OK so I've had a 10 year break from windsurfing. Kids/life etc etc.
Just got myself a load of kit for a nice price, excited to get back out there but seem to have forgotten what size sails to use in wind/conditions.
I've picked up a 90litre fanatic cross. And 77litre wave board.
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
Sails
And am looking at getting a 5.8 which I reckon I should be able to squeeze on the bigger board for the not so windy days. Looking at wave sailing and bump and jump days.
I think i weigh around 80k
Just wondering what everyone else is using in different conditions. Hoping it may jog my memory a little.
Cheers.
The quiver is nice it compliments the 77 and 90.
ref the 5.8 question, on a 90 liter in light wind:
if you definition of light wind is not moving much and sort of struggle with the rig, the 5.8 makes no sense.
in those conditions their will be no noticeable difference . The 5.5 will be slightly easier to handle .
a 100 liter or near so would do.
A windsup , would be a nice addition for light wind.
i will add that others will have opinions that differ, it's the way it is.
Select to expand quoteforceten said.. ref the 5.8 question, on a 90 liter in light wind:
if you definition of light wind is not moving much and sort of struggle with the rig, the 5.8 makes no sense.
in those conditions their will be no noticeable difference . The 5.5 will be slightly easier to handle .
He only said the not so windy days, not 'light' or grovel days
I think a 5.8 power wave/ crossover sail and a larger fin, in a board like a Fanatic Cross that is 10L above bodyweight, is exactly whats needed for when it is not quiiiittte there for a good wavesail session
But I'm basing that on a WA scenario so knowing where u are will help Robbo
I live in Brighton qld. So flatish conditions with sea breeze in the summer after work sailing.
Up the sunshine coast for the windy wave days at the weekends when it happens.
The 5.8 is just so I can still get out for a play in those marginal days after work. Just not sure even with a larger fin if the 90l will be comfortable to sail. Not really my intention to sail underpowered unless it's a wave sailing day.
It seems like a well spaced quiver. Just struggling to remeber what kind of wind speeds I would use each sail for.
Cheers so far though.
A 90L freewave or crossover board should carry a 5.8 easily if it has a powerbox, and you get a slightly larger fin. Thats the beauty of crossover boards, they will take (in that sort of size) a 24cm wave fin and 5m, or stick in a 30cm FSW / freeride fin and a powerful 5.8 and extend that planing threshold a lot.
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..forceten said.. ref the 5.8 question, on a 90 liter in light wind:
if you definition of light wind is not moving much and sort of struggle with the rig, the 5.8 makes no sense.
in those conditions their will be no noticeable difference . The 5.5 will be slightly easier to handle .
He only said the not so windy days, not 'light' or grovel days
I think a 5.8 power wave/ crossover sail and a larger fin, in a board like a Fanatic Cross that is 10L above bodyweight, is exactly whats needed for when it is not quiiiittte there for a good wavesail session
But I'm basing that on a WA scenario so knowing where u are will help Robbo
So you are picking apart, not so windy, and light , as being different in meaning?
like the last line I wrote others will have a different opinion.
90 liters and 88 kg is the same in California .
I don't think a 5.8 will be a good "not so windy" sail for use on Moreton Bay, I would be looking for something in the 7.0 - 8.0 mtr range with an appropriate board to suit, assuming not so windy means moderate winds around 12-15knts
Select to expand quotecammd said..
I don't think a 5.8 will be a good "not so windy" sail for use on Moreton Bay, I would be looking for something in the 7.0 - 8.0 mtr range with an appropriate board to suit, assuming not so windy means moderate winds around 12-15knts
Yeah. I don't really have any interest in going out on kit that big.
Just going to wait around for the windy days. From what I can remember I wouldn't bother heading down to the sea unless it was wind speeds around 20knts. That was in the UK though and various places around Europe.
More specifically wondering if anyine has sailed with a similar set up and what the wind speed was.
Too many generalities here, to compare the rider level, location and kit needs to be at least similar
75 kgs and used to ride 90 and "100" Cross.
Neither planes early. The 100 seems smaller, maybe 97 and 6.0 is needed in 15-23 mph winds.
I am one of the better early planers, and now use 85 liters and 5.2 in that wind
Select to expand quoterobborelwal said..
OK so I've had a 10 year break from windsurfing. Kids/life etc etc.
