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fitek



Joined: 31 Jan 2013
Posts: 48

PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 5:33 pm    Post subject: Sail size question Reply with quote

Hey folks, wanted to ask your opinion on buying a sail. I'm looking at a used 5.0 wave sail to replace an old 5.1 Gaastra (bright road worker orange, with 5 battens that are always getting stuck...). But I'm wondering if I should wait and get a bigger sail instead. I've been windsurfing for two summers and I'm not that good, so I'm not very picky. I windsurf at Coyote Point in San Mateo, California. I've seen plenty of people rigging 6+ sails, which made me think the 5.1 is maybe too small.

My boards are a 180L Bic and Mistral Custom 260 (which I got for almost nothing and have not been on yet). 430cm mast. Oh and I weigh 145lbs.

I have no idea what the displacement on the Mistral is, would be nice to start using this board (the 180L definitely feels too big now, I've rented 140Ls a couple times) but it looks like it might be quite an adjustment. Would I need a larger or smaller sail on this board than on the Bic?

Word of warning, my windsurfing budget is also pretty low...

Thanks!
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dllee



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 5328
Location: East Bay

PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't think Gaastra makes a 5.1.
What model is it? I guess you don't know the vintage.
Winds at Coyote and Third can vary from 15 mph thru well over 40 mph, and early spring is the windiest time of the year. Talking sailible days only.
Custom 260 should be 82 liters. At your weight, it's borderline uphaulable, since your now WET wetsuit adds close to 8 lbs to the equation.
Like the gears in your car, you need more than one size of sail.
Average Coyote/3rd sailiors have 3.7 thru 5.7 sails in their cars.
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carl



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

PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 6:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can you waterstart yet?
If you can't, a waterstart lesson would be far more benefit. Boardsportsschool,com teaches right at Coyote. I'm sure someone there would give you a lesson, even now in Feb. Contact them on the website.
(It's still off-season for wind at Coyote until mid March, so the shop at Coyote is only only open by appointment). Windiest months are actually May/June but Mar/April is usually good when it's not raining.
5.0 is plenty big for Coyote at your weight, especially if you have to uphaul.
It's the heavyweights like me at 200lbs that often sail 6.0+.
Feb (and March if it rains) is spotty for wind, so you'll see bigger sails now than during the regular season Apr thru Sept.
But with waterstart skills, you too could handle bigger sails and smaller boards in higher wind.
Like Zirt says 82L will be difficult to uphaul (i think impossible for a beginner). But with a WS lesson or 2, and lots of practice, that board and a 5.0 will soon be good for Coyote.


Last edited by carl on Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:03 pm; edited 1 time in total
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joethewindsufa



Joined: 10 Oct 2010
Posts: 1190
Location: Montréal

PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

must be nice !!
200 pound fellow needs to use a 6-oh
i used my 6.3 once last year and it was a riot
am glad SOMEONE lives in a decent wind area Very Happy
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carl



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

PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

joethewindsufa wrote:
must be nice !!
200 pound fellow needs to use a 6-oh
i used my 6.3 once last year and it was a riot
am glad SOMEONE lives in a decent wind area Very Happy


You should take a vacation out here between May and Sept and you too
could sail on a 4.5-6.5 every day, even at 90kg. Cool
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fitek



Joined: 31 Jan 2013
Posts: 48

PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi guys,

thanks for the input! Really appreciate it. I think I'll go for the 5.0 to replace the Gaastra.

I looked; the Gaastra is a 1995 M6 5.1. I Googled: its a race sail.

I have a mid 2000s 4.2 Ezzy sail I bought in Hood River late last year. But only got to use it once so far, however it felt like heaven compared to the older sail. Which is why when I saw a more modern 5.0 wave sail for cheap I thought hmm...

I guess I didn't realize how big a difference weight makes. I was out last Saturday and saw 7s being used and yet I felt like I was at my limit with the 5.1. I've definitely gone out in too much wind for my sail and I know what that feels like... I have to stay sheeted out the whole time or there is just no way I can keep from getting catapulted Uphauling becomes a real chore. I tried going out in 35mph-40mph wind and switched to the 3.0 training sail I learned on. Also the Bic board wants to take off and fly (without me on it) in high wind, especially after cresting a swell. Very hard to control.

I can waterstart, though its a bit rough. I wonder if part of that is the floaty board, it's difficult to get my feet up on the board while I'm in the water. It's fine by shore where I can touch the bottom and jump up a little.
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dllee



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 5328
Location: East Bay

PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 8:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

4.2 to 5.0 is a acceptable quiver for lighter riders.
There will be PLENTY of days you're beyond overblown on the 4.2 in April thru May.
You just have to learn to waterstart. More repetitions. Any time you're out there with whitecaps is enough to waterstart any board with any sail bigger than 4.2, at your weight.
Current 6.0 in my van, and there are 5.5's and 6.5's in there too, is a 1995 Flow3x. It matches up in every performance catagory to any new 6-6.4.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Make sure your next trip to Hood River catches a swap meet. Very usable sails are just $10-15 bucks from the CGWA. And here's a top I feel very strongly about: race sails are not suitable for novices.
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fitek



Joined: 31 Jan 2013
Posts: 48

PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Isobars, the latest project of my wife and I is due this summer, so a trip to Oregon this year looks unlikely. I'll be rigging with a 1 meter swaddling cloth.

Wonder if I should pick up a ~3.2 sail, if the wind is gonna be that strong?
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carl



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

PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

fitek wrote:
Wonder if I should pick up a ~3.2 sail, if the wind is gonna be that strong?


It's a rare day 3.2 is going to be used, it happens but rare.
As Z mentioned, 4.2 or thereabouts would be much more useful.
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