I have been renting, and using sailing club kit for the last 6months. 130 - 150 Litres boards on an inland lake, in the UK.
I travel to Sydney regulary and did a week recently on Bontany bay with a 130litre x-cite with 7.2 and 6.1. I got a southerly for 4 days and then calm... I used the 6.1 in the southerly which was a tad to big for me, and the 7.2 on the calm days, but could have just has easily used a 3m, (I just floated about...) So that sail range did not seem sensible for me.
I am looking to get a one board only and two sails, what would be a good combination that would work well in botany bay?
At the moment I can use the footstraps on a 144L board, yet I could not manage it on the 130 xcite for example. I still have access to large boards to improve on in the UK, so i can cope with a steep learning curve.
I got this list of sizes from herehttp://www.vims.edu/general/sailpaddle/SailCalculator.xls
windspeed needed for comfortable planning
7.0m 13kts
6.5m 14kts
6.0m 16kts
5.5m 17kts
5.0m 19kts
It seems from this 6.5m and 5.3m would give me a good range, does this seem correct for someone 70kg?
What size board should I go for? keeping in mind I have other big boards to practise on.
Thanks in advance
I use a 92L board with a 5.3 and 5.9m sails from between 13-20kts+. I reckon anything around 85-100L would be the go. But if you want to use it with the the 6.5m you probably want something closer to 100L.
Get a 110ltr Xcite ride. Top boards and I reckon that would be plenty for your weight. Leave it in my shed and Ill make sure it gets the dust washed off it regularly.
I am making a few assumptions here about you current skill level, I apologise if i have it wrong.
- you can get into the straps on a 150L but you may or maynot be fully planing?
- you cannot yet get into the straps on the 130L so you are unlikely to have fully planed yet?
- you cannot yet waterstart?
I'm thinking below 100litres would be a massive learning curve. Most likely you got into the straps on the large board because they are closer to the mast which would be the case with a starting board. Unless you're super comfortable planning on the 130, then jumping down to say 95litres will be a horrible wobling experience. It is not just a simple size difference, the board will act completely differently. It might be possible to uphaul it at your weight but will be hard to balance, so you would want to master water-starting and you won't be non-plane cruising anymore. Unlike the larger boards you are used to, something like a 95L would wobble a lot when low on wind and stop moving a lot earlier. The smaller the board, the more wind you need to get planing.
At your level of experience I suggest no smaller than a 110L, optimal around 120L. This will allow you to experience the greater freedom of a smaller board, give you a fairly stable platform for uphauling and learning to waterstart, while still being able to cruise in low winds. Just like Ellobuddha suggested a JP x-cite or Starboard carve are excellent all round boards. Anything considered (freeride) would be ideal. Perhaps 2 sails around 5.2-5.5 and 6.5.
. Anything above 100L I think would be outgrown after a few decent sessions.
I agree with swoosh that anything above 100L tends to get pretty lame (for carving and jumping).
Unless it's 15knots and you've got a really nice slalom board ~110L with a 7.5m sail.
It really depends on what type of windsurfing you're into: wave, freestyle, slalom/speed. But for bay blasting and occasional waves I've got 95L wave board with 6.0 and 5.2. I'm 80kg, if wind is under 15knots I stay home :(
Botany Bay has 3 main wind directions.
Mode 1. Nice NE flatwater sailing in Spring and Summer. Expect winds around 15-20kts with a range of anything from 10-25kts. Water condition is usually pretty good with chop not exceeding 30cm if sailing near to the airport.
Mode 2. Southerly's. Usually very frontal and can expect winds again around 15-20kts and with the luck a storm or two during the year that goes from 20-30kts. Water condition tends to be very choppy in the open bay (proportional to wind strength) and relatively flat (<30cm)at St Georges sailing club.
Mode 3. Gusty Westerly's. Only in winter.. Anything from 10-25kts on the same run... Very short sharp chop around 50cm.
I reckon a 110-120ltr Freeride for an intermediate or very large FSW depending on what you fancy..
Cheers
David
. Anything above 100L I think would be outgrown after a few decent sessions.
