Who runs 10-12m sails?

[acalhounguy]

If you are asking because you are tempted to buy one. Don't do it.

I have a 12m Avanti with the matching Avanti 550 mast. It is a work of art. I can rig it in half an hour - my other sails take me about 5 minutes. The difference for me as a recreational sailor over my Ezzy 9.5M is small when paired with my Ultrasonic and large weed fin. I might notice more difference if I had a full Formula board and fin - can't do the fin due to lake depth and weeds. Rigging all the cams is a PITA and the rotation is tricky. It has taken me 2 seasons and lots of fiddling to get it to rotate appropriately. Now it does plane up slightly sooner and continue through lulls better and it is really locked in and smooth - also has great upwind angle which is nice in light conditions. Its also heavy, but it's probably the lightest 12M formula sail ever.

Anyway, I use it at my cabin when I'm there for a few days and can leave it rigged and there's basically little puffs of wind here and there. It does allow me to plane when I otherwise couldn't. It's a beautiful sail but I probably wouldn't do it again. If not for weeds / shallow conditions I'd go for a foil now. Because it is big and cumbersome your questions aren't really practical considerations - as soon as you have enough wind to rig down you will want to do so. The sail is so stable that you can go fairly overpowered but unless you are racing there is no reason to do so.

[gregnw44]

Pics from 2 weeks ago. A very old 11m sail, a very new Kona One, a very old guy who weighs 200 lb. Sailing a pretty windy day, for Seattle... 6 to 11 knots all evening. When we had 11 knots there were widely scattered caps, but most the time it was just below that. As I said in my posts, usually there is no planning here, but lots of us use 10-12m sails, just so we can lean back in the harness. However this evening, since we had rare wind (although still no caps)... but if you had a BIG sail, there "was" planning in straps.

[gregnw44]

A few more from the same evening.

[gregnw44]

Sorry for the spam... don't really know how to post pics... practicing on y'all.

[joethewindsufa]

as i am a big, fat boy ; weekend warrior and often in what seems like a light wind area ...
i use longboards and JP SLW92 with a MauiSails TR-4 10 m² sail
this is a fully cambered sail and I would not recommend it to everyone
one or 2 cambers is much lighter and easier to handle when wind or sail drops
here is a video with no-one else on the water
my technique sucks - stomp on straps rather than get in and sail could be raked better ...
but i was having fun
for me - no point in going bigger - would rather longboard with an 8.5 than try a 12 meter sail on the JP SLW !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrQ9ZnsapuM

[gvogelsang]

I weigh 210. Last year my sail quiver was 8.0 and 6.5 Cheetah, and 5.7 Elite. This year the Elite goes byby, and I will try a 5.5 Zeta. Two boards: old Formula and Rocket 125. I also have an old Neil Pryde 8.5 V8; but the 8.0 cheetah is just so much easier and almost as powerful.

I also have two road bikes, and a lovely set of golf clubs. If it isn't windy enough for the 8.0, you will probably find me on a bike. If I lived on a beach, I would also have a Kona One or Carbone, and appropriate Kona sail

At some point I need a fsw around 105 lts.

At this point I wouldn't chase anything bigger than 8.0 or 8.5 due to the law of diminishing returns. When it gets too windy for 5.5, I really enjoy playing golf in very strong winds.

[jingebritsen]

formula sailing is another sport.

large fin, wide board, huge sails for tight upwind or huge off wind angles. reaching across the wind is typically not viable. reaching with formula gear only works in the lightest of wind speeds

[jingebritsen]

greg, that old 11 meter can yank stumps out of the ground.

50 cm fin would match it well on kona one

[gregnw44]

[jingebritsen]

great pics.

i see you've raised your boom height since last year.