Planning a 205L JP Funster

nomadicprs · Joined: 31 May 2009 Posts: 5

So I cant figure out something. Is it possible to plane a board thats 205L and weights almost 35lb without a ton of wind? It seems to move pretty fast sometimes with my 5.0 sail. But I just cant seem to get it to plane? I have a 145L board that I bought as my first short board but I'm not sure I'm ready to move on to it yet. I was told to step down to it when I got this big board up to a plane. I can get in the footstraps and sometimes the harness but It just seems to trudge through the water. Today for instance we had average 14mph winds and I tried the 5.0 sail and then I tried a 6.0 sail which seemed like it weighed a thousand pounds. Am I missing something really fundamental here because I just cant seem to get this board up to speed. Thanks for the help.

River-Lizard · Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Posts: 188

Are you using the dagger board? That's the first thing that needs to go if you want to get planning. The other is that you are using a really small sail for a very big board. A board of that size would fair better with a much larger sail, 7.0 or bigger. I don't know how much you weigh, but even your 140L board is not going going to be considered a "short board". Really, the line that you end up crossing is boards that will float you with little to no wind, and boards that won't. Bigger boards are easier to learn on, but get to be a handful when the water gets rough, and that's where "short boards" or "sinkers" tend to take over. However, these tend to be dated terms of modern shapes, as some new boards that will float you can handle rougher conditions, and span the gap between "big boards" and "small boards".

None of this really matters to right now though. It will all sort itself out naturally. You probably really need to be using a bigger sail with your 205L, and even with your 145L when you're ready for that board. After that, you'll be rigging smaller as it gets windier, but eventually you may find that the board becomes difficult to control if where you are sailing has rough water in higher winds. Then you'll seek out something smaller yet again. Hope this makes sense.

RPM7 · Joined: 06 Jan 2006 Posts: 121

nomadicprs · Joined: 31 May 2009 Posts: 5

I guess I should have mentioned I sail in Kailua, HI. The winds range from 10-25 depending on the day. Today was about average with 16 mph. I weigh 186 if that helps this conversation any. I know the 5.0 is small its just the only sail that dosent make my arms feel like their gonna explode.

So I'll keep trying my bigger sails. I have a 6.6 I can try too. I still dont understand why the 6.0 felt like I had a small car on the mast. It seemed like it pulled way to hard for not moving the board very much if that makes sense. The mast is probably older in the 5 year range but the sail is about 3 years old. Its a Maui Hot Sails Super Speed 6.0 if that helps any.

The 145 is an Icon by Naish. Is it to soon to move to that board if I cant really sail in a harness yet?

DanWeiss · Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Posts: 2296 Location: Connecticut, USA

dougapepper · Joined: 30 Aug 2000 Posts: 16

yes, 5.0 or even 6.0 is not big enough to plane in 16 wind. especially if you are new to sailing

coachg · Joined: 10 Sep 2000 Posts: 3550

Dan is right on. You are actually better off with a smaller sail if not planing. Take out the smaller sail and practice turns & sail handling or get a much bigger sail, 7.5+ and learn to use the straps. Anything in between is just tractor work right now for you.

Coachg

mtnview · Joined: 02 Jul 2002 Posts: 53

johnarmitage · Joined: 10 Jun 2001 Posts: 108

No doubyt. The first time I planed I got an erection.

DonORiordan · Joined: 06 Feb 2001 Posts: 146

"I can get in the footstraps and sometimes the harness but It just seems to trudge through the water."

Given enuf wind, and sailor skill, a 205 will plane, no problem, even on a 5.0 sail (which is on the small side for such a board). The more sailor skill, the less wind required for 'enuf'. And the smaller a sail you can get away with. Eventually. So lets talk about skill and technique.

You mention you can "sometimes" get in the harness. That tells me you probably aren't particularly skilled yet. Maybe you are still using the daggerboard as one post mentioned. These are big drag inducers/planing killers, so fold it up as soon as you feel/see a gust coming and you want to try planing. Once you do get yourself comfortable getting into the harness, you then need to get skilled at using it properly, which means committing weight to your harness so that you become lighter on your feet. Which in turn avoids the back of the board being sunk so deep i.e. frees the board up to lift up out of the water and onto the planing surface, reducing board drag to a minimum (key requirement to planing). More on that later.

First though, note that its also possible to take some weight off your feet _without_ using the harness. But to do so, you need to get that weight transferred through your arms, into the boom, and from there into the mast foot. This is another non-trivial/non-intuitive thing that can be learned, but isn't blindingly obvious (even to many experienced sailors). A square C shape with your body is the thing to aim for here (arms and neck the top of the C, back the spine of it, legs the bottom of it. Your center of gravity will be out over the water, and pulling thru your straight arms into the boom, pressuring the mast foot. Straight legs complete this picture. Especially the front leg. And hands close together on the boom (nore more than 12 inches apart). Try holding this position in a strong gust while heading 30 degrees off the wind, and see if that doesn't get you on plane.

Another thing you can try while still out of the harness, but in the footstraps, is 'pumping' the board, where you physically transmit a bunch of energy into the board to make it start bouncing/skipping on the water. That can also help get onto a plane, as you first push the board down a bit (sink it), and it naturally corks back up. The corking up bit is where you temporarily free more of the board surface from the water, therefore reducing the drag a bit (or a LOT), which may be enough to allow the board to start planing. Rinse, lather and repeat (go watch some hotshot freestyler types doing this, they typically sail a whole square meter sail smaller than everyone else, and use this humping/pumping technique to get planing even while way underpowered). It can look pretty funny/weird, but can be extremely effective.

Next, try planing from within the harness. This requires you to use your back arm to move the clew of the sail in and out. Often this motion encourages the airflow to be better over the sail, producing more lift & drive from the sail i.e. more power. Again, this can make the difference between planing and not, especially when you are 'close'. Work that sail aggressively with your back hand, while you are hooked in, and your weight is committed the harness (no point in doing this if your feet are heavy). Do it while heading slightly downwind (maybe 30 degress of the wind) to maximize the board speed. Key here again is to lighten your feet to avoid sinking the tail and increasing drag, so ensure you have your weight committed to the harness. This means you harness lines should be completely taut. I really lean back against mine, and deliberately straighten my arms so I know my weight is truly in the harness. I try to lean back so hard, and push the boom away with my hands to the point of mentally trying to stretch & snap the harness lines. Then I know my weight is on the harness/boom/mastfoot, and not directly over my feet sinking the board and increasing the drag.

Some of the other posts also indicated a bigger sail would help. It will. And you will get used to the extra weight also. The first few times it'll feel like a ton, and then you will just get used to it. If you can get a modern 6.2 or 6.5 or something like that that fits on a short-ish mast (no longer than 430cm) , it will feel lighter than one that rigs on a longer (460+) mast when uphauling etc. (law of the lever), so that's something else to watch out for.

All these techniques will come to you eventually with practice and watching/mimicking the behavior of others. Having some understanding of how/why they work may bring them _effectively_ to you sooner, as will practice. The better you get, the smaller a board and sail you will be able to plane on in less wind. Which opens up new doors in terms of maneuverability (think freestyle, chop hopping, jumping and waveriding).

Eventually your 145 will become your 'main' board, probably coupled with a 7.0 sail at which point you'll be hitting warp speed across Kailua bay. And it'll likely happen a lot sooner than you think. Watch out for the turtles when you become this speed demon!!