Though it is nice to be able to choose nearly the perfect sail for the
conditions. I want my quiver to have proper overlap and minimal
redundancy. So, I was wondering what the common school of thought is
regarding spacing on sails produced over the last 5 years. Ideally I
want my largest sail to rig on a 460 rdm so it looks like my biggest
sail will be an 8.0 or 8.3 and that is fine for me as I'm 155lbs and
should be able to plane @ 12mph. Any suggestions on what the rest of
the quiver should look like??
two suggestions I've been given so far are with 4 sails.
4.6@ 23mph, 5.6@ 19mph, 6.9@ 15 mph, 8.3@ 12mph.
or 4.1@ 26mph, 5.1@ 21mph, 6.3@ 17 mph, 8.0@ 13mph
the 6m+ sails will be slalom or freerace oriented and the smaller will
be wave oriented.
> two suggestions I've been given so far are with 4 sails.
> 4.6@ 23mph, 5.6@ 19mph, 6.9@ 15 mph, 8.3@ 12mph.
> or 4.1@ 26mph, 5.1@ 21mph, 6.3@ 17 mph, 8.0@ 13mph
> the 6m+ sails will be slalom or freerace oriented and the smaller will
> be wave oriented.
>
>
>
>
I, personally, have no idea whatsoever how my sail sizes correspond to wind
speeds. All I know is, generally, if the sand is blowing down the beach it's
5.0ish. If I get a little over powered, I give more downhaul, if
underpowered, I may switch to a floatier board. Sometimes, I stick with one
sail all day long and just switch boards.
Do you actually measure the wind speeds before rigging each time? That
would drive me crazy.
Alan
4 sails of late: 4.2 Superfreak 4.7 Superfreak, 5.3 Superfreak and a 6.2
Severne.
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I'm about 220# and I go 7.5 freeride, 6.3 wave, 5.2 wave, 4.7
wave.
7.5 and not 8.0 just bc I couldn't find anything that would fit
on a 460 and not need dedicated booms.
I use the 4.5 once or twice a year - absolute max. I think I've
had one good 4.7 day in my whole life; all the rest were too
gusty and shifty to call "fun".... so, really, three sails cover
99+% of my sailing.
Having said all that, I now have a 6.9 wave in addition - that
walked off early in the season, but found it's way back home last
week. Thanks again Robert! I owe you one.
There's adequate overlap for me with 7.5 and 6.3, but I like
having the 6.9 as an ocean sail bc the 7.5 is a bit much for
water starting in the bone yard.
--
PeteCresswell
I've wrestled with this question quite a bit for the 17 years I've
been windsurfing. Here's what I've come up with (and like the other
poster I have no idea what windspeed goes with what sail, except that
my 7.0 seems to need 14mph on my handheld meter for me to plane.)
1. as the sails get larger you can use larger size gaps.
2. When you get into your biggest sails it's less about being
perfectly dialed in than it is about planing.
My quiver: 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.2, 7.0. I weigh 165lbs
I used to go 4.0-4.7-5.5 and was perfectly happy, but my wife shares
the quiver and at an ABK clinic it was advised that she have three
sails in the middle of the quiver than two.
My 7.0 is the largest sail I can comfortably duck jibe (which I like
to do). If that wasn't a concern I'd probably go straight to 8.0 from
6.2. You can always add more downhaul and outhaul to an 8.0 so that
it will cover you to a 6.0-6.4 sail.
Looking at your proposed quivers I think you're jumping too much from
the 5.6 to 6.9 or 5.1 to 6.3. You want to have fun when you're on
your 5 meter sails, not hope that you're close to having the right
rig. If it was up to me, for you at 155 I'd go 8.0, 6.2-6.3, 5.5,
4.7.
Use a selection of fins to help dial in each board if you're a little
over or underpowered.
My .02
I'm using only one more sail now - 7.0, 6.4, 5.8, 5.3 and 4.7.
As a result, my style is mostly overpowered fully juiced sailing. Go
figure. ;-)
I am 6'6"/ #230 I have a quiver almost identical to Pete C's, but
would make one exception.
I have found though experience, I like to have the most choice in the
"good day" zone. For me, I would add a 5.7 to Pete's quiver. I sail
mainly 5.2 to 6.2 then. I initially thought too much choice might lead
to paralysis of analysis. Rather, it takes the pressure off. I leave
the big or small sail home based on forecast to keep my gear space
reasonable.
It greatly helped me lower the number of sails in my garage!
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I always check the windspeed by handheld and by the wind sensors /
bouys near the launches. I also pay attention to the tidal flow. It
eliminates future guesswork because I will already be pretty confident
of the conditions at each of the launches before I leave my driveway.
That way I know what the terrain will be like and I'll have a good
idea what I'll be rigging before I arrive. To me it is easier to do
that then guess when I get there.
Servus
Wolfgang
In my case I use
9.8 race sail on formula board
6.7 and 5.8 race on slalom board
5.3 and 4.5 wave on wave board/s
The 9.8 and 6.7 over lap and I have used the 6.7 when others are on
their 4.5 wave sails (scary!).
Wave sailing also prefers smaller gaps.
Cheer
Kevin
55l wave board? How big is that?
Not big ;-)
But it's still 240 cm long, 51 cm wide. Additionally the nose is quite
narrow, relativelly sleek tail, thin overall (8.8 cm max) and very
narrow, round rails and thin tail. Today one would probably make the
thing 10-20 cm shorter but the design is from early 1999.
I actually just can guess the volume (built the board like a bunch of
others myself). I targeteted 60 liters when designing the board but
actual use indicates it is a bit less ( i sink to the hips even in
relatively salty waters of Southern France when the wind absolutely dies).
Riding the thing is an absolute blast: Absolutely light feeling but no
bouncing. Very easy to jump and unbelievable grip and speed in tight
turns, comared to boards in the 70l range. Even doesn't need that much
wind to get going, moderately powered on 5.0 is OK. Only downside: If it
really isn't enough wind to get planing it get streneous to slog.
Servus
Wolfgang
The make, model.age and mast used with the sail will make a huge difference
in available range. Generally you will find a better nominal "spacing"
within one brand than with switching brands, too. If you are going to blend
wave/bump sails with larger slalom or freeride sails, try to focus on a
preferred sail line, or at least lines that share mast compatibilities.
In the higher wind ranges, a good rig will probably give you close to 10 mph
range. For example, I am about your size and could rig a 4.2 in just under
20 mph with a floaty board. With appropriate adjustments and a smaller
board, it would still hang in to almost 30 mph. These speeds are
approximate, as I have never actually measured wind speed.
The fact that your existing quiver has wind speeds only a couple of mph
apart tells me your sails either have very limited range, or you like to rig
for exact sweet spots ;-)
If you were starting at the 8ish range, with today's better sails you could
drop to a 6.x easily, call it 6.3. An approximate equivalent drop would be
to 5.4 as a next step. Then you could drop to a 4.5 or so. I think you
would find a range-oriented 4.5 would handle the same winds as your current
4.1.
You could spread these sizes out more with accurate tuning and a good board
quiver, but I would expect these would cover the same basic range as you are
handling now with the 6 sails.
Just my $.02. YMMV.