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larger sail quivers
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jimwilkins



Joined: 08 Feb 2008
Posts: 70

PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 3:10 am    Post subject: larger sail quivers Reply with quote

I want to know what sails are used for 15+ through 19 mph. I have a high wind quiver that works well for the delta and high wind days at the point. But there are a few dozen days where i'll see guys blasting on large sails at the Acess and Coyote. Whats a good quiver for those days.

I bought a 6.0 and its really either too small or too big. Never otherwise.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Are your winds really that bi-polar, or are you just not accustomed to pushing a sail's or board's envelope into their high or low performance regimes? It's often easy to rig up a few small sails, swap 'em off as the wind varies, and stay dialed. It takes much more work, and maybe equipment, to push one's gear to either extreme. Wind in the mid teens implicates different techniques, objectives, board, fin, sail, boom, mast extension ... heck, conceivably a bigger car to carry your stuff in. You gotta ask yourself whether simply planing is worth the extra hassle and expense.

OTOH, given that your venues often have workable terrain even in those light winds, maybe it is worth the extra investment even if merely planing doesn't excite you. Are you willing and powerful enough to work your terrain on a 7.5 and 115 liters on a fairly large, fairly straight fin? If so, make the plunge.

I, too, see folks planing in the upper teens. But around here the water's flat at those speeds, so my upper teens gear went unused for many years except for getting it out once every couple of years to remind me why I don't bother with it. That's a very personal choice between investment and reward that each of us must make for himself according to his venues, wind, time, money, priorities,drive time, thrill threshold, and tolerance for hassle. I find "planing" and "windsurfing" to be quite different sports, one far more interesting to me than the other.

Whatever your decision, I suggest from expensive experience that you evaluate and make it before investing thousands of dollars in it. All I have left from my $3,000 high-teens experiment is a boom, a couple of dusty big fins somewhere in the garage, and memories of more rigging time than planing time. Besides that, I don't even own any of the stuff I see on the water at 17 mph under guys at my 190# unless you count my big Synchro, which I bought for a whole 'nuther purpose. Borrow or demo some big kit first, and unless you're certain of what you want, buy used. Light-wind gear gets better every year, but some of even the latest gathers dust and is available at much-reduced prices.

Mike \m/
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89Spring



Joined: 24 Jul 2003
Posts: 241

PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

All depends on what you consider big. I have a 7.5 all the way down toa 4.0 and use everything. My big board is a JP FSW 102 ltr that works really well with the 7.5 and a moderate fin. At 180lbs that would get me going in 15knts. If I need something larger then it is a really good day to sit on the beach and drink a beer.
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coachg



Joined: 10 Sep 2000
Posts: 3549

PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jimwilkins,

What is your weight? What size board? Makes difference. A 6.0 for little guys would be plenty in that wind. Bigger guys will need much more sail.

For those 15-19 mph days you have a couple of options.
One is to rig big, bigger board and sail, and blast. The other is to rig smaller and play around in the pen practicing light wind freestyle until a gust comes along and then blast off.

If you are looking for comparisons I would be blasting in those winds with a 6.5 sail and 115 liter board. Fin size from 33-40 cm depending on tide strength. My weight is between 165-170 lbs. and I am a relatively efficient sailor. If I was willing to pump, baggy 6.0 and 96 liter board could get me going.

Last time I checked Hawaiians invented surfing on long wooden boards sailing in a straight line. So the way I see it you can simply windsurf or windcarve. Very Happy

By the way, at 250 cm my 115 liter is one of my shortest boards. No need for a bigger car.

Coachg
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carl



Joined: 25 Feb 1997
Posts: 2674
Location: SF bay area

PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:26 am    Post subject: Re: larger sail quivers Reply with quote

jimwilkins wrote:

I bought a 6.0 and its really either too small or too big. Never otherwise.


That's funny to me (at 200+lbs), 6.0 and 6.6 are my most used sails at Coyote!!
It sounds like your 6.0 is not downhauled enough, or on the wrong mast, or is a very old sail.
Technique and/or just preference for small sails may be an issue too.
(ie: if you just can't stand the bigger sail, you'll never get it dialed in enough to enjoy it).
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swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jim,

Speaking for myself at about 163 pounds, I find that my 7.1 works very well in that range. Although I have a virtually new 4 year old 6.3, I never use it, as I normally go from my 5.6 straight to the 7.1. Contrary to the thought that you have to spend a fortune, I use the same boom and 430cm RDM that I use for my 5.6. Admittedly though, I did have to buy a new long extension to get the 30cm boost I needed for RDM, since more recently I made the switch from SDM to RDM. I had been using a similar setup (5.7 and 7.0) matched with a 430cm SDM for about 5 years prior to that.

