Tech Talk: 5 reasons why board weight matters
25.08.2021
Does board weight actually matter?
Today we’re going to discuss board weight and if or why it matters. A lot of people are always looking for the lightest board possible. If you see people walking in a shop checking a rack of boards, they’re always picking them up to check which board is the lightest. But does the board weight actually matter for you and for your riding style?
3 reasons why you want a light board
What might surprise you, is that the lightest board might not always be the best board for you. Why would you want a light board?
- It could help when you want a board that feels really alive under your feet. A board that’s really responsive. A light board will give you that. But at the same time it could also make a board feel twitchy, like it’s too responsive.
- If you want to do a lot of freestyle, a really light board might help jumping up. But again at the same time a light board is caught easier by the wind, so it might blow away fairly easily.
- In general a lot of lighter riders and light-footed riders really like a lighter board.
2 reasons why you want a heavier board
There are a lot of people who actually benefit by a heavier board as well:
- If you’re riding a lot of bigger waves, a heavier board can really help punching through those choppy conditions. Which are almost always there, because when the wind is strong the waves are big. But there’s also some texture on the face of the wave. A heavier board can really help push through that.
- If you make a board lighter and lighter you’re going to take away material and inherently make the board weaker as well. In general a heavier board, especially with us at Appletree Surfboards, will be stronger than the lighter version.
Custom options
At Appletree Surfboards we give you options of choosing what you want and how light you want to have your board. Our lightest construction will be the carbon fiber ultralight. That board is super light, but also very stiff. We’re going to talk about board stiffness in a different video, but it is something to consider as well. If you want a board with flex and a lighter weight, S-glass might be a very good option for you. It’s a fancier glass, giving you a lighter board. It’s actually the board of choice for most of our team riders. If you’re a heavier rider you might actually benefit from a Kite++ construction. Which is heavier laminated and much stronger. It’s also the board that we recommend if you want to ride with inserts a lot. We do not recommend riding the super light boards with straps.
That was a little bit of information on what the weight of the surfboard does for your riding. Hope you liked it and I’ll see you again in another Appletree Tech Talk video!
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