Formula Windsurfing, a serious business

[cagjr21150]

Despite the disappointing lack of effort from windsurfing magazines to promote Formula Windsurfing in America, I am really excited to see some of the most inspired and energetic windsurfing pictures I’ve seen in a long time. The pictures are from the Formula Worlds in 2009 that just happened in Santa Paola Spain, and there is no question that the Formula Windsurfing Class is alive and well. A couple of years ago Formula Windsurfing was dropped from the PWA world tour in order to promote slalom. Slalom is a great discipline in its own right and has received a lot of support in the way of participation and media coverage including our websites... Read More http://www.windsurfingtour.com/?p=583

What do you think ?

[d0uglass]

Yeah, formula is cooler than people realize, even just for light wind recreational sailing. You can get much more bang for your buck with a used formula board and 9.0 - 12.5 msq rig than with a new large freeride board and 7.5 - 9.0 msq rig. Also, the type of sailing you can do on formula, with all the power and angle from the oversized sails and fins, is very dynamic, challenging, and interesting. I.e. not boring.

As a racing class I think it's too expensive and intensive for most people (who would probably be better served by a simple one-design class like Kona ONE), but it's a great class for really driven, competitive types.

[jingebritsen]

Some folks use a rec sail with FW boards. It's a less technical and more affordable way to go. Adequate sails with FW boards match up better than double luff monsters with large free rides or even Konas.

[LUCARO]

anyone care to compare and contrast slalom versus formula. I have been out of the loop for a while.

cheers

roland

[swchandler]

It's my thought that getting the most out of formula boards, you need a quiver of really big sails (2 to 3), to include a 70cm fin. Have you ever priced a formula carbon boom? Just getting the stuff in and out of the water has to be a notable chore, and if your locale suffers from significant kelp and/or weeds, that just adds to the nightmare. I can't even dream how trying it would be to launch through a rock bottom surf lineup.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against formula, but it's really a different set requirements that you need to be up for, and that includes some very pricey components if one anticipates involving themselves in any serious racing. Maybe in very specific locales like in the SF Bay area or in Florida the focus on formula gains ground, particularly if your primary interest is in racing, but elsewhere I think the discipline loses substantial ground and appeal. I can say that the places I normally sail, I've never seen a formula kit out and about.

Also, I have to say that hanging responsibility for formula's minority position in the US is a very specious argument. However, I would agree that the PWA's turn from formula to slalom really limited any potential attention to formula racing. With little or no money in the game, few of the pros are now attracted to serious formula racing and its promotion.

[bred2shred]

For non-racing formula sailing, you really only need one sail IMO. The rigs have a lot of range, and the difference between an 11.0 and a 12.5 for example, is actually pretty small.

But the gear is expensive and you really do want to run high carbon content mast and booms. The gear can be a little tough to carry around, many times its easiest to carry the board and rig separately. Weed fins basically don't work on formula boards, the drag is too high and the CE is too low. You would definitely not want to sail this gear in breaking surf conditions. BUT, for light wind locales, there is really nothing better if you want to do planing sailing.

sm

[jingebritsen]

I've helped Aerotech develop FW sails for several years until the Konas and double luffs came along. If just sailing about not competing, then a 9.8 or so is all I would ever need to sail upwind well. Off the wind, competitively is where the larger sails made the most difference. Once the Konas came along and I got to do light wind wave sailing in less wind than FW, and double luff "cast iron" sails came along I quit FW fairly quickly.

Only rarely do I miss formula sailing: when the swell is nil and winds are 8-13 mph.

[d0uglass]

I agree with bred2shred and jingebritsen that for non-racing formula sailing you only need one sail. All I use now is a 9.8, and for my 160 lbs that works from about 9 - 19 knots.

Here's what my formula kit cost me:

Used Exocet Turbo Formula II - $200
Used 70 cm Select DC Soft fin - $70
Used 520 mast - $150
Used 2005 Aerotech VMG 9.8 that rigs on the 520 - $200
Used Carbon Boom - $200

Total - $820


Here's my pros and cons list for formula...

