on a really control way 180, 360 and even 540 without any problem.
On the costume version it can be modified for more demanding riders and change the material from epoxy to carbon to get more durability, add more concave for riders that like to be power up, texture tops for better grip or simply costume art paint to personalize the board.
The only cons that I could find in this board come towards wave riding. It could easy hold small waves but after certain size and power of the wave the kite power did not help to ride the waves and you end up cutting trough the waves, or the nose of the board dives in or the speed that it reach makes it hard to a stay on the board but we have to remember and to take in consideration that kite skimming and skim boarding have different speeds and uses of the edges of the board.
As a pro for this board I could find that it makes and excellent board for wakeboarding (as good as any wake skate) and of course it is a top of the line for not saying the best board for its original use.

Cheers.

Ps: soon you will get my next review on other of the Roush creations master pieces.

[coloradokiter]

Here's a review of my 08 Wave Zone Rage. In 09 they've changed the name to "Wrath" and here is the link to their website http://www.wavezoneskim.com/shop/custom.asp?recid=2.

Length: 53"
Width: 20 1/4"
Nose rocker: 2 /34" starting at 24" back
Tail rocker: 3/4" starting at 15" back
thickness: 1/2"
Flat bottom
No fins
weight: 6 lbs with the full deck padding set up
construction: (per the website) Divinycell Super Green with poly wrap rails, power rods and wrap glass.

I've not ridden any other boards to compare this one against. I ride it on both flatwater conditions and surf conditions and for me it rides both very well. No real issues with chop other than my skill level. In the surf it rides great and slides right through the whitewater or rolls over it with ease, no bouncing around. It has a really nice sharp edge so it rides and cuts through real smoothly. I absolutely love having a full deck pad set up since I move around on it a lot. I put on the deck pad myself and had recently added the kickers on both ends and the arch bar in the middle. The arch bar was a great upgrade since it helps me use my toes a lot more for spinning the board. The little extra grip the arch gives is very helpful. It also helps me feel my foot position so I'm not looking at the board as much now. I goes upwind fantastically in a forward position and just okay riding it backwards. But it rides well in both directions. I like that a lot since I usually ride out through the breaks backwards so I can spin toe side (forward) just before a wave for my top turn and then ride the wave back in correctly. So the ability to ride comfortably forward or backward is a big plus for me. The quality of the build seems bombproof. I've got 30-40 days on it now and no issues, no cracks. then again I'm still learning so I haven't really punished it either but it has had some good solo rides through the shore break .

I'll add more once I know more about what to compare it against. In the meantime check out their website. I thought it was good price for I what have.

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[57palm]

Photos posted now!!!

OK after lurking on this site for some time and getting the skim bug I finally got some TOW and felt I should post a few reviews. The first is for a Vic foamie medium. I bought this board recently used for $75 as a cheap intro to kiteboard skiming. After a few sessions I was hooked. Here is the info.

Victoria foamie medium
length-48 inches
width-19 inches
nose rocker- 2inches 19 back
tail rocker-none
bottom-flat
weight-maybe 6-7lbs ?
deck-waxed


Shape fairly squashed in tail and rounder nose, not really a wave skim, but hey there is lots on the internet about these just not about kiting. I am 6'3" 185lbs, I kite on Vancouver Island Canada, meaning full wetsuit etc. All my riding is done in open ocean conditions, in light winds (10-15kts) the water can be fairly flat but will still always have some significant chop and swell so not flat water by most standards in all stronger wind it gets down right knarly. I found riding the foamie a little tricky at first definitely different than a regular kiteboard. this board was light tracked well when edged but super slippery when you got a little lazy on technique. It took me a few try's to learn to stay on my feet but got it after a while. The good about this board, good float, nice and light, cheap. The main draw back was how super slippery this thing is and it tended to really stuff the nose in on any swell or chop, not good for that at all (maybe a little too small for me). As for air/pop I am too new at skimming the really have good opinion on this. This board was fun but a real challenge and demanded good technique.


The second board I can review is a Roush morpeus custom kiteboard. I bought this board recently off ebay, I was the only bidder and got a smoking deal on it real happy.

