Water start preference poll

coachg · Joined: 10 Sep 2000 Posts: 3550

Overpowered & underpowered are very subjective terms. I don' know anyone who intentionally rigs to the point that they have to pump like a wild chicken to get on a plane which is what underpowered means to me. Overpowered means survival sailing to me and the only people I see rigging like that are racers.

Rigging is always a guess anyway especially trying to guess which way the wind will go, up or down.

B&J along with freeriding I rig on the bigger side of my best guess. Freestyle I rig on the smaller side.

Coachg

johnl · Joined: 05 Jun 1994 Posts: 1330 Location: Hood River OR

cgoudie1 · Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 1:46 am Post subject: Re: poll results

For me, it varies with conditions. I rig to plane, but in really holey conditions,
I might have to pump, or bear off or ride swell (oh bummer)
to stay planed up. I like to think I rig dead on
(that means planing most of the time). That's not over rigged.
Wave riders tend to rig just large enough to get them on a wave,
and that's not under rigged. Waves require more skill (which I don't really
have enough of, by the way), and are more dangerous, so your
power/comfort/safety question is non sequitur.

I lean toward whatever I'm likely to have the most fun on for the current
conditions, and that is a variety of gear.

Sails are really good these days, getting overpowered is somewhat unusual.

- Craig

p.s. If I'm "over powered", I usually just make adjustments and ride what I
rigged. If I'm "under powered", I usually just make adjustments and ride
what I rigged. Unless.... riding what I rigged is going to reduce my time
on the water due to fatigue, then I rerig. If conditions are something
like 5 to 30 crappy, I might ride a beach chair with a beer.

p.p.s You're not just yanking our chains are you?

techno900 · Joined: 28 Mar 2001 Posts: 4161

For my inland lake sailing, it's not uncommon to have a 5 to 20 mph wind day. Can't rig for 5 or for 20, so something toward the upper end, say 15 would be the call. That would normally be formula board and a 9.2. On occasion, I rigged an 11.0 in this situation, but it is WAY too much work trying to hold on to an 11.0 in the gusts. Even a 9.2 in the gusts burns a lot of energy.

On this typical 5-20 day, I have also rigged an 8.4 on a iSonic 111 slalom board. Not planing as much as a formula board, but not a bad option for something different and more speed.

Rigging is not just selecting your sail.

justall · Joined: 30 Jul 2007 Posts: 442

PeconicPuffin · Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 1830

It depends on the conditions and sailing you want to do. For myself I want to be lit (comfortably overpowered) for bump and jump sailing, but in ocean waves I want just enough to not need to pump to a plane. For freestyle depending on the move, needing a single pump to get going can be fine.