Light wind sailing

Whats the lightest wind you are prepared to go out in?

What rig do you use?

Myself, I will go out if its 10 - 12 knots consistantly. I will use a 8.5m KA Formula with my 105l Hypersonic and manage to get on the plane (although I dont weigh a lot so it doesnt take much). Once on the plane, I love cruising in the light winds.

Yes! I keep looking at the live wind readings every 5 mins. As soon as it hits 12 knots I am off

I've been known to go out in 5 or 6 knots. If there's enough to hold a sail up there's enough for a muck around. I rig a 6.5 on a 75 wide board and play about trying sail tricks and such. Its very pleasant on a warm day and its good exercise. I'd rather do that than rig a huge sail.

I use old longboards under 12 knots or so. Plenty of freestyle moves can be tried first on longboards, before trying on shorties.

Also great for general shape - old boards and rigs with no harness in 11 knots.

Under 10, good for teaching people, mucking around, etc. Better than moping.

Get yourself a paddle board, so versitile. Sail it paddle it surf it, always something to do on it. Best money I've ever spent

Last weekend at Emerald. 2knts gusting to 4...maybe even 5 sometimes!! :)

Trying to do that backwinding and cleat 1st stuff.

Only new to the game so I like practicing setting up and just looking at it

Do you use your windsurfer as a SUP? What size is your board?

In my best Yoda voice..

I'm a firm believer that you can improve your sailing heaps by going out in light conditions. It easier to just let rip in a strong breeze but in light winds you need to learn to use good trim and technique to get planning. These skills, I believe, make you a better sailor when the wind drops.

Shame I was too lazy to sail with OB64 today -- maybe tomorrow?

i sometimes get out on a starboard super 12'6 SUP and do some old school freestyle, only need enough wind to get it moving and about a 5.5ish wave sail.

You are all going to HELL!

12 knots? I DREAM of getting 12 knots! Today we had two squalls, the 2nd looked very promising, but didn't really deliver....we got 10 knots max...and lots of rain...most people were planing for a while but I couldn't get going, even with the 8.5 which is now my "big sail" since I gave up Formula.

12 knots for an hour = an EPIC DAY!! 15 knots = ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS!

"Light wind"? With the windsurf gear now available, you can plane well-powered in 8 knots, so please revise your figures down, lest you cause offence...

Well, 5knts is rather weak, but anyhow the backwinding (front-to-back?) is very important, and starts best on a good old floater. At the last freestyle event I was in (18-22knots), I figure we spent at least a quarter our time pushing the sail. Partly as freestyle, but also to rest the arms. Make sure you practice both sides though, important.

Cleat-first sailing not so relevant for when the wind picks up though. Work on fast tacks, important on smaller boards in strong winds.

Cheers.

Makes Qld sound pretty dam good doesn't it Ben??

What's this? No wind in WA? Is it a seasonal thing or what?

Damn! I went on a campervan trip from Perth and down south. It was constantly so damn windy it was unpleasant to swim and then you get out and are covered with wind blown sand. That was Jan-Feb. Guess it must be seasonal.

I realistically only go out if forecast is 15-20 even for my 8.5 +formula board. SO often it might say 10-15 but locally it really stays around 10 or less. My worst low wind time was when I put my 8.5 on my 103 freestyle and trhe wind dropped to about 2 knots. Even if i managed to uphaul while sinking with my 95kg, there wasn't enough wind to maintain balance or get movement. The support boat for the yacht Skandia kindly came and picked me up saving me a swim and then to add 'salt to the wound' an ambulance crew were having lunch at the pier and kept fussying over me assuming i was exhausted. Very very embarrasing day. ALmost as bad as running home for 3 kms in a wetsuit after locking keys in car.

> can anyone acutally get planing with a sail on an SUP?

Old Windsurfer designs plane, therefore so must the SUP. I'm getting a loaner soon with a Severne 6.5, will try both freestyle and 20knts to see how these things go.

Woooohoooo its sunny and the wind is about 12 knots. Time to go cruisin.