Hi all, just wanting to clarify is the max size for foil racing in Aus 9m as per the PWA or is it 10m
many thanks
Pwa is 10.0 this year, only goes to 9.0 in 2020.
Last season there was no restriction on sails so technically you could use a 12.5m formula sail but yeah...that won't end well. Most people would have used 9.0 max, the wind range on a 10.0 of the first gen foil sails was pretty tiny unless you were huge.
Select to expand quoteCJW said..
Pwa is 10.0 this year, only goes to 9.0 in 2020.
Last season there was no restriction on sails so technically you could use a 12.5m formula sail but yeah...that won't end well. Most people would have used 9.0 max, the wind range on a 10.0 of the first gen foil sails was pretty tiny unless you were huge.
Thanks, looks like a 9m will be the go
I believe they should keep the 12.5 limit. The truth is the new 10 m foil sail has as much or more power than an old 12.5 formula sail. And if they change to a 9 m limit then they will make it more powerful again. So if a 9 m limit is used for local racing then everyone will have to buy the latest equipment to be competitive.
Keep the rules inclusive of all equipment. #bigsailsmatter
I highly doubt the 9m limit would ever be adopted here as much like the 91mm wide pwa board width limit it would automatically exclude ex Formula sailors who don't want to buy another board. As such last year you could use any sail and Formula boards were legal, I imagine it will be the same.
That said, as you well know, if you want to be at the front of the fleet and don't have the current gen foil sails it's going to be difficult. The Formula boards are fine but the current gen pwa foil boards have surpassed them in performance in my opinion, there's only a few formula boards that are wide enough at the rear strap and it's pretty hard to get your hands on one.
Not concerning Australia in particular but I think the Formula class is going to limit the sail size at 10m. Also having watched the PWA events, I wonder whether they are really going to limit the sail size at 9m. I know next year rules have already been validated but the big guys like Albeau were struggling in light wind for the course racing. The other option is that they keep the 9m max and they do only slalom course in light wind instead of windward/leeward. Being at 69Kg, I'm happy with the 9m anyway 
Something I wasn't aware but apparently they went back to 10m max sail on the PWA for 2020 foiling Saison.
It's the arms race all over again.
I like the idea of the formula class where you can use a 100.5 cm wide formula board and 10.0 sail. You will get a LOT more participation with all those formula boards out there.
Taken from a PWA communication:
Based on that review and the feedback obtained, it has been decided to rescind the rule changes previously published for 2020, and to retain a maximum sail size of 10m for foil racing during the 2020 season, the same as 2019.