Roush Morpheus Custom Kiteboard
length-51inches
width-20inches
nose rocker-1 5/8 at 18inches
tail rocker- 1/8 at 15inches
bottom shape- slight concave through middle about 1/8, flat nose/tail
weight- a little heavy about 8lbs
This board is 1.5 inches thick, it has a moulded in grab rail and 4 removeable fins on the back. It also has a birch deck laminated in for strength, hence the weight. Custom artwork, truly a hand made work of art and it performs too! For photos look at the mega loaf on this site.

Riding the board and comparing it to the foamie they are night and day different. Side by side the two boards are very close in shape, although this one has a little more drawn out tail and nose, more wave shaped. The ride is very different, I tried it first without fins and quite simply this thing edged so well I thought I had fins on!!! Even when powered this thing could hold like crazy and was super forgiving when compared to the foamie. The conditions were fairly choppy and I was expecting to have a problem keeping the nose up as it had less nose rocker than the foamie, to my surprise even with lots of front foot pressure I could not stuff the nose. It edged super good and cut through chop like it wasn't there. Later I went out with the fins on first all 4 then just the 2 small rear ones. With the fins this thing tracked upwind really well and had super traction but I could feel the extra drag from them. I decided the only time I will likely use the fins is when there are some waves or a good shore break to ride, even then good technique could overcome without them due to this boards edging ability. So to recap, this board holds an edge like a kiteboard with fins, cuts through swell and chop easily and is very forgiving for carving and transitions. The bad is likely its added weight will make it harder to do airs (but sure helps with chop), and its concave may make it a little harder to slide (but grips like crazy). I found its speed and low end to be good but there is likely better out there.

For both of these boards I rode in 12gusting 17kts with 14m eclipse thruster and was upwind except in the lulls (12kts or less) Also rode in 14 gusting 20 on 10m ocean rodeo rise and was upwind no problem.

I would recommend this board to anyone looking to cross over to skimming and having to deal with some harsh water conditions. This would be a great small wave board too. Not likely the best for flat water tricks but good everywhere else, For what I do and where I ride I am very happy.

Got out another day yesterday. Was 22-29kts on 10M rise. Knarly conditions with 6ft shore break and huge ocean swell/chop. Rode my mako with straps mostly but switched to the Roush later on. This board did great in the rough stuff, I was able to stay on in the worst of it. I tried some shore break waves but my technique lacked and I fell down several times on transtions. I never tried the fins but they likely would have helped.

Reuben

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[Lonny]

Hey Reuben,

Thanks for coming out of the shadows, and officially joining LTS! Thank you also for taking the time to post your thoughts on your two boards. I am sure many people will find your comments and feedback very helpful when looking for a new ride! Keep that stoke going and when you find your camera post some pics of you ripping! Keep that stoke going - tons more strapless fun ahead for ya!

[Slyde]

ZAP large Pro revisited.
Greetings skimmers. 1 year ago I posted a review of this board further up this thread so I thought I'd update my opinions after riding it solidly for a year:
I have ridden this board in all sorts of conditions, from butter to chop to waves from light wind drifters to 25-30 knot days on a 7m kite. Overall impression is that it is a great allround board especially geared towards surf more than flat water. The low end is OK but I think there is just too much nose rocker for the best light wind performance and glide. I know that the older ZAP pros had less nose rocker so maybe this was a modification? Dont know what the 2010 rockerline is but I dont think this much nose rocker is required for a kite-skim in general. When the board is powered on a wave it rides great. I find that the more I do full speed spins and oles etc the more I am in favour of a flat rocker board that will glide when the kite power is high and neutralised, and when the kite is placed lower will pull easily toward the kite for handle passes. So if I was redesigning this board i would go back to less nose rocker for kiting (as opposed to pure skimming or wakesurfing which may need the rocker).
This board is solid. I have hit a few rocks and ground it on a lot of shelly sand and only have one small ding to show for it. Durability is top notch. Have never used it on a slider so can't comment there. The build allows a little flex which is also nice. I do think it is just a bit too heavy though but you cant have it both ways I guess. I have bust my hand open twice grabbing this board. Maybe thats my bad technique but I think a lighter board wouldn't have to be ollied so hard into my hand to grab. ( I'm losing my nerve to grab switch!)
So overall I'm still happy with this board especially for surf. If I was designing my perfect flat water board it would have less nose rocker and be a bit lighter and then I think I could go for the medium as opposed to the large which would get my front foot closer to the nose and be better balanced for tricks. I guess the fact that I have ridden a twintip maybe 4 times in the past year speaks for itself.
If you want an allround board you wont go wrong with this. If the designer is reading...lose the extra nose rocker.