Pros-
Significantly earlier planing than almost anything else.
Faster in 8 - 15 knots than almost anything else.
Great upwind and downwind angles let you explore.
Feeling of massive power and high performance.
Challenging and good excercise- can push your limits even in light wind.
Rewards practice, tuning, experimentation, and gear upgrades.
Exciting racing opportunities.
Lots of used gear available for cheap.

Cons-
Expense of new gear.
Easily-damaged equipment that often requires repair.
Sails can be difficult to rig, and high tension is hard on rig components.
More difficult to store and carry than smaller gear.
Can't sail in water less than 3 feet deep.
Big loss of performance if you have to use a weed fin.*
Hell to launch in breaking waves.
Can't jump or waveride, and tricky to carve a fully-planing jibe.
Pure planing hull = all-or-nothing performance; a dog to shlog
Scary in >15 knots.


*In my past life I sailed formula in a weedy spot and found that it worked ok with a big 56 cm weed fin. You don't get the awesome upwind and downwind and feeling of lift and efficiency with a weed fin, but you still get the early planing. I think the 5-10 year old formula boards that are longer and have less tail width adapt better to weed fins.

[bred2shred]

Agree with the "Pros & Cons List" above with only a few exceptions...

Formula gear has significantly earlier planing than ANYTHING else.

Formula boards take an adjustment period to learn how to jibe, but in my experience/opinion, they are among the easiest boards to fully plane out of a jibe on. They plane so easily and continue to plane at low speeds allowing you to goof up and still pull off the jibe. Also, because you get so much more planing time, you have many more opportunities to practice your jibes in a light-wind venue than with a traditional board.

sm

[rushd]

i abandoned windsurfing in the 1990's because i was wasting way too much time sitting around waiting for wind. I have come back now and have a formula experience (BIC Techno) set up (all used except for the board and boom). Board is definitely not as fast as a real formula board but it is not fragile and still planes super early.

Wind forecasts are much better now than in the old days but because i have to travel to windsurf sites i take my formula set up along with my freeride gear. If the wind forecast does not pan out; i can almost always get out and plane.

[3-phase]

rushd,

This is the right way to do windsurfing. In Europe Windsurfing is more a live style then in the USA at the present time but I see the shift, more show up earlier and take bigger stuff with them.

The over year's promoted and preached 80 liter 4.7 setup has pushed away a lot of people from the sport and it is great to see people come back to the sport and enjoy the new stuff as well pick a correct setup to allow them sailing in many condition. As several Team rider, Factory reps say a 125 - 140 liter board and a 85 to 100 liter board (any brand but ideally a AHD ) and a couple sails lets you Windsurf from 12 to 30 miles all day long. Speed sailing and some grass root formula and slalom race are great to promote and support the sport to the public.

Jurg

www.kasail.com
www.a-h-d.com
www.windsurfdeal.com

[sailingjoe]

A few years ago, I ran into a guy at Kalmus beach who was rigging a 10 or 11 meter sail and putting it on a formula board. We talked for a while and this opened my mind to recreational Formula sailing. As he pointed out, you don't have to break the bank in order to get into it. If you are patient and shop around, you can find affordable deals on all components. I was told this about kiting, but didn't bite. Now, I am finding that I can plane in 14 m.p.h. winds with an 11 meter Formula sail while my most used sail this season was a 9.6 Freerace. I'm the fastest guy on the pond as kiting really is the slogger's way to go.

[springsdorf]

Douglas said

"Cons: You need at least 3 ft of water"

Is that in general or is the ocassional 2 ft shallow spot (oyster shoal)
tolerable?

[MrFish]

The other thing about recreational FW is that you can really stretch out and do some distance sailing, cruise or explore a bit, which is hard to do on most other gear, except longboards, which are not my thing.

Oh, and for the depth challenged, you can use a smaller fin, or a weed fin.

[haterrater]