Just got myself a load of kit for a nice price, excited to get back out there but seem to have forgotten what size sails to use in wind/conditions.
I've picked up a 90litre fanatic cross. And 77litre wave board.
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
Sails
And am looking at getting a 5.8 which I reckon I should be able to squeeze on the bigger board for the not so windy days. Looking at wave sailing and bump and jump days.
I think i weigh around 80k
Just wondering what everyone else is using in different conditions. Hoping it may jog my memory a little.
Cheers.
You are spacing your sail a bit too narrowly in my opinion. If you can get at least a 6.2, I can use a Poiont-7 ACX 6.5 with ease on my RRD FSW 90 (which is wider than the Cross but way shorter). New sails are lighter than 10 years ago!
My quiver is 3.7-4.3-4.9 for B&J and 5.8-6.5-7.3 for slalom.
Select to expand quoterobborelwal said..cammd said..
I don't think a 5.8 will be a good "not so windy" sail for use on Moreton Bay, I would be looking for something in the 7.0 - 8.0 mtr range with an appropriate board to suit, assuming not so windy means moderate winds around 12-15knts
Yeah. I don't really have any interest in going out on kit that big.
Just going to wait around for the windy days. From what I can remember I wouldn't bother heading down to the sea unless it was wind speeds around 20knts. That was in the UK though and various places around Europe.
More specifically wondering if anyine has sailed with a similar set up and what the wind speed was.
What you have to remember with sailing around Oz is that the wind is a lot less dense.
This means that a 20 knot wind just doesn't fill the sail as much as a 20 knot wind in the UK.
The cross board should take up to around a 6.2m sail, all depends on fin size too. I have some smaller wave boards that hardly get used as there's just not the wind here.
If you are going to wait around for the wind like we all used to in the UK then I'm afraid you'll never get out.
If your in the Bay Area then I'd be looking at a much bigger sail. New sails compared to what you were using years ago are much flatter, in some ways more efficient and some ways less powerful. You can easily use a 5.8m or bigger sail here. I use a 5.8m and 6.2m wave sails on a 104litre wave board.
Lowest wind I go out in is around 16 knots, which is the start of a force 4, sometimes though if its really rippy at our local beach I'll put a bigger set of fins in.
Like some others said, from my experience on Morton bay, you really limit ToW if all you have is smaller gear. My most used sail size by far on the bay is 7.5 (ezzy cheetah), using about 105 litres of board. So, just IMO, if you are wanting to sneak in after work sessions with any thing approaching regular I think the sizes you are talking about are on the smallish. Then again, I'm 92kg
Select to expand quoteMadge said..
What you have to remember with sailing around Oz is that the wind is a lot less dense.
This means that a 20 knot wind just doesn't fill the sail as much as a 20 knot wind in the UK.
This needs clarification.
Most sail brands have their consumer models with size-steps be about 10-15% (lets ignore the "pro" models because they have small steps).
Lets say southern UK in early summer -> 10 deg (p = 1.247 kg/m3), and same for Oz -> 25 deg (1.184 kg/m3). That is a 7% difference in density. (Wind-chill is not a factor because that has to do with humans, and not sails.) At 7% difference, that is about a half-sail-size. Most sails can be tuned to give that amount of power-change.
That said - humidity also plays a factor -> more humid, gives less dense... of a few percent depending on the level of humidity.
So depending on where you go for fun (say Cairns vs Shark Bay vs Sandy Point), there could be up to a size-step-difference in sail choice.
Good observation Mathew, the original writer also lives in QLD so it'll be way more humid than the UK.
Also boards in the past ten years have improved in the way the volume is distributed and more volume can be ridden much easier with bigger sails. He's still using a slightly older style board with only 90 litres.
I lived in Vic for a while and for the same wind strength as QLD I was using around .5 of a metre less sail.
See below a graph of my (old-school) sails vs wind speed, based on the formula that James Douglass developed, on which also the Riggeek calculator is based. The curved line is from James' formula, using my weight.
In the spreadsheet James made the following comments:
- Recommendations are for comfortable planing on an appropriately-sized shortboard.
- Sail range may extend slightly below and well above these recommendations, especially for skilled riders
- Planing is not possible below 6 knots and sails > 12.5 are not commercially available.
In the graph I made an arbitrary wind range for each sail, bigger for cam sails, smaller for RAF. Once the seabreeze starts in a couple of months I can see how it works out.
Hope this helps!
