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WindSUP - light wind wavesailing along the Santa Cruz coast
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tcevans



Joined: 16 Jul 2002
Posts: 78

PostPosted: Sun Nov 08, 2015 6:56 pm    Post subject: WindSUP - light wind wavesailing along the Santa Cruz coast Reply with quote

After reading windward1's adventures for a long time (years?) I've decided to give it a go myself. I'm a competent wavesailor - been wavesailing the normal spots up the coast on traditional wave gear for more than a few years - but looking for some more TOW & advice/recommendations on the real light wind SUP stuff:

1) Board - what general dimensions should I look for in length, width, volume? I'm 6'3" & 195 lbs. I also want to paddle the board in waves & flat water when there's no wind. Any brands & models to focus on (or avoid)?

2) Rig - I have a quiver of Ezzy Elites 4.2/4.7/5.3/6.1. Great sails & I could obviously use the 6.1 or 5.3. Wondering if I should look at getting something w/ even more pull/less structure like a 5.4 Taka or a WindSUP specific sail?

3) Conditions - what do I look for to predict the SW breeze that will work well along the Pleasure Point to Capitola breaks?

Thanks in advance!
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windward1



Joined: 18 Jun 2000
Posts: 1400

PostPosted: Sun Nov 08, 2015 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi TC,

It is tough to predict the Southwest wind along the Northern end of Monterey Bay. I just look for it showing up on iWindsurf and heading there then, if it does not look like up the coast or the west side of town (Santa Cruz) will be more fun. Or I do not have the desire to suffer cross town traffic. I live in Aptos which is to the East of Santa Cruz.

This past season had a multitude of days with Southwest wind, which was a pleasure, if you get my point.

As far as boards that I have experience with, I have the Angulo 10' 10" which is no longer made and the original Sea Lion 7'-6". Either can be sailed or paddled. The Angulo acts like a long board and the Sea Lion like a short board. The Sea Lion is a little small for my weight and skill. I am about your weight, but considerably shorter. Your skills may handle the Sea Lion original just fine and they do make larger sizes.

Neither of my boards have straps. Which works for how I use them the most. When the wind comes up to 14 knots, straps would be great to have.

With your sails, I would use the 6.1 on the Angulo and the 5.3 on the Sea Lion.

The longer Angulo glides and lets me work my way up the coast to the spots I want to sail a little easier than the shorter Sea Lion. But the Sea Lion will go upwind. One just needs to allow more time.

As I understand it, not all SUPs sail well and some that sail well, do not paddle well. So researching what is out there is important for your planned activity. Rocker seems to be one of the keys. I want something that planes and rides waves well. So probably a compromise.

Angulo makes a different board which he indicates replaces the Gu'd 10' 10", but I have not seen any reviews of it.

There are some videos of Bruno riding the Sea Lion in both sail and SUP mode and they are inspiring. Be aware Bruno only weighs 165#. But google the videos to see what is possible.

John Ingbretsen touts the Exocet 10' and 11' 8" and has inspiring videos, or at least pics, of him on waves and seeming to have a great time. The main Windsurfing Forum has several threads on the subject. Some recent.

So anyway, in your investigation try and find a board that does the variety of things you need it to do reasonably well.

By the way, a south swell with the tide level below 2' is what I look for as well as the Southwest wind. Then if the swell is even only a foot and a half, but at a 17 second period or longer there will be fun 3' to 4' waves in the breaks I have mentioned. Higher swell or longer and the surfing waves are higher. Real high swell and you do not need to try and hit lower tides.

W1
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ctuna



Joined: 27 Jun 1995
Posts: 1125
Location: Santa Cruz Ca

PostPosted: Sun Nov 08, 2015 8:04 pm    Post subject: If you want something that rips in the waves Reply with quote

If you want something that rips in the waves
I would suggest a Surfingsports Hammer with the
mast track option.

at 195 you could go down to 8'11"
however its not a long range cruiser in that size.(for paddling)
But it is a hell of a high performance nose rider.
http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,24865.0.html
These boards are full carbon and can be made to size at no extra
cost. Runs around 2 k I think now.

Also the standupzone website has a wind powered section as well
as a lot of other neat sub forums.