Will a 7.0-7.1 sail work with your current board(s)? That's to be seen, as you didn't comment about that, but most modern 100 liter boards can easily handle a 7.0-7.1 sail. Quite honestly, I even use the same fins (slalom, wave or weed) between the 5.6-7.1 range.

So overall, I'm of the opinion that you can simply buy one sail, and maybe a long extension, and easily style in that wind range.
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johnl



Joined: 05 Jun 1994
Posts: 1330
Location: Hood River OR

PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have to agree with others. At 175 if the wind was a true 15 - 19 I would be on a 95l board with a 5.7 sail (northwave wave sail). BUT if it was more like 13 - 15 then that means a 115 (or a 125l) board with a 6.2 or 7.2 sail (northwave 511 sails).

So a lot depends on where the majority of the wind is. Is it 15? or 19? Also when you get into the lower wind range sail design in my opinion becomes more important. I want a sail with a nice shape to it (or cambers) to get me through the lulls.

But like Isobars said, once you drop off into the lower wind range, you need more gear. For me it was another mast, boom, sail, board, and fin so I could sail at winds in the 13 - 16 mph range. That is a big investment, but I found in the bay area, that is enough for me to extend my sailing season 1 month or more....
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wolfeman



Joined: 05 Apr 2005
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:16 pm    Post subject: Mast base pressure and big board... Reply with quote

Last month I found myself in the gorge during the heat-wave and hocked a 96 ltr JP (my old big board) for a 115 syncro.

At 170 a 6.6 and 115 syncro was incredible in the 15-18mph range. Even in chest high swell at hatchery it was comfy. Took lots of mast base pressure to get going, but it was fun. Changed my view of light wind sailing completely. It is fun to cruse around longboard like at a slower speed, when you have a nice cut board to do it...

...not so convinced about the "formula" style of big board though.
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LeeD



Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 1175

PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Always a balance between light wind gear (13-19mph winds) that tops out right there, or stuff that might start around 13, but makes it towards 27mph breezes.
For go fast, a higher top end is important, so I'd choose Diablo/Noa/07/Saber 6-7 battenned and top end oriented 6.5 to 7 meter sails coupled with the right 100% carbon mast and 11lbs board.
That would be a normal Slalom42 "med to light wind" combination.
For pure freeride recreational sailing, a bigger, maybe 120 liter board that's over 64cm wide, lightweight, and less battenned, more mid to bottom end oriented freeride sail would be the call.
Your choice, based on your skill level and your preferences.
An example....yesterday the rising breeze was maybe 11-17mph when I went out....chose a 6.7Diablo with 11lbs Slab planing 100% but never powered or happy. In less than 20 minutes, rising winds up to 23 in the gusts, just getting fun, then up to maybe 27mph, really happy and going fast, planing thru 100% jibes, but how long can a 145lbs sailor handle that much sail in that breeze?
So in gusts to 28, lows around 20, switched down to 5.2 and 88 liter board (that can handle that wind) and out for another sesh a little underpowered for big jumps.
If you had the low wind oriented sail and big board, you'd have to come in and switch when breeze hits consistent 20.
If you had my setup and weighed more or more skilled, you'd be one happy camper for 5 hours.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 1:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The problem I find with borderline winds -- which I define as that 18-20 mph range for me -- is that they so often progress quickly to the low 20s where I can go to a 5.7 and a smaller board. Thus if I rig my 6.2 and 9x liters for the 18-20 stuff, I can quickly abandon it for 5.7 and 8x liters. And of course the low 20s often gets replaced quickly by mid 20s, where I switch to 5.2 and 7x liters. Thus I rig bigger sails only if I don't expect more wind soon, so my bigger sails -- 5.7 and 6.2 -- get used rarely.

There's no way I'm going to sail a 6.2 because it's blowing 20 at 8 AM when we expect to be on 4.2s from 11 'til dark. I bought my 7.5 rig and 114 liter slalom board for those days that blow 18 mph for 10 hours. I've seen about two of them since I bought the stuff 8 years ago.

Bigger sails and boards -- say a 6.2 on 95 liters -- have a narrow window because they won't work for me at 16-17 mph and are abandoned the minute a 5.7 and 85 liters work (low 20s), which in turn are abandoned the minute 5.2 and 75 liters work (mid 20s). OTOH, as log as te average wind runs up and down between 23ish and 29ish, I'm sticking to the 5.2 to eradicate lulls.

Thus overall, my 6.2 or 5.7 each have a 3-4 mph average wind speed range by CHOICE, whereas smaller sails get used in a far wider wind range because I'm not rigging down to a 4.x until I'm SURE it will be powered up every moment. IOW, I'll stick to an overpowered 5.2 or 4.x FAR longer than I'll stick to an overpowered 5.7 or 6.2 simply because on the 5.2 and down I've got good swell and am on a small board.

Just stuff to think about.

Mike \m/
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