I'm 95Kg, have a 90ltr board, a 7.0 and 5.5 Slick SLS. Question is, what should my next wing size be or should I even get another wing size as I've been predominantly on my 7.0 but am heading into the windy (and wavy) season (20-30knts).
I'm thinking 4.0 for the crazy windy days but I don't want to buy a wing and let it collect dust in the garage. Maybe I need to try my 5.5 in some higher wind days and see what it's range is. Anyone have any thoughts?
DC
Makes sense to wait and see how overpowered you are on your 5.5.
At 85kgs my most used wings are 4.2 and 5.2. I can take those from 18mph to 30mph. Then I have a light wind huge wing and a storm wing. I've only used the storm wing on average once a month this year so from an economical standpoint it makes less sense. In the slow season we mostly get storms so it is a matter of getting on the water this month or not.
Note that the foil size is also important: in very choppy water the big foils will pick up more of the water energy and become hard to handle. Switching to a smaller foil and improving your pumping skill may require smaller wings - less drag, more apparent wind.
Another related topic is using a harness. You can hold down a lot more wing in that case, with some limits. When the wing is mostly pulling you up because of how overpowered you are then it's time to get out.
Hope this helps.
It also depends on what style of winging you plan to do. Those into freestyle, jumping etc will use larger wings than those riding swell. Jumping requires a lot of power from the wing were swell riding you need only just enough to get you going, the smaller the better.
I'm 80 kg, ride strapless and chase swells, my smallest is a 2.5mtr, largest a 4mtr. Others more freestyle oriented will carry an extra metre on any given day. I don't bother on days when the 4 isn't big enough , about 14 knots as there is little to no swell to chase at our local.
95kg, i'm on a 99l board and just using the 1550v2 foil for all conditions. My wings are 6.5, 5, and 4. The 5m gets the most use, probably use it in the 13-20kn range. If it's steady above 20kn then i use the 4m. There's only been 3-4 days in the last year where i would have liked a 3-3.5m and a 4.5m would have too much overlap with the 5m. I'm guessing the 4m will be your sweet spot.
