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Life is a cycle - new board hands me my @rse like a newbie
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wernerhickey



Joined: 13 Jun 2015
Posts: 76

PostPosted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 1:28 am    Post subject: Life is a cycle - new board hands me my @rse like a newbie Reply with quote

Greetings, I am looking for anyone else that has transitioned to an SB iSonic 160, 2019 or similar from more traditional shapes - this thing is wide and short. I would not call what I am doing with this board windsurfing - I fight the board and it mostly wins. Any magic bullets? i.e. anything you might have done that threw the switch? I pump heading down wind with firm front leg and foot pointing forward I can not get the confident feeling from the fin that the board will continue to stay on the surface when I stop pumping - it generally does not. I know I will get it eventually but anything to shorten the humiliation would be appreciated. It could be I am just too fat and the conditions are too marginal.

Conditions generally marginal to date - sub 15kts. (only had it out about 8 times)
Sloppy chop and strong current at times.
I am 95+kgs, 5'10" and shrinking with age.
Fin, 58 Drake
Sail, 8.5 Sailworks NX
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wynsurfer



Joined: 24 Aug 2007
Posts: 940

PostPosted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 9:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds like the conditions are just too marginal.

I checked Jim Douglas's windsurfing calculator which I have found to be pretty accurate. http://jimbodouglass.blogspot.com/2010/11/updated-windsurf-calculator-online.html

It shows a person of your weight needing 15Kts to plane with an 8.5. I sail an RRD Firemove 110L X 76cm. with a 7.5 in 14-20 kts. but I weigh only 68Kg. I know it's not a slalom board but is short and wide and planes early.
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mrgybe



Joined: 01 Jul 2008
Posts: 5180

PostPosted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 3:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We are similar weight (I'm 205lbs). With an 8.5 Retro and a RRD 133 Z ride, I can get on a plane in 12 - 15 knots by pumping into the gusts and moving into the straps quickly. Once you are planing, the apparent wind should keep you there, but look for shifts and be prepared to bear off hard to maintain boat speed. Having said that, sub 15 knots is light, and lulls will drop heavier sailors off the plane in no time. Be patient and prepared for a bit of slogging in between planing runs.
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d0uglass



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 1286
Location: Bonita Springs, Florida

PostPosted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, there are three magic bullets:

1. More wind. With vigor and finesse in pumping you might plane in slightly less wind than what it shows on my calculator, but not much less. You'll still need 15+ knots to be powered with that 8.5.

2. Bigger sail. With a 9.8 you'd lower your planing threshold by about 2 knots, which is a lot.

3. Hydrofoil. When I got a hydrofoil for my formula board I found myself able to use an 8.0 sail in conditions that had formerly required an 11.0 sail.

_________________
James' Blog: Windsurfing Equipment Size Calculator
http://jimbodouglass.blogspot.com/2010/11/updated-windsurf-calculator-online.html
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jpf18



Joined: 13 Aug 2000
Posts: 347
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 11:02 pm    Post subject: Re: Life is a cycle - new board hands me my @rse like a newbie Reply with quote

wernerhickey wrote:
Greetings, I am looking for anyone else that has transitioned to an SB iSonic 160, 2019 or similar from more traditional shapes - this thing is wide and short.

I remember taking one out wayback when they first came out. Flat Hatteras Sound waters, planing conditions for the 7.0 Aerotech RapidFire I plugged on the thing. No weed fin at the time. Much of my sailing was on conventional (at the time) boards like the F2 Xantos.
One mental note I took from the short session was the difficult time I had locking into a good upwind angle. As soon as I stepped back into the straps to put the hammer down I sheeted out just a little enough to make the board start slipping off the wind. Somehow I couldn't correct that easily so it was a bit of a struggle to just keep going upwind. The whole experience felt a little like sailing a disk that liked rotating around the UJ just not where I wanted to go... Considering the iSonic is in SB's catalog for 15 years or so I'd say, operator error. I bet there's a particular technique you'll have to feel out and get wired. You'll want decent conditions though so it looks you'll need a little patience to find some 15+ winds
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wsatl



