Who uses a tall extension?

[GURGLETROUSERS]

Just to add a further point, while I'm at it!

It wasn't a full on planing wind for 94 litres and 6.0 sails. It was one of those gusty choppy type sessions where planing was variable. (Top speed only 21.2 m.p.h.) It was often a struggle to keep forcing on the plane. For example, if going well in the straps, comparative lulls meant having to pull the back foot out of the strap and force weight through the foot foot strap while hanging from the harness and forcing the front off wind somewhat, just to prevent stalling.

THAT, forcing the board off the wind in those situations was a difference in the two sails. The new North, pulling from higher up, was the more determined to luff the board up in slight lulls, and it needed much more force on my part to force it off wind.

Again, that may just be the older longer and narrower Saxo (270 and 94 litres) which was the issue. But even so, I have to wonder just what advantage having a sail which is designed to pull from higher up, has for the average recreational windsurfer? Is it just another case of copying what suits the pros? (It wouldn't be for the first time!)

[U2U2U2]

Manu s suggestion to use a combo430/460 mast is great, not everyone has those available.

Next question is Ezzy uses long on top, HotSail soft on top, which do yo use

[dvCali]

[grantmac017]

I have an HSM QU4D which can rig on 400 or 370. I frequently rig it on a 370 top 400 bottom set of Chinook C90 masts, performs very nicely. Probably because that combination gives it the slightly more flex top it wants compared to the Chinook's mostly CC bend.

However I haven't done a lot of testing with different mast combinations on it. I mainly lucked into that one since my longest extension would be at full height trying to rig it on the 370 and bending is a concern. When rigged on the full 400 it uses almost zero extension which I also try to avoid.

My smaller QU4DS rig very nicely on the Chinook 370 however.

[DelCarpenter]

My response to the original question: who uses long extensions? Longboard lake sailors in the interior, because we can and because we must.

1. "because we can": Unlike coastal or river sailors we are not affected by currents from tides or rivers. We can sail in really light wind conditions that would keep anyone affected by currents off the water.

2. "because we must": Often in the summer we have long periods when our only opportunities to sail match up with winds that are less than 10 miles an hour.

I haven't taken any surveys, but I think interior sailors typically use a wider range of equipment than coastal sailors; not more boards or sails or booms or masts, but a wider range of sizes. I think that is because interior sailors receive a wider range of conditions in which windsurfing is worthwhile. But that means we have a wider range to cover with our equipment and more corners to cut, so having the correct equipment for all of those conditions often doesn't happen. The sails I have now range from 3.4 to 9.0. My boards range from 380 cm to 251 cm. I think most interior sailors have at least one windsurfer over 11 ft long and one under 9 ft long. I think there are many coastal sailors who don't have a board over 10 ft long.

The possible bad things that could happen from using long extensions doesn't happen much when the wind speed is light. My recent downsizing left me without a mast large enough for my old 9.0 which says it needs a 545 cm luff. I recently rigged and sailed that with 35 cm of a 45 cm base extension, 490 cm of an Epic Gear 75% carbon mast, and an ancient aluminum 30 cm tip extension. (I know that adds up to 555 cm, maybe the sail is stretched.) The windspeed was about 5 mph to 10 mph, mostly closer to 5.