Light Wind Board for 195 lb sailor

[swchandler]

Actually, I was posing the question to Irrry. Often folks talk about their boards and sails, yet they don't cover fins as part of the equation. Fins are a very important element that must be properly balanced against sails. In my experience, I've found that bigger sails must be matched with bigger fins to get optimum performance, especially in light winds.

[lrrry]

[thombiz]

Irrry, you need to go talk to Tinho at Calema Windsurfing and Watersports. A couple years back he created a light air planing machine that was incredible. It had a long flat wide rocker that was ideal for light wind planing. I know the light wind stuff pretty well. Boards like the Prodigy are awful. I owned one and it was definitely NOT an early planer. I remember sailing it 15 mph winds once and it just would not plane. I stopped, flipped the board over to see if the centerboard strip had come loose and was dragging. The CB strip was fine, the underwater shape of the bottom was the culprit, and you can't fix that without recutting the bottom. Again, I know that because I built a board very similar to Tinho's and it is an incredible planing machine. It will plane in 10 mph winds and it goes up wind very easily. See page 2 of this discussion: http://www.iwindsurf.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22727&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=tinho&start=10

As for recutting the bottom, I know that because it is what I'm doing with a Pro-Tech 276 right now. Parton almost got it right, but those few millimeters are the difference between a great board and a hohum board. Good luck. I'll post pics before long.

Here's a video of Tinho's early planing board: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTRrxuuCxmw

Here's a discussion about it: http://www.calema.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=608
http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n630/thombiz/IMG_0424_zpsmqbj5p51.jpghttp://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n630/thombiz/IMG_0424_zpsmqbj5p51.jpg
Here's a pic of my board:

Here are pics of the bottom recut I'm currently doing. The OEM bottom had a shallow dome to its shape:

[lrrry]

[quote="thombiz"]Irrry, you need to go talk to Tinho at Calema Windsurfing and Watersports. A couple years back he created a light air planing machine that was incredible. It had a long flat wide rocker that was ideal for light wind planing. I know the light wind stuff pretty well. Boards like the Prodigy are awful. I owned one and it was definitely NOT an early planer. I remember sailing it 15 mph winds once and it just would not plane. I stopped, flipped the board over to see if the centerboard strip had come loose and was dragging. The CB strip was fine, the underwater shape of the bottom was the culprit, and you can't fix that without recutting the bottom. Again, I know that because I built a board very similar to Tinho's and it is an incredible planing machine. It will plane in 10 mph winds and it goes up wind very easily. See page 2 of this discussion: http://www.iwindsurf.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22727&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=tinho&start=10

As for recutting the bottom, I know that because it is what I'm doing with a Pro-Tech 276 right now. Parton almost got it right, but those few millimeters are the difference between a great board and a hohum board. Good luck. I'll post pics before long.

Here's a video of Tinho's early planing board: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTRrxuuCxmw

Here's a discussion about it: http://www.calema.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=608
http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n630/thombiz/IMG_0424_zpsmqbj5p51.jpghttp://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n630/thombiz/IMG_0424_zpsmqbj5p51.jpg
Here's a pic of my board:

Thombiz,
Thanks for the good info..

Yea I remember when Tino came out with that board, and I made a few posts in that thread. I should have gone over to Calema to see him and try that board years ago. I still think about heading over there.

I might respectfully disagree with you on the Prodegy.... Even at my intermediate level I can get it on plane hands down at 12 kts, and even lower if I work it a bit. Plus, it's dirt simple to sail, easy upwind or down wind. But agree, it's not perfect and there's boards that will plane quicker, others that could go up wind easier. But, that doesn't mean I can't find a better overall board. The Kona and JP Superlight are high on my list.

Keep us posted on your board modifications... interesting.

[swchandler]

Irrry, seems to me that you have a good array of fins that would support the boards and sails you have. Speaking for myself, my biggest fin is a 50cm Tectonics Mirage that I was using with sails in the 8.1-8.3 range on an old 1998 Mike's Lab 9'4". It's a great fin with a great good range, but it would be a stretch to say that it would be enough to keep me planing in under 12mph average with my kit.

If I could offer a fin suggestion that might help, I would look for a vertical course slalom design with a powerful tip like the Mirage offers. I would avoid swept freeride designs because I think they just aren't as powerful, particularly to windward.

[joethewindsufa]

usually i chime in these light wind or heavy weight discussions
stayed out of this one for quite a while
cuz OP has already a Prodigy AND a Mistral Equipe 2
typically I will suggest a longboard, but that was covered

once again there is talk here of planing in 10 - 12 knots
wrote a post on this in about 2012
http://joewindsurfer.blogspot.ca/2012/03/early-planing.html
around 2007 people were saying Formula > Phantom > Serenity in that wind speed - they were using 11 m² sail
wrote about Tinho on an RSD2 in the post as well
believe the custom Z2 was NOT out yet...

for me - Mistral Equipe II XR with an 8.5 sail in 10-12 knots = perfection
others suggest i use a bigger sail, but i hate the weight when the wind drops
between 12-15 knots I use a JP SLW92 with a TR-4 10-oh sail
http://joewindsurfer.blogspot.ca/2014/09/jp-super-lightwind-slw.html
NO issues tacking it - unless I am tired

since OP likes the Prodigy - stick with it
like you say - try different fins, bigger sails , etc
since the MEQ2 is slimmer, I have a hard time believing it is bested by the Prodigy - for you (in light winds)

as Bruno, local windsurf shop dude says
stop analyzing, askin questions (i over analyse at times)
do more TOW and have FUN

[lrrry]

[Awalkspoiled]

MEQ2 = the higher-volume version of the Mistral Equipe. A very versatile board.

If you’re considering the CarbOne make your way over to Sarasota sometime this Fall, there are three of us there who sail that board and you’d want to give it a try before dropping that much coin.

I haven’t had mine for long but fwiw my take on it is that for a one-board quiver it’s really hard to beat. It WON’T plane as early as a Formula board and perhaps not as early as the near-Formula stuff like the Ultrasonic or JP SLW, but it’ll handle WAY more wind at the upper end if you drop to a smaller fin, and for effortless cruising it’s close to raceboards (like the MEQ2) but much much easier to turn. Track and daggerboard are much better than on older raceboard designs. I do wish it had a Tuttle box instead of the PB.

If you have room and budget for two boards I think I’d go for either a Formula board if you’re athletic or an old raceboard if you’re not, and then one of the new very versatile 125liter slalom boards, which would give you TOW in anything from 0-30ish

[snyd1437elZA]

I'm 195# and I have had a lot of fun riding my Bic Techno 293 for the past couple years. I decided to try something new tonight and put my RS:X 9.5m on it in a light 5-8mph breeze. I just about got it planing with the board down. It goes to windward great with the daggerboard and will really move with the board up.

[jingebritsen]

double concave aft inhibits early planing by pumping. inhibits top end and glide too. race boards do not have these.