One board quiver-formula

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

Atlas, where are you sailing (maybe I missed it reading through the posts)?

If you're doing inland sailing, then a Formula board can be an excellent choice. When I lived inland, my Formula board was my go-to board for lake sailing. I'm 205LBS and used my Formula board with an 11.0 or 12.5 almost exclusively. My buddy is close to your size (roughly 140LBS) and he used a Formula board with a 9 meter most days. You will not get more planing on any other board.

In flat water, a Formula board will be fairly easy to control in winds up to about 15 mph. Above that and things start to get dicey. The boards like to go high upwind and deep down wind. Beam reaching in a breeze can be downright scary. A Formula board and a ~110L board should cover 90% of your sailing. If you go the formula route, I highly recommend you rig up an adjustable outhaul on your boom. This is really critical for getting the most range out of your gear and keeping in control when the breeze pipes up.

If you're looking for something a little easier to sail, then a larger freeride or free-formula board may be a better choice, but the low end windspeed to get on plane will suffer somewhat. If you sail on a large body of open water, then one of these types of boards may be a better choice for control purposes.

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atlas.wave55 · Joined: 24 Aug 2016 Posts: 111

bred2shred, I sail up in the kawartha lakes area in Ontario Canada, so sailing on lakes. And have big interest in going the formula or free formula way Because of those up/down wind angles and being able to travel the lake and on the plus side the lake I'm mostly sailing on is thankfully deep enough in 90% of the lake with a 70cm fin. If the wind picks up to about 15mph as said I can jump on my 110L and it will cover a good rang from light wind to high wind. I have only been sailing for about 3 years but already have gotten pretty good I would consider my skill level intermediate I can plane in the straps and am learning to chop hop. I can hit about 70% of jibes and Fast tack pretty well but would like to get more practice epically in high winds on the 110L, And if I go formula tryng to get used to those 1m wide boards Can probably be a bit funky on the jibes But at least I will not fall off easily.
Laughing

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

Jibing a Formula board is a little different than a traditional board, mostly because you have to take a much bigger step to get your foot on the leeward rail. You also need to make a much wider turn of you want to stay on plane. The good thing is that they stay on plane very well and are somewhat tolerant of mistakes while still allowing you to plane out of your jibes. You will also be on plane so much more often that you'll get to attempt many more jibes than you would on a smaller board.

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techno900 · Joined: 28 Mar 2001 Posts: 4161

Remember, Atlas weighs 135 lbs. He doesn't need a formula board. A big/medium freeride will be a formula board for him.

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

Technically no one "needs" a Formula board. It all depends on how early he wants to get on plane. Like I mentioned, I have a good friend that is roughly his size and probably uses his Formula board more than any other for lake sailing. If your conditions are typically in that 5-12 mph wind range and puffy/shifty, you will get a ton of use from a Formula board regardless of your size. Yes, you will get blown off of it sooner than bigger guys, but that can be mitigated to some degree by proper sail and fin selection.

Nothing wrong with freeride boards, but if you want the absolute earliest planing, then a Formula is the only choice.

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boardsurfr · Joined: 23 Aug 2001 Posts: 1266

The 110 l board is actually a pretty big board for a 135 lb sailor, with about 30 l excess volume. At 195 lb, I use a 110 as my "big" planing board most days when the wind is light, and get going in 16 mph with a 6.5 m sail. At 135 lb, the combo should plane in 12-13 mph. A wide 135 l board with a 7.5 may drop that to about 10 mph. Going to a formula board and formula-sized sail might drop that down to 8 mph. The larger the board and sail sizes get, the more they will require an active approach (pumping) to get planing.

If OP is looking for intense physical exercise and has steady wind, then going formula (or very big slalom/freeride) may just be the way to go. I have a few friends who bought formula gear to get planing earlier; I rarely ever see them using it even if the wind is light, but OP may be different.

One big question is how steady the wind is, and what the typical wind strengths are. If it's often 10 gusting to 12, and OP does not mind handling a 10 m sail, then formula might fit. If it is 10 with frequent lulls of 7 and gusts of 16 (not untypical for sailing on smaller lakes), a formula setup might give the OP a very interesting mix of tedious slogging in the lulls and fighting for control in the gusts. Going from 6 mph to 20+ mph and vice versa frequently should give plenty of exercise.

Personally, I would prefer a longboard or race board in gusty wind around 10 or 15 mph. It will have a smooth acceleration in gusts, instead of a big jump. The daggerboard will make cruising around at any angle the formula can reach easy - and it will be more fun on a beam reach when powered, once you figure out how to rail the board properly. If you end up at an island a few miles away when the wind drops, you really don't want to be on the formula gear. On a longboard, no big deal - worst case, you got plenty of flotation to paddle your board back, lying on top of your gear. That's theoretically also possible on formula gear, but the 10-fold better glide of the longboard will come into play. So depending on budget, I'd get an old longboard, a Kona, or (if I had 4K lying around) a Starboard Phantom 377L. But then, I'm not into workouts with huge sails.

U2U2U2 · Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 10:06 am Post subject:

Atlas..

I could say the best advise.. But no one really knows , even when a choice is made, what's best. This could change on a session to session sail.

My sailing on a formula is , mostly use as a light wind large sail board, the only negative is jibes, I stay dry but lose speed, this compared to my Tabou 135 Rocket. These 2 are rather like twin sons to different mothers, weird statement, but it ain't weird if it works.

If you sailing area is choppy, wavy, like I envision it, a non Formula would suit better, esp your weight.
I feel you would be happy on either, and will at tone wish you had gone to the other.
I sense you are leaning towards the formula, get a used one, small.

Look up CONFIRMATION BIAS.

atlas.wave55 · Joined: 24 Aug 2016 Posts: 111

The lake that I do most of sailing on has a wind rang of 5-12 mph roughly. I know no one needs a formula board but it is the board that can get me on the plane the earliest, and if I got a formula board I think It would cover about 75% of my sailing. My lake gets 15mph days around 1-2 times a week. I would not go the long board way again Been there done that, I want to be able to plane not glide.

I will try to find a used one preferable from 2004 and up because I herd its when they stared to make them good. And put some foam around the nose just to be safe.

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

Looking at the kawartha lakes area on google maps, I think you are making a wise choice going for the Formula board. Looks like a typical small inland lake. You will be ripping when most other folks are slogging or sitting on the beach.

Only thing to watch out for - if your lake gets a lot of weeds, it could be a problem. Formula boards do not like weed fins.

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