SURFBOARDS!   After a windless summer and resorting to my surfboards to keep me kiting, it has reinforced my thoughts that there is an honest place for a surfboard in kiting. Apart from increasing your time in the water because of it"s light wind benefits, it offers great challenge and reward to master a surfboard. In my continuation to refine what shapes works well for kiteboarding, I have not been able to come up with anything better than just a well shaped surf board without any special kite specific designs incorporated into it. Also, it"s not bad to have a board you can kite with AND just wax up and take to the surf for those glassy days and a swell. However, there is some material differences that I need to consider. It has to be stronger and more ding resistant than regular surfboard construction. Without going the very expensive method like with a windsurfboard construction with double vacuumed d-cell wall construction, I just want a way to toughen up a regular surfboard to do the job. I have found a denser foam core with a slightly heavier glass job works fine. It will keep the cost down, provide the durability needed and allow me to offer custom shapes for the price of a regular surfboard with the weight addition probably only noticeable to the pro surfer. My current prototypes are laid-up with epoxy resins on a dense styro foam core with a plywood stringer. 
 I have dusted off my old surfboard templates and started shaping. Some with inserts, but I am mainly shaping with strapless control in mind. I want the boards to respond effortlessly to foot pressure, similar to the better shaped surfboards the pros use theses days.