Good sails for gusty conditions?

[dllee]

By far most important is the sailor and his ability and willingness to read the wind, tune the sail, and choose the appropriate board.
Every sail works well in the hands of a competent sailor.

[westender]

10-30 doesn't sound too bad? It's the zero to ? that will make you wait for the wind to change.

[jingebritsen]

tough dayz indeed when it is that kind of wind.

i see it primarily in cross offshore conditions here in florida. damn humans that don't windsurf, but want to "look at the water." they all want condo's and large buildings on the beach.....

6.2 phantom works for me in 10-30 so long as the average is right around 20, especially if i am using my planing long board to windsup. 68 if on my 105 board.

in flat water, i tend to use SDM masts with my phantoms. extends the range a few mph too. another trick in conditions like these" jibe in the gusts.

[boardsurfr]

There are a bunch of general rules that have come up in the previous responses. These may help, but keep in mind that there are always exceptions, and that personal preferences also play a big role. For example, I have some 4-batten sails that seem to have the same wide range as other sails with 2-3 more battens. Cambered race sails can be very stable, but for some kinds, that's only at the top end - when underpowered, they can become beasts that are very hard to handle. Those would be a really bad choice in 10-30 mph.

Another issue is how well the sail works with the mast, and how well they work when not trimmed perfectly. Some sails are very forgiving, while others expect you to have the perfectly matching mast, and get the downhaul right to within 1/4th of an inch. These may work perfectly for an experienced windsurfer who carefully rigs, but can feel much worse to everyone else.

If you're considering buying new sails in the near future, do a trip to WorldWinds, and rent a few of their sails. On a typical day where the wind builds in the afternoon, you'll even have a chance to get an idea about low- and high-end behavior of the sail if you go out before the wind picks up. If you find something you like, you can buy it new right there, or maybe used at their annual end-of-season sale.

[thombiz]

For the conditions stated by the OP, the best sails I've ever used are the Goya Guru's hands down. I prefer the 2012-2015 years. They are the best I've ever used to to take the "crazy" out of those conditions. The beauty is how they depower in complete control and they do it so naturally. I used to prefer the Windwings, but they were too fast for crazy gust conditions. I had a Hot Sails Maui "Freak Wave" prototype that was equally as good as the Guru's but the prototype never made it into production. It was a superb sail. Too bad it didn't make it into production.

[bred2shred]

Run the biggest board and sail you can handle without exploding in the gusts. Lots of twist on the sail to extend range. With a highly twisted sail, you can bear off in the lulls to stay on plane and feather the sail in the gusts. Generally better to stay with a slghtly larger board and reduce fin and/or sail size if you become consistently over powered. I would rather be fully wound up in the gusts and be able to stay on plane through the majority of the lulls than be only moderately powered in the gusts and schlogging the other half the time. It makes the difference between enjoying and hating gusty conditions.

sm

[cgoudie1]

I would agree with this if the wind were 10 gusting to 30 with an average
of 12. 10-30 with an average of 20 might lead me to a board smaller than
the"biggest board and sail you can handle without exploding in the gusts".
I agree about the bigger sail though.

.02

-Craig