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mummyboy
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« on: July 18, 2004, 08:20:00 PM » |
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anyone could give me a pointer on the optimum sail size to get into planing in our local wind conditons? i am 75kg on a formula board. will an 8.5 or 8.8m sail be underpowdered?
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<IJ>
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« Reply #1 on: July 18, 2004, 08:59:00 PM » |
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Yes.
At 75Kg to maximise time on water, with a formula board, suggest 9-10 m
The smaller sails in our light wind do not have the bottom end power to get the formula up and away.
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sukhdev
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« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2004, 10:08:00 PM » |
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ian is spot on. get a 9.8 or thereabouts at least, or even a 10.5. your second sail can be 2sq meter smaller.
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blackhawk
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« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2004, 12:14:00 AM » |
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Hi, for a 52kg , what is the optimum sail size to get for our local conditions? Sailing on a formula as well? Will 8.5m be good enough??
Thanks alot.
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<IJ>
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« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2004, 12:20:00 AM » |
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At 52Kg 8.5 is possibly ok for you on a formula. You can go bigger, depends really on how strong you are and your sailing standard.
Thye hock uses a 9.8 and i guess he is a similar weight. He planes in the lightest wind but with correct rigging, strength and technique he can hold it in pretty strong winds.
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sukhdev
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« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2004, 03:32:00 PM » |
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Its important to realize that sails under 9.8 from most brands (excluding smaller sails 7.x and below) are usually optimised for very high wind formula racing. For example, a nitro 5 9.3 can easily be used in the high 20 knot range by most expert formula racers, so much so that top sailors would rarely ever be on them for course racing. This means that at the very low end they may not be ideal..and here i'm referring to any 8.x and 9.0 or 9.3 sail from any brand. Thats why the "best" light wind sail for lightweights is often a 9.8 as long as your weight is 6x kg or more, and these days the broadest range is sometimes a 10.5 or 10.x.
For sailors in the 5x kg range a 9.3 is the best bet for our lighter days. The mast used is a 520 which gives a bit more grunt (more stiffness) than softer 490s used in 8.x and 9.0 sails. If you are 5x kg then I would suggest a 9.3 as your main sail and your next sail can be 8.0 or 7.x. Thye for example finds the 9.8 has tons of grunt for his barely 50kg weight but once powered up he would be faster on a 9.3.
Don't forget fins. Lighter sails need MUCH less fin power so pay attention to matching the fin properly. There is little point in getting an excellent sail and then being overpowered by the fin.
One other option is to use a freerace sail like the GTX 9.0. This has excellent low end relative to pure race sails and yet has pretty good top end when tuned right especially when used with a 100% mast.
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<CS>
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« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2004, 04:15:00 PM » |
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Sukhdev I seem to remember you mentioning something about modifying the 9 sq meter sails for more low end. How do you do this?
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thye
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« Reply #8 on: July 22, 2004, 01:45:00 PM » |
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Hi Soul-Surfer
On the topic of oversizing, the knowledge from tuning, handling is important but good equipment is vital. My Nitro 9.8 gives me low end power at 5 knots and it's been tested at over 22 knots, by playing with the downhull, foottack, batten and outhuall tension along with good selection of fins and mastwood position most (not all) wind condition in our local condition can be covered.
The other important factor sailors miss out on is mental skill, having good physical condition and ability will assist but mental strenght makes the different when you see 90kg guys on smaller sail then you.
For the record my weight is about 59kg.
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ed talbot
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« Reply #9 on: July 25, 2004, 11:02:00 PM » |
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Blackhawk,
The one thing I’ve learnt is that a good sail & mast will really be worth it – I have done it for my ‘monsoon sail’, but am still struggling with my ‘light wind’ sail (an old sail/mast & heavy boom ….) I may have to buy new too.
I also recommend using the advice of the guys here, i.e a gaastra sail & powerex mast combination is used by many local guys & the tuning advice is abundant.
It’s worth asking advice from Sukhdev / Thye etc what the max sail size your SB135 can take – mine was a bit unstable with my 9.5m˛.
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