I'm not sure what kind of board you have.
you mentioned,
7.8 sail 2-3 cams, are usually more a 18-20 kts sails.
7.8 freeride sail that is light and you can pump is probably closer to what you are aiming for.
I have a 7.8 slalom sails(4 cams). I can get going in 12-14 kts, but the sail is dead and the bord is ideling. But my 7.8 shines at 18-20 kts and I can bring it a bit over 20 kts.
I tried a NP Ride 7.2 and a freeride Magic Ride 117 and I was having fun in 12-14 kts, the wind was super stable that day. So for that range, I would go freeride camless even at 7.8-8.3, but the wind must be stable. If it's gusting 12-22kts like most of the day on my own spot, 2-3 cams help taking the bullet, but you have to be at a certain level to not pass over the handle bar with a big sail and gusty wind regardless.
Select to expand quoteFishMints said..
Weight = 83kg.
Board = 79 wide 293 long 205L 13kg (which really sucks carrying around BTW) ...a BicTechno293OD to be exact.
Plenty of float, plenty of width.
Fin = 46 Select Ride (might pick up a 50 if I end up going for a 8.5/8.6 sail)
Next board will be similar width but lighter and 120-130L - so expecting current sails and any possible new ones to still be suitable for new board too.
hey fish mints ...
your board is 13 kgs ..thats heavy ..that will slow you down a lot with light wind sailing ...i got a 140 patrik freerace a while back
its weight is 6-7 kgs ,and 80 wide ,it is the fastest planing board i have ever owned ..it blew my mind .
this also could be worth looking at .to improve you planing ,you may be able to plane with your 7,3 in 13-14 knots with a lighter board .
Select to expand quoteTardy said..FishMints said..
Weight = 83kg.
Board = 79 wide 293 long 205L 13kg (which really sucks carrying around BTW) ...a BicTechno293OD to be exact.
Plenty of float, plenty of width.
Fin = 46 Select Ride (might pick up a 50 if I end up going for a 8.5/8.6 sail)
Next board will be similar width but lighter and 120-130L - so expecting current sails and any possible new ones to still be suitable for new board too.
hey fish mints ...
your board is 13 kgs ..thats heavy ..that will slow you down a lot with light wind sailing ...i got a 140 patrik freerace a while back
its weight is 6-7 kgs ,and 80 wide ,it is the fastest planing board i have ever owned ..it blew my mind .
this also could be worth looking at .to improve you planing ,you may be able to plane with your 7,3 in 13-14 knots with a lighter board .
IWB; firerock; Tardy -
no doubt a different board/specific light wind board will help, but there's more factors that will influence my next board purchase decision than just the desire to get more planning in light/lighter winds.
Besides, I don't deserve one yet .I've set myself a goal - no new board until I can successfully complete most of my gybes (lets put a number on it. 80%-85%) 
"Good Luck with that!" I hear you say. For me - I don't think its about the board yet - I've got a long way to go with skills and I accept that.
Select to expand quotejirvin4505 said..
Look around at see what others are sailing at your level
.not many around at the best of times - let alone at my level!
Locally - along the coast, it's mostly all FSW and smaller sails for choppy blasting, B&J.
Thanks for the encouragement though.
I'll be honest I did think a 8.5/8.6 2-cam sail was going to be a no brainer when I first started this post, but now I'm questioning that and probably for good reason too.
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..
Size is not the be-all and end-all, in fact in recent years it has become confusing for intermediates.
Tell me about it! Just when I thought I'd done enough research, reading, comparisons - the more I realise I don't know.
This was going to lead to another post at some stage.the "C" word... "at what point do you commit to a brand?" because at some point, if you want everything to work really well, and you want to buy wisely - you simply have to commit. And a big part of that commitment is understanding mast characteristics.
Select to expand quoteGestalt said..
a cambered sail will help in gusty wind once planing because the sail keeps it's shape through the lulls.
the simmer mast is not ideal for the north sail. the simmer mast is heading towards flex top and north is pretty much middle of the road constant curve. for lighter wind its beneficial to have a tighter leach to induce more power in the sail. a flex mast in your sail will allow the head to lay off more.
sounds like a mast issue to me.
you either need a north mast or similar constant curve mast and rig to the dims or you need to rig the sail by eye to get it right on a simmer mast. you can't use the figures written on the sail. the etype is not a flat sail and if it is rigged flat then that is a sign all is not right and why you lack power.
try letting the downhaul off an inch or 2 and give the sail negative outhaul and then go sailing. if the sail feels very heavy then give it a cm more downhaul. set the downhaul for comfort when you are sailing.
in light winds rig your boom about nose/eye height and run longer lines. try 30in as an example. if you find you are kinda getting going but the nose of the board just won't break free then lift your boom 1cm and try again.
freestyle sailors use 5+m sails in 15 knots and plane with 20cm fins. it is very possible.
next is your board. maybe a wider board will help. how much do you weigh?
correct stance really helps to get going in light winds. hang off the harness lines to get going. pull down through the boom. it's best to not be a passenger and hook in and hope the wind does the work. don't hop in your straps until you are planning.
if you are 120kg + then yeah you need a bigger sail but try the other stuff first.
