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Biggest reasonable kit for early planning.

 
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Windaholic



Joined: 15 Apr 2009
Posts: 28
Location: NJ

PostPosted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:04 pm    Post subject: Biggest reasonable kit for early planning. Reply with quote

My biggest kit is an 8.0 Retro with a JP 120 liter X-cite. At 185 lbs I feel like I can plane early and if I cannot get up on a plane neither can most anyone else on the water.

A friend of mine is 200lbs and his biggest kit is a 7.5 (also a Retro) with a JP 146 X-cite. He is considering getting a larger board in the 160+ liter range to get more days planning. My feeling is that if he cannot plane on the 146L he should save his money and pull out his old 12' Fanatic Cat.

What do you think? Will he gain any noticeable planability with a 8.0 or another 15-20 liters?
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cgoudie1



Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2597
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove

PostPosted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:16 pm    Post subject: Re: Biggest reasonable kit for early planning. Reply with quote

Not with an 8.0, but he would with a 9.5 Retro, and planability is contingent on surface area, shape, and fin (and sail) size, not volume, so it would depend on the shape and surface area of that 160 ltr board.

-Craig

p.s. I own a 9.5 Retro, and a 150 ltr Angulo Sumo. It's good for planning my 180 lbs at about 11 MPH with a very deep fin.

Windaholic wrote:
My biggest kit is an 8.0 Retro with a JP 120 liter X-cite. At 185 lbs I feel like I can plane early and if I cannot get up on a plane neither can most anyone else on the water.

A friend of mine is 200lbs and his biggest kit is a 7.5 (also a Retro) with a JP 146 X-cite. He is considering getting a larger board in the 160+ liter range to get more days planning. My feeling is that if he cannot plane on the 146L he should save his money and pull out his old 12' Fanatic Cat.

What do you think? Will he gain any noticeable planability with a 8.0 or another 15-20 liters?
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d0uglass



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 1286
Location: Bonita Springs, Florida

PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 10:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

To get SIGNIFICANTLY more power than you get from a 7.5 I think you need to add at least 1.5 m^2 of sail area. I.e., you need a 9.0+ sail.

For example, my calculator says that for a 185 lb sailor:

7.5 is great in 15 knots
9.5 is great in 12 knots
11.5 is great in 10 knots

As for what's reasonable, I think that pretty much any sailor can handle a 9.5, especially when matched with a jumbo sized board with 85+ cm width and lots of volume. It's only when you get to sails above 10.0 that the awkwardness factor really kicks in hard. So...

9.0 - 10.0 reasonable for most people
Above 10.0 only for serious light-wind planing aficionados

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toodave



Joined: 06 Jul 1991
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a like new Loft 10.8 listed in the Iwindsurf classified for $125 that could be just what your buddy needs. Have a look in the freeride sail section
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wynsurfer



Joined: 24 Aug 2007
Posts: 940

PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 12:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would agree with others in that the larger board and a 9.5 would be the way to go. I weigh 150 and use a Tabou Rocket 145 X 76 cm. with either a 7.5 Ezzy Cheetah or an '07 Retro 9.0. At first I thought maybe I made a mistake with the 9.0 being so large, but I really like it for those days where it's 10 to 17 or so. It does not feel that big once you're powere up.

I have an old F2 Strato, and never use it anymore. The Retro/ Rocket combo is way more fun in 10-15, It turns real nice, not like steering a barge!
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shreddbob



Joined: 31 Mar 1987
Posts: 361
Location: Hawaii

PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can offer my own experience. I spent quite a bit of $$ gearing up to a N.P. 9.4 V-8 sail and AHD GT 85 board. Pretty big expense, especially when I had to add a new longer mast and also longer boom to the mix.

Was it worth it? I'm 165 pounds and it needs to be really light for me to enjoy this setup. if I sailed in flatter conditions it might have been more worth it. As I sail in Buzzards Bay a lot, where the sea breezes most often rapidly increase to at least mid teens (mph), the usefulness is limited. As soon as the wind comes up so I can be on a 7.5 I want to be off the huge setup. This is because of the choppy water making the board feel big. The ideal range for the 9.4/AHD for me is 11 - 14 mph. When the wind average gets to 15 or over I prefer the 7.5 and my 121 liter Starboard Carve (66 cm wide). If the water here were flatter I'd enjoy the big rig much more I'd think, up to even 20 mph maybe. Or if the wind actually was in the 11 - 14 mph range a lot I'd get more use.

Now to your question, to a 200 pound guy a 9.4 and wide board would have a lot more usefulness, much like my 7.5/121 liter is for me.

Also, like cgoudie mentions, board design has a huge effect on early planing. A super wide board with a huge fin maximizes the usefulness of the big sail. I use a giant sized 56 cm weed fin with the 9.4. That's how I get going in 11 mph. My board is shaped like a pancake--maximum planing width. You can see how far apart the rear straps are from each other in the photo--providing the leverage to control a big fin. A more traditionally shaped board with a narrower tail won't allow you to hold down a giant fin, and would limit the usefulness of a 9.0 or larger sail.

My AHD is only 144 liters volume, but the early planing is a huge leap compared to my 121 liter Carve. If I'm having any trouble planing on the 7.5/Carve and I switch to the AHD (with same sail) I can then sail circles around everybody. Perhaps I should've invested in the board alone.

As far as a Fanatic Cat etc, if the wind is below planing threshold for the AHD, the Cat wins hands down! I was left wallowing at the Buzzards Bay Crossing race this year on my fancy schmancy gear Rolling Eyes



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jingebritsen



Joined: 21 Aug 2002
Posts: 3371

PostPosted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 5:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

the GT 85 feels quite lumbering and sticky unless the mast base is all the way back even when using a straight fin. it comes alive, more comfortable, and make the chop not as much an issue base back. you may get some extra top end knots that way. if you can avoid using the weeder, it will get rid of that over whetted, yucky feeling all the better. all fins have an upward lift to them. weed fins have an upward lift that wets the board further forward because the center of effort is further aft. that drives the nose down too much unless one moves the base back. since the track is set too far forward on the older AHD's, it make this problem worse.
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KGB-NP



Joined: 25 Jul 2001
Posts: 2856

PostPosted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 7:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm 200lb. I could plane now problem in 8 - 10 knots with 8.5 M Neil Pryde V8 sail and Starboard 175L Wood Formula board. I found anything over 8.5 M wasn't worth the it and really didn't gain that much in power at low wind speeds.
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shreddbob



Joined: 31 Mar 1987
Posts: 361
Location: Hawaii

PostPosted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 10:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jingebritsen wrote:
the GT 85 feels quite lumbering and sticky unless the mast base is all the way back even when using a straight fin. it comes alive, more comfortable, and make the chop not as much an issue base back.


Thanks for the tip! Will have to revisit tuning of that setup. When I first got this board it was very alien to me and it took awhile to realize how high the boom should be! Moving boom up helped unstick board...but will go back over mast position and re-tune next chance I get.

jingebritsen wrote:
if you can avoid using the weeder, it will get rid of that over whetted, yucky feeling all the better.


Yes! I have Mirage 52 cm and Curtis 60 cm race fins that make this board really fly. Don't get to use the straight fins much though since in spring I am usually sailing 5.7 and smaller and the AHD is mostly in the garage.
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Windaholic



Joined: 15 Apr 2009
Posts: 28
Location: NJ

PostPosted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 5:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for all your input.
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