Testing the Gebi Board

Stoke! I got a nice little session in on my new raceboard-inspired kiteboard Saturday. It started with a 6-8 knot breeze, which was barely enough to keep my 14 meter squared kite aloft. I got some brief, shakey rides in those conditions, but it was a real struggle and I couldn't stay upwind. Fortunately the breeze perked up to 8-10 knots as a storm developed inland, which turned out to be plenty of wind for the board.

Because of the board's float and its streamlined shape, it would get planing and accelerate rapidly, boosting the apparent wind in the kite. Then you could load up some pressure on the board's asymmetrically-foiled fins and generate a surprising amount of lift for speed or upwind drive. I imagine I'm missing a lot of the subtleties of how to ride the board, but I'm excited about getting some more time on the water to dial it in. For now here's the video of my first attempt.

Gebi Board Test from James Douglass on Vimeo.