Sail size and wind speed

[joeyyyy]

Im wondering what the average sail size is for riding a 86 board about 70 to 80 liters in about 28 to 30 mph of wind speed (according to this sites wind meters).
body weight of about 140 lbs. 57 tall in good phisical condition. Im not buying a new sail or anything, but wanted to judge this sites accuracy on the wind. cause when I was sailing isabella last sunday, I was on a NP 5.0 v6 (1993 model) and I only had fun in the gusts (very gusty day I thought) but iwindsurf.com wind&where shows sunday to have gusts from 28 to 30. that couldnt be right could it?

[jimlarsen]

I weigh about 175 lbs. I sail a 5.5 up to about 20 mph. Above 20 I drop to 5.0. Gusts dont count. If the average is 30 to 35 I am on a 3.4

[windsurf50]

Looks like we have the same dimensions. Same sails, same height and weight. I have been sailing for 13 years, and also have an 86 board, and a 96 GEM.I also make epoxy boards for the heck of it. I live in a tropical trade wind zone in the south west pacific and the very consistent 20-25 gusting to 30 winds make it very easy to dial in your gear. First, the 70 litre board in fresh lake water is too darned small for you. I know Lake Isabella because I am originally from San Luis Obispo You will still slog or spin out. even if you slapped on a 6.5 street racer. Also that year of sail required a modicum of downhaul. Excellent top end but low end by nature stinks with a 70-80 litre board. Try this. Youll notice the difference immediately.

Let out about 5/8 of your normal downhaul, and move your mast base foreward about 1.5 inch. it will feel funny at first, but it will get you on a plane with your sinker in the lulls.

Also try to find out where the anemometer is.

If it is behind a tree or building you can bet it isnt reliable.

[isobars]

Dont let the comment about sinkers and fresh water lakes deter you. Ive sailed 7-6 and 8-0 boards regularly (I weigh 180) for years in fresh water lakes from Ohio to New Mexico to Washington state, and any time Im powered up on a 5.2, theye all I use. An 8-6 (of ordinary width, not even one of the newer wide boards) is a big board any time theres enough wind for a 6.0. The extra maneuverability and jumpability of a small board WAY more than offsets their greater initial planing power requirements.

Its not all about planing. Its about what one does WHILE planing that makes it fun.

And, yeah, a sensor that says it takes 30 mph to plane on a 5.0 is misrepresenting the wind speed by at least 10 mph, especially at your weight.

Mike \m/

[windsurf50]

Not meant to discourage you. Like the other expert post claimed. You and I basically have the same gear, and same dimensions. I do know what will work because I have been fortunate enough to live in a place that blows 20-25 25-30 damn near year round. Often go out in 40+ during typhoons in the off season, and trop storms. After that, it is just plain dangerous. I dont go to the ocean every other week or twice a month. I live on the beach for christ sake. I go everyday! Warm Tropical 87 degree water year round. You cant help but get dialed in on your gear. After work and all day everyweekend. 13 years of that is more than 20 years of hopping around the country every few months and chasing wind shadows, Sure the other guy claimed that it is what you do to have fun when your planing, but heck why not increase your planing time. Which is how I briefly addressed your question.

How about providing more board specs. Two identically sized boards depending on the year made, composition, rocker, and outline, will react completely differently i.e plane, turn, tailwalk, etc. once on the water. Again I make them. Epoxy.

Too many variables sometime, chop size wind direction. Again, even 1/4- 1/2 inch of downhaul can take you on or bring you off a plane. You can plane on a 5.0 when others are slogging on a 6.2 I dont care how fat or skinny you are. But it is also compounded by board volume. You probably know that. You already said you didnt want to get a new sail. Try to borrow a bigger board, let a little downhaul out, and move the mast base forward about an inch.

You will feel awkward at first but will plane through lulls when you were slogging before.

I am moving back to southern California in Septemer, after being away for 13 years. Give me your E-mail address and perhaps we can go out to Isabella, I have never surfed there, so you can prove me wrong. I will show you. Ill even let you try my rig, and see for yourself. Just dont put your head through my sail. Always interested in meeting other decent windsurfers.

Also, I hate the windsurf board industry. too many ripoffs. For about 300 bones we can build you a nice epoxy custom. That only weighs 13.5 lbs. Reinforced carbon etc. It takes about 7 days. No I am not a salesman. And you buy the materials. I will E-mail you photos of my work if you like. I just do it for fun. And sell a few sometimes.

here is my e-mail

Islander@kuentos.guam.net
Name is AL

Happy sailing.

oh yeah

I went to the Niel Pryde sail factory in China for the heck of it last year. Would you believe it is one of the highest paying jobs in the country out there. dozens of Chinese folks that have never sailed spend all day rigging sails to see if they are perfect. Neil pryde will no longer make the Z-tip on their sails starting next year. They are also increasing the mylar mm thickness on all of their V model sails. Without compromising weight.

[joeyyyy]

I Thank everyone here for responding. It is very interesting what I feel to have learned from all your responces. I do agree that it is what you do while planing that makes it fun. getting through the lulls on a plane is much desired. How about the holes in the middle of the lake? My 96 gem always got me through most of them easly till the fin box started to delaminate (does B&J cause this) and shimming just got rediculace, the fin now walbles and I just spin out, so my 86 got much use, which brought me to those darn wind meters.
Lots of slosh between gusts and my next sail up is a 6.0 v6 and I didnt like it on that board and kinda hard to hang on to it in the gusts. anyway I thankyou all very much for taking the time to respond.. joeyyyy

[windsurf50]

Dude you need to get spell check.

Second. If you are for real, and not full of B.S. then yeah, the bump and jump will delaminate the Gem 96. That board was not meant to be a bump and jump board. It was designed for Slalom/ Race conditions. In fact when your board was made, bump and jump was not part of windsurf vernacular.

What did you do with the 96 Gem board????? You know that they dont make them anymore. From my experience it is worth hanging on to. If it isnt waterlogged it rivals the pricy Mikes Lab. I think that Mr. Green had something eternal with that design. Dude if you arent going to sail it, then put the vent plug in it. Drill a small hole in the tail just above the rail line. Put it in the sun and let the water expand out of it for the rest of the summer. I am sure it is full of H20. If you want I will slap a new fin cassette in it for you. Hell.. you buy the 12 dollar cassette and epoxy, and Ill do it for free. I hate to see boards like that relegated to the land fill. If you can afford a computer and Pryde sails, then dont wait. Do it now.
If not then it is your loss buddy.

If I dont hear from you I will take it as a kiss my ass. I bid you good luck and happy sailing.


Al

[joeyyyy]

This is true, I need spell check. My spelling sucks. However, I have made a mistake in my terminoligy, GEM I thought was a term for much liked board that sailed in any marginal type of conditions. It now is quite apparent that GEM is a Name of a paticular Board. My appolligies. I will contact you soom via Email because I too am interested in sailing with you and anyone else that enjoys this sport of ours. btw, my 96 has been my trusty glass (pollyester i think) board that got me through lulls in the wind and jumped well in light or even heavy chop. so to me it was a gem of a board. Please exuse my mis-use of terms. but I do have a question, why leave such good sailing conditions for CA??
talk to ya soon
joeyyyy