The big sails

joethewindsufa · Joined: 10 Oct 2010 Posts: 1190 Location: Montréal

@rtz - did you ever give your weight and location??

weight for planing threshold and location regarding persistent winds
200 pound sailor might be able to plane in 10 knots with 12 meter sail
150 pound sailor might be able to plane with a 9 meter sail
130 pound sailor might be able to plane with an 8 meter sail
..
in light breeze and inconsistent winds, you will not stay on a plane
you may also need to pump to plane
you could always try foiling ??

wrote about the subject of planing in lite wind some time ago and still stay on longboard around 10 knots
i dont even try to plane unless 12-13 knots on in-land lake (with my fat corpse)
http://joewindsurfer.blogspot.ca/2012/03/early-planing.html
long , narrow boards like longboard, Serenity, RSD2, etc don't schlogg - they glide in light winds

grantmac017 · Joined: 04 Aug 2016 Posts: 946

A performance longboard in sub-planing conditions is a totally different beast than slogging a shortboard.

rtz · Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Posts: 296 Location: Oklahoma City

200lbs at a lake in Oklahoma City. That blog post is a good read.

acalhounguy · Joined: 25 May 2013 Posts: 57

With the 12 I can pump to plane occasionally in 7-8 in small gusts but it is more slogging than planing. I might get a knot lower with a 65-70cm fin but I'm using a weed fin. My visual threshold is the grey patches on the water (before there are any whitecaps obviously) I can plane in but they have to be big enough. If the whole lake is like that I can plane with the 9.5. I weigh 185

coachg · Joined: 10 Sep 2000 Posts: 3550

Or you could try this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIxgIVFKuAQ

Coachg

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

Lose weight, learn to pump, and ride your bicycle if it's under 10 mph breezes.

techno900 · Joined: 28 Mar 2001 Posts: 4161

A formula board and a 12.0 can plane in 8-10 mph with vigorous pumping (and skill), but an intermediate will have difficulty. My 11.0 will plane in 10-12 mph (generally, no caps, but a few small ones at times), but when the wind is around 5-15 range it's plane some, slog some, plane some, etc.

If you live where the wind is steady and light (10-15), big stuff can work. Where I live, the lake wind is very gusty with light days in the 0-10 range. On some days, it's 0-15, but I still won't go out with my 11.0. Too much slogging.
I will go out with my 9.2 on 5-18 days.

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

At 160 lbs., I find I can plane with a 6.5 and 109 SuperSport in around 13-17 mph winds.
At that windspeed, most 200 lbs'ers are NOT planing on 10.5 and Formula boards.
A good test might be today at Berkeley Ca., during the US Nationals. Wind is around 8-15, it's now 1:30, and no racing is starting, not even Formula/Foil.
I might give it a pass, as who needs to sail in such light winds when the forecasts call for cooling trend and more fog by tomorrow.
The Foils should be just fine, and Formula dudes all have 11-12 meter sails.

wynsurfer · Joined: 24 Aug 2007 Posts: 940

a 6.5 or 7.5 and an old long board works wonders for lake sailing. That and a shortboard and a few smaller sails for when it's windy.

thombiz · Joined: 25 Jun 2007 Posts: 799 Location: Corpus Christi

Since rtz didn't claim the 10.2 I'm willing to give it away, I'll give it to anyone who wants to claim it. No shipping. You got to pick it up or have a friend pick it up.