looking for a solid lake board

**anth10114** · 03-18-2011, 03:41 PM

Hello all,
I live in Chicago and want to skim lake michigan. I'm a certified newbie when it comes to skimboarding. Waves are pretty small/non-existant for the most part by the city. I weigh 160 and I'm around 5'9''. From the research I've done so far it sounds like that I would want to maybe get a L to XL board so I have more float which would be better on the lake. Is this true? I would think that most of it would be just how fast you go if there isn't really any waves to go on. Right now I'm looking at a used carbon exile XL that is 5/8'' thick on skimcity for $330 and was wondering if this would be a good buy for someone boarding lake mich. Any help is appreciated.

**morg811** · 03-18-2011, 04:22 PM

well since there aren't any waves you cant wave skim... maybe you want to flatland instead

**anth10114** · 03-18-2011, 04:37 PM

Originally Posted by morg811

well since there aren't any waves you cant wave skim... maybe you want to flatland instead

Thanks
Yeah flatland is more of what I want then. Would I just be looking at strictly flatland boards then? Is there more float to them or something? Also, would large still be the size I'd want you think?

**morg811** · 03-18-2011, 04:44 PM

flatland boards are made out of wood. Uhm well if u want to use it on rails or sandslide basically yeah. well go to the brand of the board u want and check out they size table

**Chrith** · 03-18-2011, 09:13 PM

by solid lake board im assuming you mean a board made out of ice.

**Ethan Kukulski** · 03-19-2011, 06:00 PM

Hey, I'm from Chicago too. In the city, its mostly flatland, though I hear 57th street gets some break from time to time, I'll have to check that out. If you're willing to take a drive or hop on the Metra, the Waukegan beach is pretty good. I spent all last summer there, and there are waves, not to mention a nice lagoon that stays around 1-3 inches for some good flatlanding. If you're ever looking for someone else to skim with, about 3 or 4 other people and I get together to skim there almost all summer. We just got a banshee too, so you're more than welcome to try and hit some waves or flatland with us whenever.

**Jobin MI** · 03-20-2011, 09:33 AM

i skim lake michigan all the time mostly on the michigan side of the lake (i live in Grand Haven MI) but my girlfriend lives in chicago so ive skimmed there a few times! I got some really good waves there last spring in Evanston...its hard to gett waves in chicago cuz you need a strong east wind and winds usually come from the west... id be down to skim with you guys, i didnt think anybody skimmed in Chicago lol...

anth10114 i would pass on that XL exile, i suggest nothing bigger than a Large, you may want to get a Medium Large...its true you do want a little extra float while skimming a lake but a L or ML will be just fine. check the board for sale section on here theres some good used boards!

**Jim Gordon** · 03-20-2011, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by anth10114

Thanks
Yeah flatland is more of what I want then. Would I just be looking at strictly flatland boards then? Is there more float to them or something? Also, would large still be the size I'd want you think?

He said get a flatland board for riding rails not waves......flatland boards as a rule don't ride waves as good as wave boards because they are a lot smaller, they are made that way for doing tricks, like shuvs & spins. They have a lot less float (planing surface) making them not good for waves riding........get it?

**Ethan Kukulski** · 03-20-2011, 07:26 PM

Originally Posted by Jobin MI

i skim lake michigan all the time mostly on the michigan side of the lake (i live in Grand Haven MI) but my girlfriend lives in chicago so ive skimmed there a few times! I got some really good waves there last spring in Evanston...its hard to gett waves in chicago cuz you need a strong east wind and winds usually come from the west... id be down to skim with you guys, i didnt think anybody skimmed in Chicago lol...

anth10114 i would pass on that XL exile, i suggest nothing bigger than a Large, you may want to get a Medium Large...its true you do want a little extra float while skimming a lake but a L or ML will be just fine. check the board for sale section on here theres some good used boards!

I'm trying to get some people together this summer to film some Lake Michigan skimming. We'll have a bunch of people coming out, barbeque on the beach, should be a good time.

**Jobin MI** · 03-21-2011, 06:17 PM

sweet dude! id be down. let me know when...heres a couple vids we've made in MI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxwbPZvqN_I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIIPens8t5g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLbIBVHk3iI

**Ethan Kukulski** · 03-21-2011, 07:18 PM

Dig it! Give it a couple weeks and Lake Michigan should be warm enough to start skimming. I'll throw up some banshee footy pretty soon.

**anth10114** · 03-29-2011, 04:51 PM

Thanks for the help amigos. It's very much appreciated. I think I'm gonna try the jgordon's large retro-fish.

**skimin!kid** · 03-29-2011, 05:14 PM

good choice

**Brettohh** · 03-29-2011, 06:04 PM

Why dont you try out the sport first? You said you were new, how do you know you might now like it. I know a few people that wanted to buy boards right away and after they tried mine they decided it wasnt for them. I think you should talk to Ethan Kukulski and try out maybe his or one of his friends boards. I'm sure they would be happy to let you. Thats the great thing about skimming, everyone is nice.

**mtb** · 04-01-2011, 07:56 PM

IMO...

I think you should get a medium large. I'm going to assume the waves don't break too far from shore on this. The reason for a smaller board is that I would think you may become more moved by the tech side of skimming, since you'll be prodominently be riding extremely small waves. I feel like tech trick are easier to do on smaller boards.