Joined: 30 Sep 2014
Posts: 66

PostPosted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 11:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you don't mind sharing - how would you rate your skill level and what board were you on before. So we don't prattle on about things you may be already doing. Very Happy

Early planing involves a lot of finesse and some tuning beyond just having the right gear. And, yes, a 9 something at your size is certainly doable. I'm much smaller and pre-foil, that was my go-to sail up to 20. But before we spend that money, let's optimize what you have.
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wernerhickey



Joined: 13 Jun 2015
Posts: 76

PostPosted: Tue Aug 20, 2019 5:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the feedback and ideas. jpf18 - I think I am definitely doing that little sheet out thing. I will read and process carefully. wsatl I would put myself reasonably advanced. I have sailed on and off since the early 80s - have been using foot straps, harness etc since then. Make most of my gybes and can tack this board with ease and a much lower volume one. To be honest I am relieved to read the opinions that express that these are marginal conditions for someone around my weight. (losing weight could be the best solution:) It is not what I am hearing from the gang who are smaller and lighter and seem to "cook with gas" in these conditions with smaller gear - they generally feel I should have enough surface area in comparison. (I am in South East Asia). I'll have a foil in a couple of weeks it might be better to move straight onto that. I can empathise with the disk analogy - Cheers!
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jingebritsen



Joined: 21 Aug 2002
Posts: 3371

PostPosted: Tue Aug 20, 2019 5:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i am 95 kg. i need 12 knots to pump my 9.0 freespeed and exocet rs 5 unto a plane. i use a select molded carbon fin between 39-41 cm long.

pumping requires more of a downward thrust on the boom than one might think. one cannot achieve max pumping pressure unless one is unhooked to do so.

i have been impressed with the recent isonics that i have ridden like the ones we tested in Hatteras in 2011. 160 planes in hummingbirds' farts.

select v-max model offers the best pumping flex at the expense of top end stability. great if your water state is not very choppy. s-1 pro, or rhino pro are better if water is choppier. i have never been a fan of drake fins, others might....

_________________
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www.exocet-original.com
www.iwindsurf.com
http://www.epicgearusa.com/
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wernerhickey



Joined: 13 Jun 2015
Posts: 76

PostPosted: Tue Aug 20, 2019 10:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Totally not blaming the board - with the small successes I've had I can feel it will go - the smaller volume ones and this one are pretty popular here and seem to do well with a foil as well - which was the reason I brought this one. I am feeling like and after the comments above that I need a bit of spare change concerning the wind to make up for poor technique, then develop some finess over time for marginal planing. I was surprised that I could not get on the board and just make it work and I am becoming the focus of some deserved bemusement. Smile
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cgoudie1



Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2597
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove

PostPosted: Tue Aug 20, 2019 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I hate to say this, but for me (at about 195lbs) really short wide boards just
don't plane up as well. Case in point, I just picked up both an Open Ocean
large board and a Skate 99 TE. The Skate is probably 8lbs lighter than the
OO, and wider by an inch or 2 but definitely shorter by a good 12
inches. I wanted the board for light wind and early planing in the Gorge,
and that Skate was supposed to be an early planning machine. But the
OO despite being way heavier planes much quicker with me on it and I
attribute it to the additional waterline (the OO is 8'4" 2018 so a relatively
modern shape), just not extreme in it's shortness. I sold the skate to a
very happy freestyler. Sometimes short and wide is too short and wide.

-Craig

p.s. I've heard really good things about that Isonic, and as I recall it's not
radical in it's short wide outline.



wernerhickey wrote:
Totally not blaming the board - with the small successes I've had I can feel it will go - the smaller volume ones and this one are pretty popular here and seem to do well with a foil as well - which was the reason I brought this one. I am feeling like and after the comments above that I need a bit of spare change concerning the wind to make up for poor technique, then develop some finess over time for marginal planing. I was surprised that I could not get on the board and just make it work and I am becoming the focus of some deserved bemusement. Smile


Last edited by cgoudie1 on Tue Aug 20, 2019 9:46 pm; edited 1 time in total
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