I'd say a 95L board. I'm a similar weight and dropped from a 125L board to 95 when i could only just get in the straps and waterstart. It definatly was a bit harder at the start but I sail in pretty shallow water so if anything it sped up my learning as i had to waterstart but could beachstart if i just moved to a sandbank. I ended up replacing my 125 with a 115 and I can barely tell the difference apart from being stacks easier to fit in the car and carry around. So in my opinion replacing a big board with a pretty big board isnt that worthwhile. If I were you assuming u can waterstart I would get a 95L board 5.3m and 6.4. I have a 95L board that would be perfect that I am considering selling...
My first decent gear was 104L board with 5.3 and 6.5. I'm 67kg and this served me well for 5-6 years around Auckland Harbour which sounds similar to Botany Bay in terms of water state and wind.
Have since added an 84L and 4.7 to the quiver for high winds and rough water as the 104 is great with 5.3 on flat water but becomes a handful in chop as Swoosh said, and this is a 2000 design so narrower and longer than new shapes.
Thanks for all the help, definitely planning, so far the technique for me getting in the straps has been been to be overpowered on 7.8m cam or 8.5m freeride on a sailing club's lake, put the feet in, hook in ,hold on...
I sailed in botany bay on the the same afternoon as this www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=51372
With the 130 xcite I just had my feet next to the foot straps, practising getting catapulted... did my first water starts that week, even managed a few catapults from that position
Still haven't figured out to how to move my feet around on the smaller board when it planning with out falling off... but it will come
I am thinking I should settle on 6.5 and 5.3 sails, initially I was thinking a 6 and 7.5, which is smaller than I normaly use on the inland lake, but the prevailing conditions are quite different.
Now need to narrow it down to between at 110 xcite/futura/zride or a 95-100litre JP FSW/RRD FSW.
Go for the 120 excite ride, its a great learning platform but also performs very well. I love it having said that im startng to wish i brought a freestyle board but thats next on the shopping list. You could always contact windsurf and snow and demo a couple of boards.
RacerX, I'm just a bit heavier then you and i ride a 120l excite-ride pro edition(awesome board) and my main sails are 6.2 Alpha and 5.4 Alpha. These 2 cover me pretty much from 15-30 knots, though i do have a 6.7 that i would rig for 15 knots...just for a bit more power and a 5.0 i would rig for 30 knots for more comfort. I started on a 145l and have been sailing for a season and this board and sail combo were the key for me...doors have opened.
cheers...
Hi RacerX. I am where you are now. I've currently got a 150L freeride board and have ordered a 115L freeride board. I didn't make the decision to go down until I had mastered: beach start, water start, foot straps, harness, tacking, foot steering and jybing. The only thing I haven't been able to do yet is plane gybes. I have choosen not to go below 115L as I am still learning the basics. Once I become advanced, the 115L board will become my light wind, big sail board, and I will then get a 70L wave board... and by then, I'll know how to use it :)
Good luck :). Let us know how it goes.
(BTW, I am 65kg)
Ja
Spot on Sharkbiscuit! Get the skills going first on something 110-120L. Once you have your gybes and waterstarts sorted, keep that board for light winds and get something under 90L for high winds a little later, when finances allow. Don't go too small too soon .....it can be a real set back in your learning curve.
Thanks for the guidance, I have decided on a 430 mast and a 6.3M rig Ezzy rig. I will get a 5.2 which I understand can squeeze on the same mast. So I can tick two boxes, just need the board...
I got to take a 100L board on a recent trip away, it was marginal planning conditions, I could uphaul it in small waves, with a little patience... My short board tacks, and uphauling are much better than my planning skills from all the lake stuff I have been doing.
I think I can cope with the learning curve of 100L litre board for mastering my strait line blasting.
My question is however once I mastered going fast in a straight line, would a ~100L FWS (more manoverable) help with learning to carve jybe, or does the large (supposedly less manoverable) help? The answer does not seem obvious to me.
The answer is yes but no....small boards sit in the water better and cut through the chop making your gybes easier but these boards are less forgiving when it comes to mistakes. Stuff your gybe and your going under but if you don't mind water start after water start you will get there in the end. Starting to gybe on bigger boards and lighter winds just slows things down a bit to let you get your head around all that's going on and if you screw up they give you a chance to recover and sail away with a smile on you face and the though of "i almost got that one" in your mind. I don't know how you handle frustration but it does not sit well with me, you'll be doing hundreds if not thousands of gybes before your doing the perfect carve gybe so why not try and make that learning curve as easy as possible....but there is always perseverance.
good luck.
