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rtz



Joined: 31 Oct 2010
Posts: 296
Location: Oklahoma City

PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Theoretically: 1-5mph winds and a custom 14m-20m sail. Would work? What's the biggest that's ever been experimented with?
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joethewindsufa



Joined: 10 Oct 2010
Posts: 1190
Location: Montréal

PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

as you may have seen, 12.5 meter sails were pretty much as big as they got
now with foiling out there ... larger sails are getting LESS popular ...
when there is no wind and counterweight to lean against
BIG sails are HEAVY

in terms of wind minimums I have heard of 8 mph
under that - SUP or golf ??

http://joewindsurfer.blogspot.com/2011/06/when-is-there-enuff-wind.html
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coachg



Joined: 10 Sep 2000
Posts: 3549

PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I won't waste your time talking about foiling since you already stated you are not there yet.

As stated earlier you can expect to achieve board speeds around twice the speed of the wind in winds around 15 mph & under. As the wind speeds increase, so does the drag of the human body so your advantage over the wind starts to decrease. With a formula board, you can expect to easily hit upper 20's for max speed in winds 15 & under.

Your skill level, sail type & weight will determine what wind ranges you run the large sails in; not what other people run large sails in. Taking pumping out of the equation free-race sails generally plane up earlier than race sails but race sails have a greater range.

My biggest sail is 10 meters for a 170 lb sailor. I used to have a Gaastra GTX 10 meter which was a 2 cam free-race sail that I could get going in around 10 mph wind and sail comfortably up to around 14 mph averages. I switched to a Maui Sails 10 meter when I started racing formula. However, the weight of the MS race sail made me more of a wind snob which means I never tried to find the minimum wind speed for planing with that sail. 13-14 mph was generally the minimum wind for my 10 meter MS sail.

My large sail setup is formula, but I don't use it as a light wind setup. My light wind setup before foiling was an 85 cm wide slalom board with a 2 cam 8 meter free-race sail.

Coachg
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SeaDawg



Joined: 12 Sep 2002
Posts: 384

PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 11:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My biggest combo was Starboard Free Formulae 200 Liter board powered by Sailworks Retro 10m. My goal was to plane in 10-12 for me at 225lbs it was a struggle. I ended up selling the whole rig.

I turned the clock back 25-30 yrs and started buying longboards, Now I rarely use bigger than a 7.5I've found that when I take a longboard a 130liter freeride and my 6.0Cheatah and my 7.5 Cheatah I can count on having a pretty good chance of having a good session.

In fact heading to FL for the next 6wks and that's what I'm taking. Will toss in a Ezzy wave Se 5.2 just in case I get a bit stronger winds.

The longboard is a wind sup, hope to spend some time wave riding on the gulf. Destination Dunedin,FL
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carl



Joined: 25 Feb 1997
Posts: 2674
Location: SF bay area

PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rtz wrote:
Theoretically: 1-5mph winds and a custom 14m-20m sail. Would work? What's the biggest that's ever been experimented with?


Something not discussed: Just Carrying a sail bigger than 10 to the water is a PITA (for most peeps).
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grantmac017



Joined: 04 Aug 2016
Posts: 946

PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 9:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rtz wrote:
Theoretically: 1-5mph winds and a custom 14m-20m sail. Would work? What's the biggest that's ever been experimented with?


You're trying to solve a board problem with a sail solution.
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techno900



Joined: 28 Mar 2001
Posts: 4161

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 10:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
rtz wrote:
Theoretically: 1-5mph winds and a custom 14m-20m sail. Would work? What's the biggest that's ever been experimented with?


How fast does the board need to go to plane? Maybe around 12-15 mph for a formula board - just a guestimate.

How much wind is needed in a giant sail to push the board to 12+ mph? No way will a 1-5 mph wind generate 12+ mph of board speed. Plus you have to factor in the extra weight of the rig on a giant sail. My guess is that a 12.5 m sail on a formula board is about the limit for light wind planing. I have heard that some have planed in as little as 7-8 knot winds.
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cgoudie1



Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2597
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 12:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nope that won't work (well maybe on Venus), but seriously, there's a point at which the surface area frictional drag just isn't going to allow you to plane
(a windsurf board) no matter how much power you can get from the sail.

I'm going to guess that's about 12M ;*)

-Craig

p.s. I've experimented a little with this and for my abilities, 9Ms is about
as good as it gets for planning. You want to enjoy 1-5MPH, get a long board
and glide around in displacement mode.

rtz wrote:
Theoretically: 1-5mph winds and a custom 14m-20m sail. Would work? What's the biggest that's ever been experimented with?
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NOVAAN



Joined: 28 Sep 1994
Posts: 1544

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 12:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just checked the Ezzy and Sailworks site. The largest sail they offer is 9.5
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swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 1:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just to be accurate, Sailworks' largest current production sail offering is the 9.6 NX. Given that reality, one has to guess that Formula Windsurfing is virtually dead these days, especially with foiling in the picture.

Nonetheless, if you really wanted a 10.0 or up, I thinking that Sailworks could oblige by building you a custom sail right in their Hood River loft. All it takes is money.

Looking a bit further, Neil Pryde is still in the business of making large racing sails. Their biggest offering is a 12.2. Yet, I'm sure that they are charging an arm and a leg for it, and that would likely be based on advance ordering to get it.
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