Heavy sailers

Tinho Dornellas is a little fellow in Florida, USA who designed a board called Z2 for the heavyweights
it is 196 liters, 296x84 cm with no daggerboard
it is a CUSTOM board and he is a busy fellow and far from you and I

http://www.calema.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=608

on youtube commentary it "says":

My latest board design, the Z2. designed for big fellas, easy to get on a plane, super predictable acceleration and great manners in strong wind.the ride is always enjoyable, either non planing or powered up.
I am sailing in offshore winds, gusting between 6 knots and 16 knots
you can see it planing in light winds at about 40-50 seconds of the video beginning.
At the very end of the video I am on a nice puff of about 15 knots.

i'm about 5kg less, I tend to use similar size board to most others. I always use next sail size up than others. I still set boards up the same, use similar fin size as others.

Always use a carbon boom, you will fatigue alloy really quick but the carbon doesnt flex quite so much thus shortening chord & increasing draft, makes it wanderey & throws you off easier. Use adjustable outhaul, as soon as powered pull on slightly to keep sail good shape. Use slightly less downhaul, you will naturally flex mast more forcing sail to twist.

Only trim change i make is tend to run back hole one further back but that could be as i sail so front footed. Dont know if heavy relevant but ive always preferred slightly softer mast.

Not all gear is the same, I now use pretty much all fanatic but they gererally dont plane quote as startht87

What size harness lines are you using Imax?

I'm not a big sailor, but I've found the longer the harness lines I use the less catapaulty I feel.

Just wondering why you moved the straps inboard? I wonder if that makes for the catapulting feeling. When I first started using short boards in the late 19th century they were all narrow and obviously not much of any choice about strap position. When I got back into windsurfing about 4 or 5 years ago after a big layoff it felt weird at first having your back feet on the rails, but it did not take that long to get used to it and it is way better for control and comfort and stability once planing. Just a thought.

what happens when you fall asleep while posting lol.

I was saying not all gear the same, fanatic good in chop & what i use now but not as early planning as starboards generally.

Re. adjustable outhaul, I dont really think about it as messy it's just there, for heavy guy it's more there to dump to give you grunt to get going & power in gybes. I dont have it on wave kit though.

You mentioned wide stance, if you go too wide that can make you catapulty as instead of being more balanced you favour one foot or other & tend to rotate around the front foot. At 6'1 widest you should have is about 42.5cm back screw on front strap to front screw on back. Wave sailors get away with super wide stance as they not in harmess blasting.

If you having issues with board sticking in chop move back strap back as this one controls trim, change fins or increase downhaul slightly. Set the board trim mainly with straps them fine tune with mast foot.

All of the really heavy guys I know 130+ prefer narrower longer boards for some reason. No matter how good you are weight is a hindrance to sailing (look how dunkerbeck went when he got really heavy), everything is harder, people tend to have similar strength but heavy dude has to rig bigger & deal with it. Fact of life you will never plane as early as 80kg guy matter what gear you use, when speed sailing you cant hug banks & use same runs as easy as others as run out of power sooner & going through chop you sink the board slightly more every time you trough.

If you feeling cramped go to longer lines, as go smaller boom size narrows & puts you closer to rig. I ignored this for ages & accidentally was running shorter lines than usual on bump n jump kit & it shows in kook vids in how cramped i am. On my other kit I have gone back to really long 34" or so adjustable lines, this lets me keep boom up & board unweighted. Because flexing boom more generally need to set harness lines an inch or two back to counter the increased draft you get.

If a waist harness is riding up upper body stance isnt right, hike out not crouch in harness, waist harness has many benefits & still fast but keeping core in right position is more important vs seat where you can lazy body it, sit there & be dragged along (if you doing that you are giving away boardspeed).

thought i would throw my 2 bobs worth in,you are correct in thinking that the rocker under the track is better to be forward as us heavy weights in lighter winds have lot more water line to deal with,thats the feeling of being catapulted.i have a f2 zantos and a supper sport both around 133 l to136l the f2 is 295 long and 55 wide the supper sport is 245 long and 80 wide, with the same sail and rig and marginal conditions the f2 will plane earlier,accelerate faster, and be 2 to 3 knts faster.the f2 will handle chop better and a real wide wind range,25 knts+.the supper sport has that feeling of being caterpulted when trying to get on the plain and not great in chop and takes some coaxing to get good speed,22knt wind and above the board can get very flighty.i run my foot straps in also as this gives a flater board on the water.we are probably carrying 20 to 30 kgs more than most sailors and the only way i can describe it is if you weigh 90 kg, pack 30 kg of water and try sailing,i,ve gave up beer to lose weight hope this helps

I think you shouldn't be getting catapulted unless way Overpowered. Sounds like you may need the longer lines as suggested and a new harness. I couldn't use dakine t5 as it ride up pn me. It is a body shape thing. The new np harnesses for kitting/Windsurfing are great. You also need to realy make them near uncomfortably tight once you get wet. With a loose harness you have crap downforce and harder to plane if it rides up you are too upright easier to catapult. With long lines and your ass out you have a better stance.

I don't catapult that much , it just feels catapulty . Unless the fin digs into the sand. I also used to sail in the nineteenth century , even made my own boards. Back into it for 3 years now after 25 years break. We used to carve boards along in a streight line . Now the board is flat and pushing on the fin. I love the new gear and style of riding even though the sails are as fragile as f@&'.k. I think I'd just like a little longer board.
Thanks to all u guys I'm going to try some things.
lm going to move my straps back and get some adjustable lines and push my bloody harness down.
In the name of science I'll give it a go ,

My old roomate from 1985 weighed 275 lbs.
Started on a Marker 1, 205 liters, square tail German production board.
Second board, 3 months later, was a Seatrend 9'5" x 23.5, 135 liters, custom production board. He could uphaul it. Now, 275lbs., with a 4/3 wetsuit in triple XL, booties, harness, what do you think he weighed going into the water?
He was timed at 44 mph at the 3rd Ponds Speed Trials in 1989, beating Fred Haywood, Roddy Lewis, and Laird by 3 mph, he used Neil Pryde WarpSpeed sails, but wasn't invited to the Monday finals, where only NP sponsored sailors accepted entry.
During the Stroh's World Cup Slalom in San Francisco in '88, he was blowing by Torkil Christiansen, a 235 lbs Norwegian World Cup sailor who was supposed to be the fastest guy in the races, including Dunkerbeck, Naish, Nevin, and Bringdal.
Weight is fast, as really fast when added to a talented rider.