If you haven't paddled before the tendency is to start large but if
your goal is waves you will rapidly want to go down in size.
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loopless



Joined: 30 Jun 1997
Posts: 426

PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 12:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

if you really want something you can paddle as well as sail in light wind, then obviously a WindSup is the only option.
But if you only want to sail you should at least consider a large wave board like the Goya 120L Quad with , say, an Ezzy 6.9 - the trick is picking a volume that floats you. I say this as one who comes from the light-wind capital of the west coast, no-wind-Diego. It definitely requires more sailing skill to bob around on a corky wave board than a wider, more stable wind-sup but if you have those skills the trade-off is worth it.
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jlederer



Joined: 10 Aug 2001
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 2:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

use the smallest sail and shortest, floaty, board you can make work for you. i use a 5.2 wave sail, with a 130 liter, nah skwell 7'8, i weigh 165lbs. this works for me in wind 5 to 15 for sup sailing. gives me an extra 30 days a year on the water.
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ctuna



Joined: 27 Jun 1995
Posts: 1125
Location: Santa Cruz Ca

PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 2:37 pm    Post subject: SUP's have gone through and evolution in size and shape Reply with quote

SUP's have gone through and evolution in size and shape
and now have a bunch of different classes and shapes just
like surfboards and sailboards. You need to get one with a
relative flat rocker if you want it to plane nicely .
The general trend is under 10ft and under 33 inches wide with
31 being pretty standard now . For your weight something over
150 liters would be possible with over 175 being pretty corky.

The same production sailboard manufactures make Sail Sup's.
I started out with a Fanatic Allwave but the single insert screw
hold for the sail froze up on me and I had to have it replaced with a mastrack.(Get mastracks over single screw insert base on this)
I weight 215 to 220 . The Fanatic Allwave has a lot of rocker and tops out
and kind of ploughs when it trys to plane. Its the old school board shape
before they went to the short board outline.


Last edited by ctuna on Mon Nov 09, 2015 9:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
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eghoffman



Joined: 14 May 1998
Posts: 89

PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 4:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been on a Starboard 8'10" WidePoint for years, but just switched to a 8'11" Standup Paddlesports Hammer. For me, it's all about being able to uphaul and avoid getting crunched in the zone, which both of them do well. They're both also primarily SUPs, so they'll surf even better than they sail. The Starboard turned nicely, but was pretty slow - kinda felt like I was towing something all the time... I've only had the Hammer out once, but it has a much flatter rocker and will actually plane, which the WidePoint never did.
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ctuna



Joined: 27 Jun 1995
Posts: 1125
Location: Santa Cruz Ca

PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 8:38 pm    Post subject: You will love the Hammer if Reply with quote

You will love the Hammer if you like high performance
long boards . And its fast on waves not sluggish at all.
Sounds like I had the same experience with the Allwave
with a sail you are describing with the wide point.
I have a 9'5" Hammer but I weight around 220.
Don't have a mastrack on it though.
Steve West loves his to.
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tcevans



Joined: 16 Jul 2002
Posts: 78

PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 11:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks to all for the previous advice.

I'm reviving this thread b/c I haven't got a SUP yet, but now is the time! I wanted to see if anyone has any new input or advice from the last 2+ years

Also, I want to get an inflatable SUP for my wife, something I can put a sail on. She will mainly just paddle it around Capitola, but I want the sail option so I can give friends and family a try and maybe encourage some new windsurfers.

Thanks again!
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moonlight



Joined: 11 Nov 2016
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Haven't posted on here so I hope this goes to the right place re; SUP boards. In regards to what works (for me) I highly recommend taking a look at the Quatro Glide PRO construction boards. The one I currently have is the 8'6" Glide. It's 32' wide/130L. It can go with a thruster set up or a single in the box.

Flat water paddling it works fine. However, in the surf, riding waves it works excellent. Mind you, I am a surfer and as soon as conditions are good for a board I don't SUP in the surf. Because it is geared towards surfing, it won't paddle at all like a touring board, but a touring board will suck in the waves.

Sailing; it is excellent for light wind. I use it alot to get freinds introduced to the sport and I still take it out on light wind days to practice all the things I can't do well on my WS boards (that's a long list Smile. It doesn't have a mast track, it has the threaded insert. IMO you don't need a mast track for this type of sailing. It works just fine.

The board weighs (I believe) under 30lbs and my wife has no problem getting it off of the boat and into the water.

I believe that generally in water/board sports a one trick pony is something to be avoided, but no kidding, I highly recommend the Quatro.

My background; lifetime waterman, live on my sail boat with my family, dive/spear, sail, surf (ALOT), WS and SUP. Full time career lifeguard. Started LGing in 1988.

Seriously, test drive one of those things!

Pablo
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