I'll try not to turn this into a."How's my rigging?" thread, but since its already headed down that path, and it's made me rethink what my aim was, I may as well provide some feedback - and who knows - one day it might be useful for someone else doing their own research.
Gestalt - I think you might be on the money.
The 2015 NorthSails catalogue says Simmer is compatible with North - so I just assumed it was 'perfectly' compatible - but it may only be compatible to a degree. I'm pretty sure the 7.3 and the mast are the same vintage.
What's confused the issue for me is that my North Natural 6.2 (2012) seems to rig really well on exactly the same mast (460 CC Simmer SC3) and just seems to have heaps more get up and go - in not that much more wind - and that's why I expected the newer NS 7.3 to kick in to action earlier using the same mast.
So yesterday, I did what you recommended:
Winds: 13 gusting to 16 knots (on average) - very light conditions.
Rig setting: Minimal DH, neutral to negative OH, boom up 2 maybe 3 inches higher than normal (felt too high, but I left it for the experiment), Harness lines set at 31-32 inches.
Unfortunately - it was again an uninspiring light winds outing, no straps required - feet positioned forward to even out the weight, pumped and beared off where I could.
Apart from a handfull of short planning bursts through some of the higher gusts on a broader angle - the rest of the time was easily sub planning. Sea state was still a bit lumpy from the blow the day before - so not as flat as it could have been - which probably didn't help.
Due to minimal leech - the sail felt quite heavy. At the end of the session I applied more DH - loosened the leech and it obviously felt lighter - but certainly less power and the day was over anyway.
One thing I'm concerned about (even with minimal DH and minimal OH) is the battern overlap over the mast - I'm not sure that it is enough. It doesn't take much effort to flick the battens around - I would have thought that it would be much, much harder at the minimum settings. (Battens are tensioned to flattened out wrinkles but avoid over tightening.) So yeah - I think the mast is having more of an impact than I gave it credit for.
Something else I noticed. the bagged out sail touches the boom on the leeward side - and touches by quite a bit. Could this be hampering its shape and therefore its ability to extract that low wind power?
The boom is 160-210 and looks like a 'new-school' shape. The sail is approx 204cm boom length, but just because the boom fits, doesn't mean its the right boom shape for the sail. (see pics below)
I'm now thinking my next investment is not a bigger sail (or different board), but more likely a new boom (...and possibly mast!).
Once I do a few more rigging tests, I'll provide an update.
My simmer apex pops still with the battens sticking past the mast. My ka kults on the other hand will not pop. It does depend on the amount of luff round and excess material beside the mast.
What should be the case is the battens should be well past the mast at min setting.
Once the sail feels heavy then yes the downhaul is under done. usually 1cm either way of in the middle makes a significant difference. So do give it more downhaul.
The unifiber mast calculator compares mast from around 2011 onwards. You can see that north changed slightly and that simmer have stayed the same. You can also see that simmer is softer than north in the tip
Your particular case may be a sail that has 10% variation in curve one way and the mast is 10% the other and you end up 20% difference.
Heres what i would do next.
1. Measure your mast and extension to double check the combined length to the pully.
2. Keep mucking around with downhaul and outhaul
3. Try a mates constant curve mast or even a north mast. This is a critical step for comparison. Go to a shop and try a mast with the shop dudes.
4. Look at photos online of your sail being used on the water and compare.
5. In light wind broad reaching your centreboard should be 1/4 way down and your sail forward of the rear of the track.
P.s.
I always use masts that are correcy for my sails. Its the only way to know what the sail is meant to perform like. Not to say ill only use the same brand but i make sure its the right bend curve.
Ive seen sails that even with the spec mast rigged like ****. Especially in sails over 7.5m. The bigger and more cambered the sail the more important masts are. Race sails use spacers on the cams to help with manufacture tolerances.
Dont worry about the boom.
Select to expand quoteFishMints said..Tardy said..FishMints said..
Weight = 83kg.
