I'm looking at a larger sail for light winds. Something that will get me up and going pretty quickly on a 120-130 litre board. I weight about 80kg. What wind range would I be able to sail in with a 8.5m sail, cammed and/or non cammed. My largest sail is currently a 7.5m non cammed sail, which is great for 12-16 knots (thereabouts) of wind.
I used a 8.5 on a 111 liter slalom board and it got me planing very early. I weigh 90 kgs so at your weight and on a big floaty board you should be planing in around 10 knots I reckon. Im crap at estimating wind so could be earlier. The sails these days have huge wind ranges so you will be able to hold it down no worries.
Hope this helps.
on my 133 carve with an 8.5 10 knots of wind and i was away but i wiegh a tad over 100kgs 
but was better on the 150 go i think an 8.5 is just to big for anything smaller than around 150 litre
Cheers!
So around 10 knots and up....ok.
Monster, I also have the 133. According to the specs it can take a sail from 6m up to 9.5m I think. My 7.5m is my favourite sail on that board...everything seems well balanced and it's a really comfortable ride. I was hoping a 8.5m might get me out in less than 10 knots of wind but I'm not sure the extra size/weight is worth it for 2 knots less than what I can get planing with now.
Ka43, thanks. I'm also pretty bad at estimating the wind strength, I would normally over estimate and rig too small. Only recently purchased a Kestrel wind meter though, which has helped heaps.
I'm not sure it will plane all 'that' much earlier - definitively easier - What you will notice though is its ability to stay on the plane for longer and ride through the lulls - just keeps going.
As long as your board is wide enough (around 75) - 8.5sail and a bigger fin should work well.
My 8.5 (3Xcams) is used with 77 wide X 135l freeride, 51 fin - great combo for the light days, when I choose to sail them that is.
i agree with daveman you do need a bigger fin but as i said it just dosent feel right put the same sail on a go and it handles a lot better and i agree with you on 7.5 is about the max for the 133 
I sense a cammed vs non-cammed debate
Non-cammed sails will allow you to plane earlier compared to cammed sails if the sail is pumped... This is because non-cammed sails are more elastic than the more rigid cammed sails. Cammed sails will be more stable in gusts, and will have more top-end speed.
It is also worth thinking about booms. Having a big boom set with less extension is better than having a smaller boom and using lots of extension. A big boom set with little extension is likely to be stiffer than a smaller boom set with loads of extension, and the bigger boom will allow you to trim more depth or body into your sail. This is where the light wind planing is really going to come from.
Hey KA43, is your 111 a hypervomit
I used to be able to plane (and stay on the plane) on my old 105 hypervomit with a 7.0 in 12 knots... I am 90 kg, and have not owned a board that planed as early since...
Nah Pugwash, its a Falcon 111. 69 wide by 245. I use a 44cm fin and it gets me going pretty early but as stated its the "keep planing" aspect that is the go.
Ive never ridden a Hypervomit but see them around. They do plane bloody quick but certainly seem to have a topend.
I heard someone once refer to them as "a lot of Hyper, not much Sonic".
made me laugh.
Cheers
Hi all
have also been thinking of getting a larger sail for light days. My question is should i get an 8m sail that i could possibly use on my 117l board or would i be better off getting an 8.5 to 9m sail for my bigger 155l board. Im getting the vibe that 8.5 might be too big for the 117l....My biggest sail is currently 7.0m. would a 8.0m sail on the 117l give me much more of a sailing range??
Cheers
I have an 8.3 no cam sail on a RDM
490 mast used with my hypervomit 111L
I am about 93kg's and i need 12 knots to plane....11 knots and i'm dredging...
Maybe would go a bit better with a longer fin ...i only have a 33
I run an 8.5 on my hypersonic 105 and I get planing in about 10-11kts (70kg). It's an ezzy infinity, so two cams. I've sailed it in about 25kts but it wasn't comfortable haha, up to 20kts is fine though.
HI ejmack 8.5m sails are great for the wind range your talking about i've got a 8.4m rs slalom this gets me out of the hole in about 11-12knots when on my 109l jp slalom version 3 if your interested i'm selling this sail check it out its listed in the premium listings in buy and sell. the rs slalom has masive bottom end power for a cammed sail but can be tuned for a wide wind range 
I think the biggest plus of a cammed sail is the low end (riding through lulls) and the top end control. Sure, I think you may be able to pump onto the plane earlier with a non cammed sail but in my opinion you'll stay on the plane much longer with cams. A big cammed sail with an adjustable outhaul is just a lull riding machine :D
Thanks all for your thoughts on the matter.... much appreciated.
More likely than not I'll stick with my current "brand" of sail as I am quite happy with my existing quiver. Just not decided on how large to go.
Having had no sailing experience (although I understand the theory) with cammed sails I'm not totally sure which route to go wit hregards to that. The sails I currently use have a lot of profile built into them, quite a bit of low end grunt I guess but I'm keen to try a sail with cams all the same. I'm fairly sure they'll have slightly better low end power again, to get going and to stay planing through lulls. Probably an 8.5m sail with cams is what I'll go for.