[Lonny]

ZAP large Pro revisited.
Greetings skimmers. 1 year ago I posted a review of this board further up this thread so I thought I'd update my opinions after riding it solidly for a year:
I have ridden this board in all sorts of conditions, from butter to chop to waves from light wind drifters to 25-30 knot days on a 7m kite. Overall impression is that it is a great allround board especially geared towards surf more than flat water. The low end is OK but I think there is just too much nose rocker for the best light wind performance and glide. I know that the older ZAP pros had less nose rocker so maybe this was a modification? Dont know what the 2010 rockerline is but I dont think this much nose rocker is required for a kite-skim in general. When the board is powered on a wave it rides great. I find that the more I do full speed spins and oles etc the more I am in favour of a flat rocker board that will glide when the kite power is high and neutralised, and when the kite is placed lower will pull easily toward the kite for handle passes. So if I was redesigning this board i would go back to less nose rocker for kiting (as opposed to pure skimming or wakesurfing which may need the rocker).
This board is solid. I have hit a few rocks and ground it on a lot of shelly sand and only have one small ding to show for it. Durability is top notch. Have never used it on a slider so can't comment there. The build allows a little flex which is also nice. I do think it is just a bit too heavy though but you cant have it both ways I guess. I have bust my hand open twice grabbing this board. Maybe thats my bad technique but I think a lighter board wouldn't have to be ollied so hard into my hand to grab. ( I'm losing my nerve to grab switch!)
So overall I'm still happy with this board especially for surf. If I was designing my perfect flat water board it would have less nose rocker and be a bit lighter and then I think I could go for the medium as opposed to the large which would get my front foot closer to the nose and be better balanced for tricks. I guess the fact that I have ridden a twintip maybe 4 times in the past year speaks for itself.
If you want an allround board you wont go wrong with this. If the designer is reading...lose the extra nose rocker.

Slyde, great follow up to your original review. I agree 100% with your comments regarding the rocker. Since I have been riding Zaps now for 5 plus years I have been lucky enough to establish a relationship with the company, the owner and master shaper Bob Smetts. He has been watching the growing aspect of kite skimming closely and has been very open to feedback and building a refined machine exclusively for use with a kite.

This past spring I gave him all my feedback on his boards, and how we could make a board specifically better just for kite skimming. I talked with him about several of the points you brought up as well as some other refinements that I thought should be included in a kite specific model. The first generation of this board was delivered to me late this Summer, and it has not been a disappointment, only the wind has. In fact, this is the best board I have ridden to date, hands down.I do not know if you saw it, but check it out here:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=417

I get the feeling there will be a model specifically built for kiting from Zap in the near future...

[Rolavi]

I have been thinking of a new bigger custom skim.

I have been having a blast riding the surftech Morphius 51" for the past year. However, at 200-210 lbs I was thinking of something bigger/thicker for the lighter wind in the waves without having to go too big on my kite.

Reubens custom thick Rousch looks nice and I noticed on Dreddy's website has a model Dread Pro 1 model that seems like a thicker Morphius as well.

http://www.kiteskimming.com/pageID_8269427.html

I was thinking of the custom Rousch with the outline/width/rails/rocker of Mophius with the thickness of the aloha loaf 1.25 and the length of the Mega loaf 53" with tiny bit of concave and no fin plugs.

Any advise on my idea of a custom rousch and/or other production ideas would be appreciated.