Board = 79 wide 293 long 205L 13kg (which really sucks carrying around BTW) ...a BicTechno293OD to be exact.
Plenty of float, plenty of width.
Fin = 46 Select Ride (might pick up a 50 if I end up going for a 8.5/8.6 sail)
Next board will be similar width but lighter and 120-130L - so expecting current sails and any possible new ones to still be suitable for new board too.
hey fish mints ...
your board is 13 kgs ..thats heavy ..that will slow you down a lot with light wind sailing ...i got a 140 patrik freerace a while back
its weight is 6-7 kgs ,and 80 wide ,it is the fastest planing board i have ever owned ..it blew my mind .
this also could be worth looking at .to improve you planing ,you may be able to plane with your 7,3 in 13-14 knots with a lighter board .
IWB; firerock; Tardy -
no doubt a different board/specific light wind board will help, but there's more factors that will influence my next board purchase decision than just the desire to get more planning in light/lighter winds.
Besides, I don't deserve one yet .I've set myself a goal - no new board until I can successfully complete most of my gybes (lets put a number on it. 80%-85%)
"Good Luck with that!" I hear you say. For me - I don't think its about the board yet - I've got a long way to go with skills and I accept that.
I hear ya mate ...I definitely think a bigger sail is the way to go ,then ..you need a bigger engine .
if your bogging down ..I found that alot with my northsails ..not very good in light wind .awesome once blowing ..
maybe a 8.0 Ezzy cheetah .
if your not gybing well I would go a no cam 8.0 .because most 8.0 will fit a 460 mast these days .
keep persevering mate ..it will click one day ..I sailed for a year before I could gybe .
your boom looks ok to me .
Select to expand quoteTardy said..
if your not gybing well I would go a no cam 8.0
Good point Tardy. The difference in trying to fly a no cam sail and a cam when water starting is chalk and cheese. If you are in the water a lot, then the no cam is much better
here is a review of the 2015 e-type.
www.windsurf.co.uk/test/north-e-type-7-3m-2015-test-review/
i was looking up some stuff on severne mast compatibility and found this. i'm not sure how true it is because simmer, goya and hot sails masts are all very similar curve according to unifiber charts. food for thought tho.
the info was posted in 2015.
NorthSails compatible masts/sails: Aerotech / Avanti Sails / Ezzy Sails / Goya Sails / Gun Sails / Hot Sails / KA Sails / Loft Sails / Maui Sails / Naish Sails / Sailloft / Sailworks / Severne
NorthSails partly compatible masts/sails (at about 30-40% performance loss): Challenger Sails / Point 7 / RRD / Simmer Style / XO Sails
NorthSails incompatible masts/sails:
HARD TOP: F2 Sails / Gaastra / Vandal
FLEX TOP: Hot Sails / Tushingham / Neil Pryde / Attitude Sails
Just wanted to throw in that the Norths do seem to be a very flat sail. Sailed an E-Type last year and it seemed very shapeless and low powered.
Also, you have a narrow boom. I feel you will have issues there with big sails. It's worth hunting around boom specs and finding the max internal with dimesnsions and comparing them.
At your weight you don't need to go much bigger. But more shapely sails may be in order. I agree that no-cam is best from early planing and waterstarting perspectives. Leave the cams aside until you start doing speed sailing or racing.
Edit: Whatever you do get a sail that closely matched your mast. One of the most important things in windsurfing. The simmer Vmax looks nice and the 7.9 is as big as you will ever need.
For what it's worth I have had a couple of E types and also had their predecessor x types. When the wind was light I initially said "bah humbug" to the rigging guide and used minimal downhaul - And I felt the sail was horribly gutless. So I took the radical step of following the instructions and downhauled to the "light wind" printed mark, which was a ton more than I had been using. Voila the sail developed more power and was deeper at the entry with very active batten rotation at the mast. With the extra downhaul it pumps beautifully as well. Went from a very uneasy impression of them to a very good one. I only have a 7.3 etype now but it is a well used and much loved sail. You may have already tried this but it was very counterintuitive for me and a great lesson.
One of the guys here has an NCX 8.0 and it goes on a 200 boom while my NP 8.2 is on a 220.
NCX are great sails and no cams. Big sails may well need a 490 mast.
If the water conditions are nice then having a more powerful cammed sail could be ideal. If theres a chance that youd be dropping the sail alot then lighter non cam sail are very advantagous.
As i have gotten better i have started heading towards cams but i hate the thought og dropping them mid gybe and it really has made me improve my gybes (30 yesterday and blew 1 in less than perfect conditions)
