Light wind wave sailing a SUP

force5 · Joined: 17 Apr 2008 Posts: 28

What is the minimum wind speed for wave sailing a SUP?

I have a BIC Jungle and a 5.2 Sailworks Revo.

Any tips for doing this?

Thanks for your help! Very Happy

jingebritsen · Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 3371

double post again. thing spins forever, never seeming to finish after one hits submit....

jingebritsen · Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 3371

You'll need side off winds of 12 knots or more. Side on, might as well be planing around on a short board, 17 knots or more. All these sales pitches for using long boards with small sails assume the customers all over the world have side off winds readily available throughout the year. Pretty rare in over half the planet.

I use a 7.5 Aerotech Phantom for days as light as 5-10 side shore to side off winds. Side on, I need 7-13. Mostly onshore, I need 8-14. I'm 207 lbs and been bobbing for waves for years on all sorts of stuff.

paulf. · Joined: 21 Mar 1996 Posts: 435

maybe 12mph just to move you around, as long as there is any swell to surf, ideally breaking over some sand or reef, but random wind swell faces in any big bay/sound are fun too. rig flat for sail handling,because the sail will power up as the board catches a wave. don't generally expect to "drop in" powered up, but rather wait for a swell to catch you, and then move back on the board to keep it surfing. go for it, this will be more fun than you might think.

Wind-NC.com · Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 3:01 pm Post subject:

I've had a lot of luck sailing sups with small sails in 10 mph breezes, up to over 20 mph breezes, side on to side off. Surfing knowledge helps for positioning and wave riding in winds that light, as you really can't expect to get much drive out of a sail when it's only blowing 10. But you can expect to use the sail to get you in and out of the break, and into the right position to ride a wave.

If the wind is under 7 or so, or straight onshore, I'd just ditch the sail and grab a paddle for better results.

Everyone's limits are different, best thing to do is carefully select your days at first. Look for very mellow, small waves, and stronger wind to start with. And then as you get dialed in, you can push your limits more and more, towards bigger waves and/or lighter wind.

Hope that helps.

outcast · Joined: 04 May 2004 Posts: 2724

i love lightwind wavesailing, and may be the king of shlog.

But.....
Somewhat amazed at what turned into an experiment the other day in waist high side off with 10-15 mph and classically holey (side off.)
I stayed with my paddle, and PK put on a 5.3. Plenty o wind.

My wave count was a bit higher, as it took longer for PK to get back to position.....whereas i could work the break side to side quicker (moving parallel to beach.

We both had a blast....(until he rammed me)...and i think the paddle took the day by a hair, but any higher wind and it would have been toast for me.

jingebritsen · Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 3371

Had the same opp to do the head to head compare against a paddler with side off 10-15 mph winds, but I was using a 7.5 and Kona 11'5 at the time last hurricane season. I crushed his wave count numbers. But I was planing half the time going out, and nearly always lining up for the next ride planing. So, given my willingness to up the sail size, all the advantages come back to using a sail.

Unfortunately, the culture from places with side off winds has squewed everyone's perception as to what is best overall. Shoot, methinks the surf style paddlers are not as good as some of the larger freeriders that I've used when forcing the lightwind wavesailig schtick, but that's just me in stinkin FL conditions. What could I know about lightwind app's?

bred2shred · Joined: 02 May 2000 Posts: 989 Location: Jersey Shore

You need enough windspeed that you can actually catch the swell. Otherwise you're just going to be standing out in the break waiting for the waves to catch you - at that point, you might as well just ditch the sail and paddle (either by hand or with an SUP paddle).

One of the beauties of using the SUP with a sail is that you can catch swells much farther out than traditional surfers, so you get about double the ride. But you need enough power to make it happen. Being able to pump efficiently helps a lot too.

I'm 220lb and I use a 6.3 on my 10'-6" SUP almost exclusively. I think around 10mph is about the bottom end, 15mph is really fun. Any less and you're not likely to be able to catch the waves until they're breaking.

sm

jingebritsen · Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 3371

Pumping into a swell takes some practice. With onshore conditions one needss to use the shoulder of the wave to help pump up into steeper sections upwind, then going under the peak early enough to just get past the pitching lip. It's an art. With side off winds, one needs less wind or skill to achieve extra sail power derived by the wave pushing you into teh wind. With my Kona 11'5 and a 7.5 sail and large waves, I only need 5-10 mph winds.

outcast · Joined: 04 May 2004 Posts: 2724

Ok....i suppose if it's onshore, i would sail a giant sail, shlogging in the mush ain't fun.

kinda disagree with the whole "need less skill" in side-off thing, but i can let that go.

SUP in onshore isn't fun, and my point would be that if you are going to wave-ride DTL side/side-off and take a bottom turn or two (or 8 yeah!)...you will end up down wind, and have to sail upwind to the takeoff point. A paddle will get you back there quicker unless it is blowing too much for the paddler, or you can plane. That mark is now about 15+ for me

15mph onshore=kite

it's all good